/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.3960540]

Are any of the books on writing actually effective in developing your ability to write, or is it all bullshit?

The ones I hear about the most are Stephen King's On Writing, Zen & The Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury and If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland

[Anonymous No.3960911]

Who the fuck taught Stephen King how to write?

Who taught Charles Dickens or Edgar Allen Poe?

I think it's mostly bullshit. People should develop their own writing styles. The only way to get good at writing is to do it habitually, like every day, for the rest of your life. Set aside an hour every day to write, or at least 30 minutes. You have to practice being creative and practice your writing skills.

[Anonymous No.3960920]

The only thing a writer can really teach you is how to write more like they do.

If you want to write like King, read his book. If you want to write like Bradbury, ready his book.

Otherwise, just write how you want to write.

[Anonymous No.3960988]

They're bullshit, but some are much more bullshit than others. For example. Stephanie Evanovitch has one that's not much more that a cash-grab. Whereas Stephen King's gives you a little help.
Then you get those that get into the real guts of putting together a narrative and the mechanics of conveying meaning. Probably the best is "200 Mistakes, How Not to Write a Novel" Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird" one is good too, but most of learning to write is through reading and practicing. I wouldn't tell you to avoid writing books, since its always useful to learn not only from your mistakes but from the mistakes of others as well, but when you pick up a writing book, look through a few chapters and see if it's offering specific advice or if it is just screwing around.

[Anonymous No.3961007]

Stephen kings book goes over how much he had to write until he got published by a shitty zine. He then proceeds to tell you that you must be born a writer so it's a bit weird.

I like the book though because he talks about writing some of his books completely blacked out like cujo

[Anonymous No.3961029]

You'll probably get a lot of conflicting information from different authors and read shit that you just outright disagree with, like King will tell you not to describe your character's appearance very much, if at all, which I think is bullshit but on the other hand he tells you not to use too many adjectives because then your work ends up looking like it was written by a shitty fanfic writer, I agree with that part, at least.

They helped me in the beginning to develop my own style.

Overall just read them and take what sounds good to you, leave the shit. There's no reason it has to be all or nothing.

[Anonymous No.3963560]

>>3961007
I guess the message is take as many drugs as possible whilst writing books?