Books on learning how to write better?

[syrianrue]

Hello,

 

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a good book that teaches people how to write better? Not specifically a guide on how to write a novel or anything, but simply a good guide on how one can become a better writer in general? Perhaps, a book on the many different types of writing styles? Different elegant ways to string together sentences....... et,c etc.

 

Aside from the guide, of course, one way to become better at writing is to simply read more books and completely immerse oneself in the world of literature. A friend of mine had introduced me to a few writers I should get acquainted with; here is a list he has provided for me:

 

Joseph Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness"

DH Lawrence's "The Rainbow"

Hardy

Dostoevsky

Hawthorne

TS Eliot

Turgenev

Tolstoy

Fielding

Wilde

Whitman

Tolstoy

and many, many others...

 

does anyone have any books they would recommend? one that contains an elegant writing, or a style that is worthy of note?

[sirinrob]

welcome!

 

I'll leave the question of writing guides to others, but if the name Javier Marais is not on your list then I would add it.

[BookJumper]

I'm of the opinion that books cannot teach anyone to write better. There's books by writers which inspire me to open up my notebook/MS Word (such as Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing, Ursula K. Le Guin's The Wave in the Mind and Stephen King's On Writing), but I believe that stylistic improvement is 100% the result of:

 

- reading like a maniac

- writing like a maniac

 

every word you read and write shapes you as a writer, and that's all there is to it IMHO .

[sirinrob]

I agree with what Bookjumper has said. I'm relatively inexperienced as a writer, but I have noticed that my style has improved as I've progressed further with my current writing project. I reread the first chapter last night. Whilst it captures what I want to say, it will need extensive revision to bring into line with later chapters and the overall style I have established.

 

I've mentioned this on another thread but mapping out the concept of what you want to write is a useful technique.

 

Happy writing!

[Talisman]

Totally agree Bookjumper - no one can teach you to write, you either have it or you don't, and if you do, then the only way to improve is to carry on doing it, as often as you can in whichever way that you can - short stories, long stories, news stories, writing for the web, blogging, poetry, in whichever way works for you ! Personally I do a bit of all of the above apart from poetry, but we can't all be good at everything ...

 

Mind mapping though is no doubt a useful tool for those who write fiction, or even non fiction come to that.