Comments on: Boycott Writing Books

by: Sue Lange

Tue, 13 May 2008 18:56:44 +0000

There is a new market in American Business. It’s called the wannabe market. There is a wannabe market in every area that at one time was considered art. There’s one for rock stars, fine art painters, dancers, actors, singers, movie directors, poets, and drag racers. Because the business of America is business, not art, our art is really a business. And it does not matter what you sell, just as long as you sell it. The authors of all those thousands of how to get published books were at one time in the same boat as you are now. They wanted to be Stephen King. You will find that your “art” will never sell as much as anything you put out that claims to help others as they develop their “art.” There is not enough room for everyone to make a living at their art, or even sell their art. But there is room for everyone to sell instructions on how to sell their art. Welcome to America. Pass the marketing manual, please.

by: Chris Orcutt

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 22:05:53 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with this piece. As a writer who has purchased probably 200 books on writing over the past 15 years or so, I can say with authority that most of them are s–t. One great one that was not mentioned, however, is IMMEDIATE FICTION by Jerry Cleaver. It really reduces story construction to its essentials Also consider STEIN ON WRITING and ERNEST HEMINGWAY ON WRITING. They’re great, no-BS books by people who really knew how it was done.

The writing books I STRONGLY advise would-be buyers to avoid are the ones written by literary agents. Invariably these are about the publishing industry and how to find representation, and they’re supposed to offer you “inside” information so when you query them, you’ll have a leg up. Over the years I have read maybe a dozen of these, and I filed away their names for the day when I had a salable novel in the category they represented.

The novel is good; it’s been critiqued and endorsed by a National Bestselling author, and it’s been read and praised by agents in prestigious firms including Curtis Brown and William Morris. So, imagine my surprise when I queried the agents whose books I read, and for whom I knew the book was appropriate, and the reasons they gave me for turning me down completely contradicted everything they wrote in their books.

What I discovered (sadly) is this: what these agents say in their books and what they really believe are NOT the same. And the worst part of it is, a few of them seem to make the majority of their income from sales of their own books and workshops they offer, based on those books. I’m not going to name names, but they’re out there, so beware.

Now when I look for an agent, if I discover they’ve written a book about agenting or writing or publishing, I don’t even bother querying them. It may be a fallacy to think so, but I have to wonder how good an agent is at their job if they have the time (and the interest) to write books. Shouldn’t they be out SELLING?

As the Romans said: CAVEAT EMPTOR.

by: Wahine

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 01:01:22 +0000

I just discovered your blog, and am enjoying reading the top posts first.
Strangely, I’ve had the opposite experience, as most of the books I own that are how-tos are pretty good and leave the snark at home. I’m more interested in genre fiction than literary material, though, so that may account for the different mileage. I really liked Orson Scott Card’s book on writing science fiction, and I’ve actually given Straczynski’s classic on scriptwriting as a gift.
It’s more the “touchy-feely” stuff that I have searched for, something that I can crack open and sigh, “Oh, yes, someone gets it!”. And that’s where John Gardner’s been a godsend. “On Moral Fiction” was not always my cup of tea, but I loved the central thesis, and his book on becoming a novelist is wonderful, not a word wasted.

by: david i

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:07:16 +0000

The books you mention are excellent. I’d add a few.
Lawrence Block’s “Telling Lies for Fun and Profit” and “Spider, Spin Me a Web.” These are collected from his old (1980s) column in Writer’s Digest, but–with the exceptions of passages that refer to typewriters, etc–they are very useful on both craft and stayin’ alive.
Despite being saddled with a horrible title, Stephen Koch’s “Modern Library Writer’s Workshop” is great, and his quotes and citations are joyfully eclectic (where else do you find William Faulkner, Stephen King, and Martin Amis cozied up together?).
Carolyn See’s “Making a Literary Life” is different from anything I’ve seen, and will give advice you won’t find elsewhere. (Write notes to people you admire. Thank those who savage you as a form of emotional jiu-jitsu. Live on tomato soup and red wine when you revise…)
I always found the interviews in the Paris Review’s “Writers at Work” to be invaluable, and expended much time and effort finding used copies of all eight volumes. But Paris Review now has their interviews on their website for free.

by: A Hodes

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:42:20 +0000

months later…i see i did not scroll down far enought to the rave of dufresne’s book…sorry…seems we all agree…it’s the best one out there

by: The Watcher

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 20:34:55 +0000

A Hodes missed the point. He DID read the John d. book. That was pretty obvious to me, that he read it and thought it one of the rare good ones.

by: Scott at Slushpile.net

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 01:18:15 +0000

I love Dufresne’s book. He was one of the first folks kind enough to conduct an interview with us way back in the beginning. And I was trying to say that The Lie That Tells a Truth is one of the handful of great books on writing available. Sorry if I wasn’t clear; it’s a masterpiece.

Thanks for reading!

by: a hodes

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:05:16 +0000

chill out your rant and read Dufresne’s book…get some persepective and get writing. If this book doesn’t get you going nothing will. It sensible and not condescending and no bullshit…a painful truth to change the blank page to something else.