(Part 2) Best authorship reference books according to redditors
We found 294 Reddit comments discussing the best authorship reference books. We ranked the 78 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
You could go to the Amazon store for your country. For example, for the UK, it's https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LWI892M.
There's a book that does this, by one of The Writing Gals (who also have a great podcast on Youtube that covers all aspects of indie-pub romance).
Here's a link. Victorine Lieske goes through one of her own books section by section, breaking it down and explaining why she's written what she has.
Plus one, it's really the best source.
Also, you can't go wrong with the book, Putting the Science in Fiction by Dan Koboldt. It's a far wider range of science topics than space, but very useful.
I'd recommend buying a book on writing.
I would suggest these as good places to start. If you wanted to pick just one on this list, I'd say go with James Scott Bell's Plot & Structure.
William Shunn's format is pretty much the standard, so much so that some magazines/publishers refer to it in their submission guidelines.
And, as others have commented, English prose is written in paragraphs. Some style guides to English writing:
Short handbook: Strunk & White, Elements of Style. 4th Edition
Exhaustive reference: Chicago Manual of Style. 16th Edition which is kind of expensive. Or get the 15th Edition for the price of a latte.
Websites/Blogs:
Absolute Write Erotica Forum
List of top 50 Sex blogs by blog rank:
Top50SexBlogs
Also, check this one out:
Dirty Discourse
Books:
Writing Erotica: A Self-Publishing How-To Guide
How to Write Hot Sex:
>Can anyone point me to some resources
Sure! Here's 8 blog posts and articles which might help:
What Makes a Character Likable? — Jennifer Ellis - Writing
4 Ways to Write a Likable Protagonist at the Start of His Character Arc
The First Rule of Creating Fictional Characters | Novel Writing Help
Writing4Success - Make Your Main Character Likeable
Jessica Brody | How to Make Unlikable Characters Likable
When Flaws Go Too Far: Avoiding Unlikeable Characters
Fiction University: Five Ways to Create Likable Characters
Six Ways to Make Your Villain Likable – Mythcreants
If you just absolutely hate blogs for some reason, here's a few posts on the topic on reddit:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
There's even a few books, if you like to do things old school:
Write Great Fiction Characters and Viewpoint
Elements of Fiction Writing - Characters and Viewpoint
Writing the Intimate Character: Create Unique, Compelling Characters Through Mastery of Point of View
Creating Characters: The Complete Guide to Populating Your Fiction
and
[Writers Guide to Character Traits](https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Guide-Character-Traits-Edelstein/dp/1582973903]
Hope that helps! :)
Depends on what was said. If it's the same thing, not enough depth, not connecting with the characters, poor prose then read some books on craft not just your typical craft books. This book is awesome, simple and FREE right now, https://www.amazon.com/Show-Dont-Tell-descriptions-characters/dp/3955337502/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=show+don%27t+tell&qid=1567056908&s=gateway&sr=8-1
This guy is great https://www.amazon.com/Verbalize-bring-stories-writer-guides-ebook/dp/B07B63CTKX/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=damon+suede&qid=1567056792&s=gateway&sr=8-2
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There are youtube videos galore on writing, watch a few maybe pay for the Masterclass and watch everyone from David Baldacci to Judy Blume, even David Mamet looks good playwrite is even better to watch for a writer.
I would also read, read, read, read. Do you want to be the next Stephen King binge Stephen King, or is John Le Carre, then binge him. Read then kind of pick it apart, what is it about the author and their writing most appeals to you and how can you mimic that in your own way?
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Then maybe join a critique group in your area or even on Facebook there are dozens out there.
Good luck
Greetings,
As an English minor, I am aghast!
Mind you, not because you're whoring yourself out for tips—good on ya for that—but because you had the audacity to say, "Unfortunately, I haven't found a college class on erotica yet. One day, perhaps."
CHARLATAN! If it's one thing a person in the English department knows, it is that knowledge isn't bound to simple college courses!
Lucky for you, I have had ample opportunity to research said subject and have found you these!
1: How to Write Hot Sex: Tips from Multi-Published Erotic Romance Authors
2: Be A Sex-Writing Strumpet
Now you can hold your head high knowing that you're produced the highest quality smut one can afford to tip for!
If you're interested in books on craft (which I love, way too much) you can check these out :D
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Character-Creating-Memorable-Characters/dp/014312157X
https://www.amazon.com/Story-Trumps-Structure-Unforgettable-Breaking-ebook/dp/B00JX12L7M
You might be better off posting it in a writing forum rather than on Reddit.
https://absolutewrite.com/forums/forum.php Is a good one. There a subforum (hidden to non-members) that you can post your work in to get feedback. You have to have 50 posts before you can start your own thread in that subforum though--this encourages you to critique others' work and be active on the forum instead of just asking for help and then leaving.
When I was active on Absolute Write, I only critiqued pieces that that caught my interest within a paragraph or two (they started in the middle of action, had a gripping first sentence, had a distinct voice, vivid description, or an interesting/sympathetic character). I didn't critique anything that was horribly cliche, bland, slow, no voice, cardboard characters, etc. The former I was able to give a few specific suggestions to, while the latter was hard to force myself to read through when I knew I'd have to spend a lot of time giving advice on how to fix *everything*.
If you're not getting replies while other people are, it's possible that your story just isn't good enough to grab anyone's attention. How much writing have you done? How many books on writing have you read? If this is your first writing project and you haven't "studied" the craft at all, it's likely not going to be very good. Writing is a skill that requires a lot of practice and learning.
The "Write Great Fiction" series offers good advice on five main elements of writing stories: https://www.amazon.com/Write-Great-Fiction-Description-Setting-ebook/dp/B003YJEYCY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537898259&sr=8-3&keywords=write++great+fiction&dpID=51Ac%252BAJ-EPL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch Not sure how old you are, but I read it in high school so it's good for young people starting out too.
That's a pretty great article you linked! If you've got the dedication, there's a book called 90 Days To Your Novel that offers a day-by-day guide to writing a first draft of a novel. Your library might have it!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Write-Great-Fiction-Gloria-Kempton-ebook/dp/B005E8AEJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419339821&sr=8-1&keywords=dialogue
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Dialogue-Scripts-Effective-Handbooks/dp/1408101343/ref=wl_mb_wl_huc_clickstream_1_dp
the first is a great resource that I use for all of my dialogue. The second is more for screenwriting. They are both great, but if you only need one I would recommend the first.
Are you writing what you want to write? I am a big believer in writing to market BUT also writing what you love. There are some genres making hay that I thought "sure I can do that" but when I sit down to write it turns into pulling teeth.
You need to find out where your passion is and where your strengths are. For me, I know I can't write 100k epic fantasies but know a few people that loooove them. I can't write mpreg but know a few making 10k+ a month.
This book might help you. I haven't read it but I did take her Writing Better Faster course. It's not a course to learn how to write more words per hour but instead you figure out what works for you and what doesn't. I own the book and keep meaning to read it but from what I've heard it's similar to the course and makes you figure out what works best for you.
https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Writer-You-Need-Quit-ebook/dp/B07N36MHWD
Is it the Chicago Manual of Style? There's a new one out.
What are you describing? Are you describing emotions? Physical characteristics? Location? Action? Amazon has all kinds of books that focus on particular subjects and how to describe them; for example, The Emotion Thesaurus and Writing Vivid Settings. If you take a look at those two, it will lead you to other books that focus on how to write descriptions.
Not sure if it's every year. I think it's the first time that it's happened. Quite a few of them seem to be collections of blog posts.
PWYW Tier:
$15 Tier:
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find.
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
This book by George Friedman is a good unbiased look at the Geopolitical balance of power issues we face.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Next-Decade-Where-Going/dp/0385532946
After several years, try a different approach. Consider following instructions in 90 Days to your Novel.
This breaks down your writing into approx 2hr/day chunks.