Top products from r/writerchat
We found 7 product mentions on r/writerchat. We ranked the 7 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
1. Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
Harper Collins Childrens Books
2. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Wusthof
3. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
W W Norton Company
4. How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
5. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Great post. Your topic reminds me of the book 'How Not to Write a Novel.' https://www.amazon.com/Write-Novel-Them-Misstep-Misstep-ebook/dp/B00166YCBU
From its Amazon page: 'Many writing books offer sound advice on how to write well. This is not one of those books. On the contrary, this is a collection of terrible, awkward, and laughably unreadable excerpts that will teach you what to avoid—at all costs—if you ever want your novel published.'
One of my favorite non-fiction authors is Mary Roach. She picks a topic and gathers all kinds of detailed and odd information about it, often covering the kinds of details that the genuinely curious find fascinating.
Stiff is about what humans do with the dead remains of other humans, including her visit to the body farms where scientists figure out the cascade of beetles, bugs and grubs invade the remains.
https://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1502060523&sr=8-4&keywords=Mary+Roach
Gulp is all about the human digestive tract
https://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Adventures-Alimentary-Mary-Roach-ebook/dp/B00AN86JZ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502060523&sr=8-1&keywords=Mary+Roach
Bonk is about sex, including the author convincing her husband to have sex in an MRI for science
https://www.amazon.com/Bonk-Curious-Coupling-Science-Sex-ebook/dp/B003M5IGE2/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1502060523&sr=8-9&keywords=Mary+Roach
Packing for Mars is all about the details of putting people into space
https://www.amazon.com/Packing-Mars-Curious-Science-Life-ebook/dp/B003YJEXUM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1502060523&sr=8-5&keywords=Mary+Roach
Basically, I think everything she writes is worth reading if you write fiction.
I can't underestimate the value of this book—but I'm not alone, it's the book everyone that knows what they're talking about recommends. I just read Stephen King's book "On Writing," (I'm not a SK fan, but everyone loves his book on writing—it's a very highly rated book). And Stephen King skips talking about writing style almost completely because "The Elements of Style" exists.
Nothing compares to this one, tiny little book. It gets updated every ten years or something but it looks like this.
Every time you read this, your writing will become more and more bullet-proof against writing criticism. When people say "know the rules" before you break them, this little book is a list of those rules.
I agree, I've read some great short fiction over the years, and I don't even read much short fiction. I think part of the problem is the value proposition. Take one of your examples, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and compare with say Game of Thrones.
They cost the same, but GoT is only a bit short of 10 times the size.