Thursday, April 16, 2009

Two Writer's Digest Books Featured on All Things Considered...

We were very excited to learn that two of our books were featured on NPR yesterday in the latest installment in an All Things Considered series called Three Books. During the segment, titled Get That Book Deal: Three Books Tell You How, author Sarah Pekkanen discussed the three titles about writing that helped her the most.

Pekkanen, whose debut novel The Opposite of Me will be published next year by S&S imprint Atria, said Stephen King's On Writing inspired her; Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel (a WD book) taught her the importance of conflict; and James Scott Bell's Plot & Structure (also a WD book) kept her organized.




A related NPR piece yesterday discussed publishers gambling with big advances on what they hope to be blockbusters. (If you click through to these stories on the NPR site, you can both read them and listen to them.)

What are you favorite books on writing? Leave a comment let me and my readers know what you've found helpful or inspiring.

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4 comments:

Casey Something said...

Awesome!

I have PLOT & STRUCTURE and refer to it all the time. I've recommended it a handful of times on my blog, too!

Vacuum Queen said...

I love ON WRITING. It's a great read even if you don't write. And Anne Lamott's BIRD BY BIRD. Not that you were asking for my personal inspiration list. :)

Eric J. Krause said...

I'm another who really enjoys--and is really inspired by--Stephen King's ON WRITING. Another one I like is Orson Scott Card's CHARACTERS AND VIEWPOINTS. There are others, too, but those are the two that jump to mind.

Paula Wiseman said...

I'd recommend HOOKED by Les Edgerton, and SCENE & STRUCTURE by Jack Bickham. I also agree with the recommendation for PLOT & STRUCTURE.