{"id":206,"date":"2011-05-04T21:51:10","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T04:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/eatreadandbeharried\/?p=206"},"modified":"2011-05-04T21:51:10","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T04:51:10","slug":"what-writers-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/what-writers-read\/","title":{"rendered":"What writers read"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is a theme day for the blogathon. We’re supposed to write about our five favorite books on writing. I can think of a few I like and one I’m unsure of, but most of what I’ve learned from writing I’ve learned from reading great writers.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I underline passages, corner pages, or otherwise deface my books to note lines of particular beauty. In my blog two days ago, I mention a quote from Ian McEwan’s book Saturday<\/em> <\/a>that moved me. Other books that have left me with an appreciation of how writers use language include Amos Oz’s autobiography A Tale of Love and Darkness<\/a>, <\/em>Annie Dillard’s A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek<\/a>, <\/em>and <\/em>a book I go back to again and again, Pride and Prejudice<\/em><\/a>, which over the last 30 years has taught me that good writing can stand the test of time, no matter how drastically language and society change.<\/p>\n

There are books about writing that I also enjoyed. One, which is out of print, taught me that grammar isn’t boring. Pinckert’s Practical Grammar<\/em><\/a> was the first book I’d come across about the dry business of commas and semicolons that imparted knowledge with a good dose of humor. It has a counterpart in the more current offering on the same topic, Eats Shoots and Leaves<\/em><\/a> by Lynn Truss.\u00a0 That I like both these books is not to imply in any way that I abide by the laws of grammar. I have always believed that language is a living thing, and that how real people use it in the real world trumps rules. I do try to use proper grammar, but I don’t always succeed and will often knowingly flout a rule if I think a sentence sounds better with a split infinitive or a dangling participle.<\/p>\n

One book I’ve read over and over is Bird by Bird<\/a> by Anne Lamott. She inspires me and alleviates some of the inferiority I feel for never having studied literature at the university level. I read her and believe my stories are worthy of telling to a wider audience.<\/p>\n

I can’t say I feel the same about the book The War of Art<\/em><\/a>. Stephen Pressfield talks with authority on how to break through the blocks that commonly afflict writers. But I have trouble when he asserts that nothing short of being on your deathbed (and maybe not even that) will keep a real<\/em> writer from his or her craft. As someone who suffers from a debilitating chronic illness and is a single working mom to an autistic teenager, I don’t need that kind of accusation coming at me. There are days when I can’t write even a sentence, when it’s all I can do to feed my kid, walk my dog, floss my teeth and remember to moisturize. But aside from that gripe, it’s a worthy book for those who sometimes struggle to find the thread of thought that takes them to the next paragraph, page, or chapter.<\/p>\n

I don’t read a lot of books about writing, but I read a lot. I know what is good writing and what is dross. I know when a story is good but the writing is bad, when the characters are engaging but the plot is slow. And I love those times that I find a book that has great characters, a plot that impels you forward, and clear and moving language — I just finished What is Left the Daughter<\/em><\/a> by Howard Norman which has all of those elements.<\/p>\n

There was someone, sometime, who I was reading who implied that only those who study literature can truly write. I don’t believe that. But I believe that more than any writing class or book about writing, reading the work of those who can put an engaging sentence together will show a writer the way forward. And if you need help picking something to read, let me know. I have a gift for putting people together with books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is a theme day for the blogathon. We’re supposed to write about our five favorite books on writing. I can think of a few I like and one I’m unsure of, but most of what I’ve learned from writing I’ve learned from reading great writers. 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