Books on Writing | A. W. Downer

Writing a Book

Posted on November 1, 2013 Leave a Comment

The other day, I gathered together all those craft books that I kept asking myself why I bought, sat on the couch, and read. I read How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card and Beginnings, Middles, and Endings by Nancy Kress, both of which have valuable information in them. Since I […]

Article: The Case for Good Taste in Children’s Books

Posted on September 16, 2013 Leave a Comment

What we write has huge impact. This is an excellent article that says much more eloquently what I would like to say: we need to seriously deliberate about what we include in our stories for young people. Regardless of what people may tell you, authors have responsibility for what we write and how it affects […]

Book: Characters and Viewpoint

Posted on September 13, 2013 Leave a Comment

One of my favorite craft books is Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card. When I first read it, I had never read any craft book before nor attended any creative writing courses. Consequently, a lot of it went over my head. I recently found the book (rather, my husband found it for me–thanks!) in […]

Favorite Books of the Semester

Posted on December 16, 2008 2 Comments

I just sent off my end of semester materials. I’m officially done with my first semester of graduate school. (I’m still waiting for my mentor’s response to my packet, though.) I’ve already begun reading for next semester. I’ve been reading books by the faculty members to help me get a feel for their writing styles. […]

It’s Weird to See a Backbone Walking Around without Any Other Bones or Flesh

Posted on September 29, 2008 Leave a Comment

I’m having even more trouble than usual this packet period. I just want to procrastinate so much. I have a story idea in my head, but I can’t flesh it out. I have a couple of characters with very unique qualities that give me the bare bones of a plotline. Not even, really. More like […]

From My Point of View . . .

Posted on September 17, 2008 Leave a Comment

Several people have told me that I need to work on point of view (POV). Most of the people in my workshop told me that I kept switching POV’s. I asked them if they thought maybe I should use a different POV, and they suggested omniscient as opposed to third-person. I tried that only to […]