Wednesday, August 4, 2021

The Insecure Writer's Support Group-August 2021

 


It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time for another meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. Our leader Alex J. Cavanaugh has a great group of co-hosts for this month: PK Hrezo, Cathrina Constantine, PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, and Sandra Cox.

Be sure to check out the IWSG website for great writing resources!

The optional question for this month is: What is your favorite writing craft book? Think of a book that every time you read it you learn something or you are inspired to write or try the new technique. And why?

I've read a lot of great craft books over the years. If I find one I love, I keep it on my shelf and refer back to it often. The one I've been consulting the most as of late has been Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. It takes the great advice from the original Save the Cat!, which is focused on screenwriting, and adapts it to novel writing.

This book looks a lot at various types of stories, story structure, and how structure helps to create a compelling narrative. It also breaks down many popular novels beat by beat, so it's easy to understand. I think this book has definitely helped me in my own writing.

What craft books do you love?

8 comments:

  1. Yes! That was my pick as well. Although I went with the first one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely on my TBR pile. My favorite at the moment is Story Genius.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm just learning about this version of Saves the Cat. Looks like one to check out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Laura,
    I have Save the Cat but have only read the first chapter so far, which doesn't mean I don't like it. I usually read the chapter that I need to learn the most from first and then sometime later the entire book.

    Shalom aleichem,
    Pat G @ EverythingMustChange

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm always editing, so mine is Chicago Manual of Style.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yeah. In my other hat as a journalist, Chicago Manual is invaluable. I don't own many writing resource books but I do own this one, despite its rather steep price.

      Delete
  6. So many people praise Save the Cat. I'm surprised I never read it. I have to rectify that. Already placed a hold on it at my library.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've heard a lot about that book. Time to get a copy!

    ReplyDelete