jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner) (05/14/85)
[...]
I'd like to nominate a few more books that say interesting things
about writing:
Harlan Ellison et al, Partners in Wonder:
This is a collection of short stories that were written as
collaborations between Ellison and various other SF writers.
To introduce each, Ellison explains the circumstances of how
they were written. Not a lot about writing in itself, but a
good many nice details on the writing _profession_: making
sales, rewriting, etc.
Samuel R. Delany, Distant Stars:
I have long been an admirer of Delany's prose style. In the
introduction to this book, he gives his three rules of writing
(two of which are borrowed from other writers, but who cares?).
Note: I have only seen this book as a "quality paperback" (one
of the big ones that costs more) -- I imagine it would be
expensive to buy, but the one I read was from the library.
Ursula K. LeGuin, Children of the Night (?):
(Not quite sure of the title) This is an entire book of essays
and SF criticism. A gold mine!
All these books are in our local public library. I doubt if any would
be available in any conventional book store (and if you know a book store
that would carry them, you're very lucky). Just by the by, I often wonder
why people on the net almost never mention libraries. In net.sf-lovers,
net.books, and several other groups, I've seen people sending messages
saying "where can I get hold of book X" where X is something that has been
discussed recently. When I see an interesting book mentioned, I go straight
to the library. I figure our local library is batting about 75% which is
very, very good considering the specialized nature of some of the books
under discussion. Those in larger cities (Waterloo only has a population
of 55,000) should have even better luck with libraries. For example,
I am filled with envy at the luck of Torontonians who have access to an
entire library filled with SF (The Spaced-out Library, founded by Judith
Merrill who donated a huge number of books to get the place started).
Jim Gardner, University of Waterloojagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner) (05/14/85)
[...] Just another set of books that have nice tidbits about writing: the story collections from the Clarion workshops usually have interesting comments from the teachers and the students. The stories themselves are pretty hit-and-miss (at least the ones I've read), but there's something very invigorating about the writings of a writer who has just spent a week or more thinking about writing in the company of 20 or 30 other writers. Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo
ellen@reed.UUCP (Ellen Eades) (05/18/85)
The title of the Ursula LeGuin book is _The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction_. Highly recommended. Ellen
psc@lzwi.UUCP (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (05/20/85)
< Smokey the Bar says, "Stamp out software pirates" [squish!] > > I would also like to point out, however, that in between the > stories [in UNICORN VARIATIONS] he makes comments on > writing, and what he learned, and how to do it, etc. This > is also true of his previous collection, THE LAST DEFENDER > OF CAMALOT. For anyone with an interest in writing, fiction > writing in particular, these two books are a must. > -SKZB Good point, and one I neglected in my review of UNICORN VARIATIONS. This raises an interesting point: What are good books to read to learn about writing? Specifically, what books have forewords, afterwords, junk between the stories, etc., that give insight into writing as an activity? May I start this discussion off with some examples? (Why, thank you very much!) Zelazny's THE LAST DEFENDER OF CAMELOT and UNICORN VARIATIONS are particularly good, as Zelazny has written a *lot* of stories, long and short, and mentions how the short effects the long. Harlan Ellison's STRANGE WINE and ALL THE LIES THAT ARE MY LIFE. His earlier collections talk about writing in them, too, but not as well. The introductions in the above two books are better than 99.44% of the fiction I've read. Alas, STALKING THE NIGHTMARE has a fictionalized introduction from Ellison's Middle Messianic Period. There are some good "Tales from the Real World", though, and some of Ellison's fiction, which is fantastic or not, depending on some quirk of the reader's mind. Joe Haldeman's INFINITE DREAMS, with comments as detailed as Zelazny's, but concentrating less on effects on novels and more on the short stuff itself. Your turn. -- -Paul S. R. Chisholm ...!{pegasus,vax135}!lzwi!psc The above opinions are my own, ...!{hocsj,ihnp4}!lznv!psc not necessarily anyone else's, ...!{pegasus,cbosgd}!lzmi!psc including my employer's.