My husband has a way of thinking up stories. He wants to put his thoughts into a novel and I want to get him a "how to write your own novel" kind of book for Christmas. Any experience with a particular one? I would love to hear your suggestions!
my dh loves a website called helium.com
there is a lot of info there on the site and he can put on his short stories and pieces of his novels to get feedback--
he even got paid for one of the short stories he submitted.
I don't know of any how to books, but thought I would share that website.
L., I just graduated from College (Montana State University) with Bachelor of Arts in teaching English language and literature (I was teaching English as a Foreign Language in many countries for eons, but now I added literature teaching, too).
OUR ALL TIMES FAVORITE CLASS of Non-Fiction Creative Writing was the one that we took from Doctor Danell Jones. She's the BEST! Now, she wrote the book on how to write,
http://www.amazon.com/Virginia-Woolf-Writers-Workshop-Les...
and she also used the book
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-True-Craft-Creative-Nonfict...
We did almost all the exercises from this book.
Now to prove you how good was the class with these books, I will tell you this:
We had 18 students in her class, and out of them, at the end of the semester when we had to part, we got so awfully sad that 14 of us decided to keep meeting for workshops with our own writings, no matter that it would not be an official class anymore.
Guess what? This workshop, 3 years later, IS STILL ALIVE! People from Doctor Danell's class (that's how we lovingly call her), us aspiring writers that is, AND DANELL herself also, we still come together, and we share the writings online, comment, critique, argue, cry and laugh as we are one great close family, sharing our stories, essays, and such!
If you buy these above named two books, and add the one I give a link to below, this money will never be wasted,
because of course, you need to add the classics about how to do good writing, which is
A Room of One's Own
by Virginia Woolf
http://www.amazon.com/Room-Ones-Virginia-Woolf-Lighthouse...
I teach literature classes for middle and high school kids, and they absolutely love our writing workshops that I set them up: we already win over the kids who thought they hate writing and literature; one kid told me he hates it, and even refused to write his first one-page free-writing draft in September, and now guess what, right now they have an assignment to write a fable 1-3 pages long, and this kid comes to me concerned that he didn't have time to print his handwritten story out in time, because it is 15 pages long!
I wish your husband to enjoy this hard work of writing lessons to the utmost! If he has talent he will publish very soon! If his talent needs support in developing professional skills, with perseverance in accomplishing the lessons suggested in these books, and especially following Virginia Woolfe's and Danell Jones' advice, he will get there soon!!!!
All the best!
M.
As a teacher, I saw a lot of success in the older grades by using The Six Traits. I don't know if it's available as a non-teacher resource, but you can look into it (you can also talk to your local school to see if they have any info for you). I also agree that you can check out the NoNoWriMo website.
I am also an amatuer writer myself, and I have found that the more a person reads (anything well written) the more they are able to write. Sometimes I will read an old favorite with the purpose of paying attention to style, detail, etc for my own use. Since it is fiction/novels he is interested in, he should read plenty of novel, and I would say from different styles, genres, time periods too.
Also, the more one writes the better one gets. Even if it's not meant for publication. He can just start writing his stories down and see how it goes. He can always go back and edit later. Some things may never be finished, some may be finished but never published, and some may make the best seller list :) I've been told by successful authors that one should write for the love of writing/story creation - that's what makes a writer.
He just missed NaNoWriMo for this November, but he might check out their website anyway. They might have some book suggestions as well.
Look for 'Writing the Breakout Novel' by Donald Maas. He's my husband's agent and amazing. As the spouse of a part-time (striving for full-time)author, I have to admit that I have a love hate relationship with the art. It can be many hours put in for little money out (striving for more :)). The thrill he gets from creating needs to be the pay off.
Think about getting him a little cassette recorder or voice to type translator for the computer. it makes it easier to pit out your thoughts, weave a story and then get it into written format. He can use the recorder to capture the moment, then getting it to paper is easier. GL!!
My suggestion is to look for a local writing class through the community. I found one here in Spanish Fork that was excellent. The teacher was well-published and the class was simple, but thorough and very interesting. Maybe there is something similar near you. I think that would be a terrific gift!
I wish I could recommend one good book, but there are too many out there to choose only one. Just make sure you find a book that teaches basic Aristotelian plot structure - it's an essential foundation for any writer.
Also, has he considered coauthoring? Maybe he can be the idea man and someone else can do the writing. Good luck!
Doesn't the saying go, "Writing is easy. Just sit down to the typewriter and open up a vein..."
