Beautiful Blogger = Beautiful Books

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Happy Halloween by the way 🙂

I’ve been nominated by Pat Wood and by Marina at Writing is Hard Work for the Beautiful Blogger Award 🙂 Thank you both, so much! 🙂

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So the rules are that I share 7 things about myself and then pass this award on…. Ok, well, you know me, I do like to break the rules, so, I’m going to recommend 7 books that I think should be on every writers book shelf 🙂

I apologise now that all these links are for the UK.

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The Artists Way by Julia Cameron is the book that started me on my writing journey.

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The Writers Book of Days has been brilliant. I can’t tell you how much I’ve loved this book! It’s been my bible and constant companion since the 1st January of this year. It has encouraged me to write every single day and I will feel bereft without it come the 1st January 2013

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The 5 Minute Writer by Margaret Geraghty was the first ever “writing” book I used. I loved all the exercises, and the concept that you only need 5 minutes.

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The Writers Treasury of Ideas by Linda Lewis is fabulous for generating story ideas. Trust me, if you have this book, you will never be stumped for a story idea, ever again!

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Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg. I’m reading it now and loving it! Actually, any Natalie Goldberg you can get your hands on is a great investment.

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If you’re into writing romance you can’t go far wrong with Mary Wibberly’s To Writers With Love which, unfortunately is out of print now. It’s a little bit dated, but still very valuable. I love it! We said to Mary at Swanwick in August that she should urge the publishers to republish it. We’ll work on her next year 😉

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Last, but by no means least (and for all you Kindle lovers) The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi. What can I say about this book….BRILLIANT! I am almost tempted to tell you to buy a Kindle for this book alone! But it’s fine on an iPad, or PC/Laptop. An invaluable guide for all fiction writers 🙂

So there we have it. My top 7 writing books 🙂 I’m sure there are many other great books out there, but these are the ones I own and love 🙂 If you have a favourite writing book that’s not on my list please let me know, I’m always open to recommendations. *whispers* I can hear hubby grinding his teeth and thinking more books…more money he he he 😉

Now, onto the nominations! 🙂

I’m going to nominate…..
Heather James
Marina at Finding Time To Write
Bridget Whelan
Bel Anderson
Debbie at The Wicked Queens Mirror
Katherine at The Intrinsic Writer
Lanise at The Timekeepers Journal

Please check out all these lovely bloggers 🙂

Sooooo, tomorrow is the 1st of November *gulp* and the start of Nano!!!!! Good luck to everyone who’s participating! 🙂

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33 thoughts on “Beautiful Blogger = Beautiful Books”

  9. Thanks for the book recommendations. I’d like to get the Emotional Thesaurus as I am always looking for better ways to describe actions and feelings of characters.

    Ooh Nano tomrrow! :O

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  11. My favorite writing resource books are:
    Sol Stein’s “On Writing” – http://www.amazon.com/Stein-Writing-Successful-Techniques-Strategies/dp/0312254210 and Steven King’s :On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” – http://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351751533&sr=1-1&keywords=stephen+king+on+writing+a+memoir+of+the+craft
    Thanks for the recommendations. “The Emotional Thesaurus” looks especially interesting.

    Good luck on Nano!
    Richard

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  13. Hi Vikki – thanks for all the wonderful blog links you share – there are so many wonderful bloggers out there and so little time to read them all. How do you organise this? The more great blogs I discover, the more time I spend reading them and the less time writing! I’d love to follow them all……I wanted to say that I am both humbled and overwhelmed by the amazing bloggers out there and the sharing culture. I’ve learned (and continue to learn) so much and am so grateful for the connections. Your nanowrimo name is very apt, because you are truly an angel, Vikki! Thanks for your generosity sharing your knowledge, experience and links.

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    • Awwwwww, thank you so much Jane! 🙂

      I have to admit, I spend approx 2 hours every single day on the blog…ie comments and reading others. I’ve had to cut it down, and now I take full advantage of the “like” button we have on WordPress blogs. I couldn’t possibly comment on every blog I read anymore 😦

      Ha ha ha, my knowledge and experience? Getaway! Lol….I’m a novice! 😉

      You’re very welcome Jane and thank you for your kind words *blushes* 🙂

      Xx

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  14. What I love about Natalie Goldberg’s latest is how the book grows, how it swells, how it starts with small, private memories and joins these to the larger world. “The reason we want to write memoir,” she says, “is an ache, a longing, a passing of time that we feel all too strongly.” The longing calls up stories, calls up details, which are the anchor of any memoir. The details are vital, “but detail devoid of feeling is a marble rolling across a hard wood floor.”Memoir, says Goldberg, “is taking personal experience and turning it inside out. We surrender our most precious understanding, so others can feel what we felt and be enlarged.” Our feelings connect us not just to the past, but to the rest of the sentient world, even the political world. We may lead a lucky life compared to others around the globe. We may write about a red wagon or “the slow spring we remember in Ohio, while at the same time atrocities, torture, genocide are happening. It’s not wrong that our life has been graced, but it’s important to acknowledge that while a rose blooms a bomb is being dropped.”Much of Goldberg’s advice on writing we have read before, in her earlier books. But her suggestions here for putting the mind and heart in gear, as we put pen to paper, are perfectly fresh. More and more of us want to uncover and write down our own stories, and Old Friend from Far Away will be welcomed by anyone struggling to set down the sweet or painful pressure of her life, the past as it flows into the present. The book is filled with inventive observations, and with Natalie Goldberg’s infectious belief in writing practice. “Stay connected to the power,” she says, “the pleasure of writing. Come back to that over and over.” A lovely and trenchant book.

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  15. Pingback: Beautiful Blogger – that’s me! Seven things you didn’t know you wanted to know « BRIDGET WHELAN writer

  16. Pingback: Finding Inspiration in “Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within” by Natalie Goldberg « Zezee's Link

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