Writing Guides

★★★☆☆ | Writing | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads 

Having heard about bullet journaling for years, I decided to finally read Ryder Carroll’s well-regarded book. I didn’t expect to adopt the practice. I have a well-established journaling habit, both in a physical notebook in the mornings and in a digital journal app at night. However, I did pick up some interesting tips on ways I could make my notebook scribbles more accessible after the fact.

What surprised me was how well Carroll writes about the benefits of journaling for work and personal fulfillment, particularly how daily reflection can help you make time for those important but not necessarily urgent things in life.

This was a worthwhile read, no matter your stance on bullet journaling.

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The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder CarrollRead More »

★★★★☆ | Writing | Digital | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads 

An entertaining book filled with practical advice on how to improve your storytelling, whether in front of a live audience, on a date, or in a written essay. Dicks shares examples of his own stories, then breaks down why they work. ★★★★☆

★★★★☆ | Writing | Print | Own | Goodreads | StoryGraph

It took me months and months to finish this book, and I think that’s the right pace for something like this. This book can only be appreciated in print form. The pictures and notes would not work at all on Kindle.  The challenge of the book is that it’s almost impossible for creative people to articulate how they created their work, and this problem pervades the book.  Moss takes this in stride, but there are few eureka moments that feel at all instructive. Still, it’s alway fun to get a glimpse into how artists work. If there’s a theme here, it’s art is hard. Keep trying.

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The Work of Art by Adam MossRead More »

★★★☆☆ | Writing | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

Book Notes

Divide writing time into thirds:

1. Idea generation
2. Composition
3. Editing and style

Three rules for ordering of arguments:

1. Make concessions to the opposition first
2. Devote at least one paragraph to every major pro argument in your thesis statement
3. Save your best argument for last.

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Thinking on Paper by V.A. Howard, J.H. BartonRead More »

★★★☆☆ | Writing.  | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

I learned at least one thing from reading this book: I have not been doing the Zettelkasten thing right. Mr. Doto here provides a practical guide on how it’s supposed to be done, and in reading it, it helped me conclude decisively that this kind of note-taking is absurd and in no way how I want to take notes.

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A System for Writing by Bob DotoRead More »

★★★☆☆ | Writing | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

An amusing mishmash of quotes and editorializing on the benefits of showing up and sharing your work, including the messy sausage making process.  I read this on a Kindle, so may have missed out on the visual aspects of Kleon’s work.  But to me, it felt more like a commonplace book of inspirational (and sometimes disconnected) quotes.

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Show Your Work by Austin KleonRead More »

★★★★☆ | Writing | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads 

A slow read over the course of a few months, one chapter/writing tool per sitting. Lots of great tips and advice to improve your writing.

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Writing Tools by Roy Peter ClarkRead More »

★★★★☆ | Writing | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

Reading Notes

A quick, lively read.  Take aways:

1. Show up and do the work.  Fake it til you make it.
2. Studying a favorite author in depth, and then their three favorite authors, is a great way to emulate and build on their genius.
3. Get away from the computer during the creative parts of the work.  Grab a pen and notebook.  Go outside and walk.
4. Write the book you would want to read. Similar to Rilke’s advice to his young poet.

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Steal Like an Artist by Austin KleonRead More »

★★★☆☆ | Writing | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Guardian Book Review

What a strange little book about essay writing coupled with the author’s lifelong suffering of loss and depression.  There were some insights about essay structure and composition that I highlighted (see below), and, reeling from Connor’s death, I was somehow comforted by the author’s repeated declarations of woe.  He used writing as a method to stave off his depression, which apparently worked until it didn’t.

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Essayism by Brian DillonRead More »

★★★☆☆ | Writing | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

Advice on Essay Endings:

1. Repeat a phrase or idea that was introduced earlier, like the return of a musical refrain; Often the initial setup or opening sentence will forecast the ending.
2. Tweak or transform an earlier mentioned idea into something new, perhaps with a different spin.
3. Introduce a new insight helped in reserve just for the occasion of the ending.
4. “Readers should be left with some things to work out on their own.”

“Creative nonfiction allows the nonfiction writer to use literary techniques usually used only by fiction writers, such as scene-setting, description, dialogue, action, suspense, plot. All those things that make terrific short stories and novels allow the nonfiction writer to tell true stories in the most cinematic and dramatic way possible. That’s creative nonfiction.” — Lee Gutkind

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To Show and to Tell by Phillip LopateRead More »