Hello,

When I write I make sure I have two special books at hand, they are: Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and On Writing by Stephen King. I know most writers always have “writing” books or books about writing in easy reach when they are getting it down. My reasons for having my favorite writing books around are many but I’ll only comment on a few: I love reading passages from On Writing over and over again and not just the chapters on the practical aspects of writing, the “Toolbox” section as Mr. King calls it where he advises on the important basics of writing, using adverbs, grammar, style, plot (or not how to develop one), to read, read and read some more, description, theme, all the mechanics of the writing process, what I love the most about On Writing is that it’s truly like reading one of your favorite novels its full of stories of Mr. King’s life that draw you in like one of his great novels and they fit into the book just like pieces of a puzzle so perfectly that moving from a few paragraphs on how to write dialogue to the story of how he started writing Misery is a smooth ride like eating your favorite ice cream sundae and someone adding more whip cream on top.

I learn something from every page of On Writing. I can open the book on page one hundred fourteen and fall right into it (page 114 discusses vocabulary as one of the best necessaries as a writer) any page and not only learn something important, I’m also entertained, enthralled and like always--inspired--by its great writing and how it moves me to write—just write—and to try and do a great job at it.

I keep Writing the Breakout Novel close by because to me it’s a blue print on how to construct the best book that I can; Mr. Maass tells you like it is and he does it with precise language and a truckload of helpful information such as examples of the kind of writing that adheres to his point, checklists at the end of each chapter that gives the highlights of that chapter and he has also added a workbook that compliments his writing book where you can construct your novel right in front of you and I’m using it now for my novel The Geography of Love so that I will not miss out on the essential ingredients needed to create a great story. I use the workbook (as well as the book itself) when writing each of my novels because it gives me confidence that I’m going in the right direction while I’m traveling that long writing road.

Whatever “writing books” you use to help bolster you through the writing process is a great thing because the tools we need to get us to keep up the writing is to our advantage and to the works advantage. The goal is always to do our best writing as much as we possibly can and that’s not easy, so anything to help us along in this process is a gift.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please e-mail me at: matwrite1@hotmail. com. I’ll love to hear from you.

Until next time, God willing,

Lori