Useful Links
Of course I hope you will send me your manuscript so that we can start working together on preparing the text for submission to an agent. But if you don’t feel ready to show anything yet, and would like to learn more about the nuts and bolts of novel-writing, here are some helpful books on the subject:
Writing
Plot and Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting and Plot That Grips Readers from Start to Finish (Write Great Fiction)
- James Scott Bell, Writer’s Digest Books
Novelist's Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes (Novelists Essentials)
- Raymond Obstfeld, Writer’s Digest Books
Beginnings, Middles and Ends (The Elements of Fiction Writing)
- Nancy Kress, Writer’s Digest Books
Characters, Emotions and Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints (Write Great Fiction)
- Nancy Kress, Writer’s Digest Books
On Writing
- Stephen King, various publishers
How to Write a Thriller
- Scott Mariani, How To Books Ltd
How to Write a Mystery
- Larry Beinhart, Ballantine Books
Writing a Children’s Book
- Pamela Cleaver, How To Books Ltd
From Pitch to Publication
- Carol Blake, Macmillan
Punctuation
If punctuation is your bugbear, here are three useful web links:
Apostrophe is devoted to the apostrophe and will show you how to use it
Getting The Point leads you to a book on panic-free punctuation
Plain Words offers you a short course on how to punctuate, with a handy booklet to refer to afterwards
Other
The book that every aspiring author will have on their bookshelf is the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook