There are so many books on writing fiction, but I never stuck with many because they proved short on at least one of my key criteria.
- A general book rather than specific (i.e not focused on just plot, characters, psychology, etc.)
- It should be written by somebody prolific and respected …
- … and not be Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’. I don’t like Stephen King, and don’t want to read about his drug-fuelled writing.
- Respects the reader’s intelligence; assumes they want to write for it’s own sake than for money. I don’t want to read about the ‘first sentence’ and submitting my manuscript.
- Provides actionable and practical assistance, without a ton of dreadful exercises.
Gardner’s book is one of the rare ones that meet all of these criteria. It also helped me develop a greater sensitivity and appreciation for literature. It has a collection of exercises at the end intended for classroom use but encourages the reader to not stay in them too long, and should rather focus on writing something they want to.