Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott
Useful for an out-of-the-ordinary approach to thinking about writing. Pretty readable, too. Sure, the author can be a rambling weirdo, but she's from California. It gives a really great perspective of the mindset of a writer, which I tend to take for granted, but I suppose others would find novel. Fiction Writing.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King
Simply the best non-Elements of Style book on writing there is. And entertaining and interesting, too. Fiction Writing.
"Rip Van Winkle," by Washington Irving
Everyone knows this story: A shiftless man(who is a terrible farmer, with a nagging wife) goes hunting in the Catskills one day, he meets some Dutch spirits bowling, and then takes a nap that lasts for twenty years. During this time, the Revolutionary War has happened and ended, and so Rip can finally fulfill his position in life, as a storyteller to the village children. Fiction Writing.
Everyone knows this story: A shiftless man(who is a terrible farmer, with a nagging wife) goes hunting in the Catskills one day, he meets some Dutch spirits bowling, and then takes a nap that lasts for twenty years. During this time, the Revolutionary War has happened and ended, and so Rip can finally fulfill his position in life, as a storyteller to the village children. Fiction Writing.
"The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin
A woman named Louise, who suffers from a heart condition, learns that her husband has been killed in a railway accident, and excitedly ponders the future as a free woman, wondering what that "freedom" means. Then her supposedly-dead husband walks through the front door, giving her a fatal heart attack. Fiction Writing.
"A White Heron," by Sarah Orne Jewett
A yougn girl named Sylvy, painfully shy, lives with her poor grandmother in the rural part of Maine. One day a handsome bird-hunter comes looking for a white heron to add to his collection, and Sylvy struggles with whether she should tell him the location of a white heron she knows about. He's offering a reward, after all, and they could certainly use the money. But there are much more vital things in this world than money.
Fiction Writing
Fiction Writing
"Roman Fever," by Edith Wharton
This story is just dying to have been made into a 1950's movie starring Cary Grant.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King
The best book on writing that I've ever read. (Sure, Stephen King isn't the greatest writing in terms of quality or content, but he knows what he's talking about. And some of his stuff is pretty good.) Fiction Writing.
Playwriting Brief and Brilliant, by Julie Jensen
The Elements of Style as approached from the angle of a playwright. Scriptwriting.
Tales From Tent City, by Brian James Polak (2014)
This is the script of the play RSU Theater performed during the spring semester; it follows a group of teenagers living on the street; sort like a homeless Breakfast Club. Examined closely in Scriptwriting for work on the formatting of play scripts.
"A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner
A portrait of a very peculiar old woman. I would really like Faulkner, I think, if I had the patience to actually get through most of his work. (His tone is great, and the characters seem really good, it's just that he rambles too much to pay attention to.) Fiction Writing.
"The Man Who Was Almost a Man," by Richard Wright
An irresponsible black teenager shoots his boss's mule with a new pistol he bought, then runs away from the consequences by becoming a hobo. Fiction Writing.
"The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson
I have no idea what this story is about, which really surprised Dr. Mackie, since I can usually dig through subtext and read between the lines better than most. But the plot follows members of a small rural community one June 27th, where they hold the lottery of seeing who of their number must be stoned. Then they proceed to stone a housewife. It's a rather horrible story, made even worse (and more confounding) due to the conversational, easily-read tone and diction. Fiction Writing.
How NOT To Write a Screenplay, by Denny Martin Flinn
Numerous examples of what to avoid when writing a screenplay. Scriptwriting.
Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry, by David Mason and John Frederick Nims
This is a very thorough overview of poetic forms, though it's a little skimpy of going into the details of what most of these definitions mean. Studies in Poetry.
"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," by Ursula K. Le Guin
In a perfect society, without harm or distress of any kind, is it worth living in, if you know that someone, somewhere, is suffering all the torment and agony of the whole city? And especially if you know that sufferer is a child? Fiction Writing
Lament for a Son, by Nicholas Wolterstorff (1987)
A man tries to deal with his grief after his son dies in a mountain-climbing accident. Comparative Religion.
A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis (1961)
A self-edited version of notebooks he kept after his wife died of cancer; lots of hard, honest questions for God, for himself and for the world in general. Comparative Religion.
Night, by Elie Wiesel (1960)
A very bitter account of time spent in a concentration camp, from the perspective of a spoiled rich Jewish teenager. True, life was quite likely horrible, but even so, this is unnecessarily harsh and ungrateful. Comparative Religion.
Invitation to World Religions, by Jeffrey Brodd, et al. (2013)
A very logically-laid-out textbook on the study of world religions, which seem entirely outside the sphere of academic study, due to their inherent and unconquerable subjectivity. Comparative Religion.
A portrait of a very peculiar old woman. I would really like Faulkner, I think, if I had the patience to actually get through most of his work. (His tone is great, and the characters seem really good, it's just that he rambles too much to pay attention to.) Fiction Writing.
"The Man Who Was Almost a Man," by Richard Wright
An irresponsible black teenager shoots his boss's mule with a new pistol he bought, then runs away from the consequences by becoming a hobo. Fiction Writing.
"The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson
I have no idea what this story is about, which really surprised Dr. Mackie, since I can usually dig through subtext and read between the lines better than most. But the plot follows members of a small rural community one June 27th, where they hold the lottery of seeing who of their number must be stoned. Then they proceed to stone a housewife. It's a rather horrible story, made even worse (and more confounding) due to the conversational, easily-read tone and diction. Fiction Writing.
How NOT To Write a Screenplay, by Denny Martin Flinn
Numerous examples of what to avoid when writing a screenplay. Scriptwriting.
Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry, by David Mason and John Frederick Nims
This is a very thorough overview of poetic forms, though it's a little skimpy of going into the details of what most of these definitions mean. Studies in Poetry.
"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," by Ursula K. Le Guin
In a perfect society, without harm or distress of any kind, is it worth living in, if you know that someone, somewhere, is suffering all the torment and agony of the whole city? And especially if you know that sufferer is a child? Fiction Writing
Lament for a Son, by Nicholas Wolterstorff (1987)
A man tries to deal with his grief after his son dies in a mountain-climbing accident. Comparative Religion.
A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis (1961)
A self-edited version of notebooks he kept after his wife died of cancer; lots of hard, honest questions for God, for himself and for the world in general. Comparative Religion.
Night, by Elie Wiesel (1960)
A very bitter account of time spent in a concentration camp, from the perspective of a spoiled rich Jewish teenager. True, life was quite likely horrible, but even so, this is unnecessarily harsh and ungrateful. Comparative Religion.
Invitation to World Religions, by Jeffrey Brodd, et al. (2013)
A very logically-laid-out textbook on the study of world religions, which seem entirely outside the sphere of academic study, due to their inherent and unconquerable subjectivity. Comparative Religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment