John Gardner. There, now that his name has been mentioned I guess The Storyteller's Inkpot qualifies as a forum for the discussion of writing. Today I was rereading some chapters in his The Art of Fiction as I prepared a presentation, and I was reminded that I don't exactly love the book. One's affection for these sorts of books ebbs and flows, I suspect. I'm curious as to what "how-to" books on craft my colleagues here are currently recommending to students. Anything newer than Janet Burroway, Robert Olen Butler or Gardner?
The best craft book for todays writer, in my opinion, is James Wood's "What Fiction Means." Free Indirect has changed the way I write. It is also fun to say, "I read that," when he quotes a book positively.
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