thedailychannel.com — recommended books

Writing to Learn by William Zinnser

There's no question that Writing to Learn by William Zinsser is one of the best books I read in 1999. Certainly it was one of the most surprising. I had assumed it would be as dull and soporific as a placid textbook, but it was not. With help from professionals in many disciplines, Zinnser provides examples of clear, engaging, often gripping writing. If you write nonfiction, if you teach, or even if you just plan to learn something, this book will inspire and rejuvenate.

If you just like to read, you'll still pick up great references to well-written, interesting books. Writing to Learn is eminently re-readable, but you'll probably loan your copy, so you should consider ordering the paperback.

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The Clockwork Muse by Eviatar Zerubavel

Eviatar Zerubavel, a sociologist who has written seven books in 21 years, reveals his secret method for writing them: Establish a schedule based on an outline of the book. Break it down into sections and estimate how many days each section will take to complete, by estimating the number of pages in the section, and the rate at pages per day (usually 1, 1.5 or 2 pages). Then, using a calendar which shows the days on which you will write, establish deadlines so you will know how you are doing.

Write the first draft all the way through to the end, and then write two or three more drafts, incorporating ideas and reorganizations which have occurred to you during the earlier drafts. Best of all, this book helps you determine how many pages you can, and should, write per day. Because if you write too many, you may just end up rewriting them the following day.

That's basically the gist of it, although there's a nice treatment of color coding and the organization of sections in such a way that you can see your progress, as the pages physically accrue.

Clockwork Muse reviewed July 31 1999

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Not sure what to do next? Pick a topic, outline it, head on over to amazon.com and order a copy of Writing to Learn by William Zinnser

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On Writing by Stephen King

I'll always remember extolling the virtues of this extremely funny book to a superior being, who responded, Well, certainly I would never regard Stephen King as an authority on writing.. I argued that if you wanted to write a best-selling novel it was pretty silly to ignore someone who has written fifty best-selling novels. I believe perhaps they hadn't read any of his books. Here are some cruel weblog notes about On Writing by Stephen King. Cruel to you, that is.

On Writing reviewed Apr. 25 2003

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How to Grow a Novel by Sol Stein

I tried to put Sol Stein's advice into practice, in a crazy four-paragraph story opening. It was a lot harder than I expected!

How to Grow a Novel reviewed Apr 6 2002