Tips for Writers

There are many helpful books about writing — a few favorites follow — but it’s also possible to extrapolate principles directly from well-written fiction and nonfiction.

• A quirky example of how to effectively play with point-of-view: The Empress of Weehawken by Irene Dische. Irene writes the autobiography of her own grandmother, who complains about her worthless granddaughter, Irene.
• For descriptive passages about ice and snow so powerful you will need a coat, Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin.
• As a model of concision, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. “Bums in the Attic,” barely a page long, tells us everything about being poor and having dreams.
• For an unusual use of second-person narration (“you”), The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber.
• A surreal relationship to time reflected in the structure of the book itself: A Three Dog Life, a memorable and poignant memoir by Abigail Thomas.
• If you’re about to head off to the proverbial desert island to do some writing, and your backpack is really small, I’d suggest packing Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. The title refers to a situation her brother, ten years old at the time, found himself in—up against a deadline for a school report on birds. Their father advised him: “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” Lamott’s subtitle has two parts, both valuable, both beautifully and helpfully laid out in this book: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.
• On Writing by Stephen King: Ya gotta love a guy who exhorts you to remember that “to write adverbs is human, to write he said or she said is divine.” Earthy, personal, funny—and consistently helpful.
• For writer’s block: On Writer’s Block: A New Approach to Creativity by Victoria Nelson. Supportive suggestions for turning a stumbling block into a building block.
• For writing exercises: What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers, by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter, gives a variety of ways to approach creative issues and their solutions.
• For good tips, rather like sound bites: How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, by Janet Evanovich, with Ina Yalof.
• Who says using correct English can’t be fun? You’ll have a great time with Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O'Conner. You’ll also find out the answer to the burning question, “Death Sentence: Do clichés deserve to die?”
• The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon. With a title like that, you can’t possibly be surprised to find this as an example of a coordinate conjunction: “The robot and the dentist tangoed beneath the stars.” Not to mention the bizarre illustrations.

Classes and workshops can bring everyone to a new level.

Deborah teaches an intensive summer course at the New School in New York City for the first three weeks of June.

Even in that short time, if the students do the work, they can make huge progress. They revise and revise, and end up with a strong grasp of their own strengths and a sense of what they may want to work on next.