We’re coming down the stretch of National Novel Writing Month, best known as NaNoWriMo, in which experienced and first-time writers alike come together with the goal of converting as many ideas as possible from thought to paper before November ends. Whether you managed to get down 400 words or 40,000, congratulations!
With Thanksgiving coming near, you might have a mostly-finished story on your hands, or if you’ve been unproductive like me (thank you, writer’s block), maybe a couple of paragraphs. Either way, if you’re thinking to yourself, “I have a whole bunch of words on this screen, but how do I craft this into something people will really want to read?” the Languages & Literature collection at Central Library offers quite a number of helpful guides that can keep you pointed the right way once the calendar flips to December.
For writers of all genres:
Gotham Writers’ Workshop: Writing Fiction
Remember the yellow newspaper boxes that used to be on almost every corner in NYC promoting writing courses that promised to make a writer out of anyone in just a few weeks? Gotham Writers still exists, though many of their classes are now virtual. This book, written in Gotham’s yellow-box heyday in the mid-2000s but still relevant today, offers useful primers on how to sharpen characters, plots, dialogue, pacing, and your story’s overall theme and voice. It’s a quick read, and if you’re really in a hurry, it offers an excellent “cheat sheet” at the very end.
The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, 3rd Edition
Featuring interviews with literary heavy hitters such as Khaled Hosseini, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Anne Rice and many more, this guide curated by the editors of Writer’s Digest provides “best-selling advice” on how to harness your inspiration and ideas, how to master plot and structure, mastering different aspects of the writing process, exploring different genres, and finding a market for your work.
Breathing Life Into Your Characters: How to Give Your Characters Emotional & Psychological Depth
Do you have an idea for your work, but the characters just aren’t popping? This guide by international writing consultant Dr. Rachel Ballon – a psychotherapist who works to unblock writers! -- touches upon how to give your characters motivation, how to create characters different from yourself and with unique backstories, how to create effective literary villains, and how to create “real” characters with real-life qualities and problems.
The Writer’s Idea Thesaurus: An Interactive Guide for Developing Ideas for Novels and Short Stories
If you’re itching to write, but have no idea what to write, this guide by longtime English professor Fred White offers 2,000 (!) different prompts covering several different genres.
For aspiring thriller writers, How to Write a Damn Good Thriller by novelist James N. Frey discusses the uniqueness of heroes and villains in that genre, and will guide you on how to make your story “hook ‘em and hold ‘em" until the end.
For aspiring mystery writers, Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron offers guidance on creating compelling victims and suspects as well as a supporting cast, along with a useful “blueprint” for writing mysteries. It also covers how to build up suspense, action, and effective backstory.
For aspiring science fiction writers, Putting the Science in Fiction provides valuable insight on how to make things like research experiments gone wrong, genetic engineering, space travel, rocket science, holograms and nanotechnology believable – because the information comes straight from actual scientists! As a bonus, it has multiple chapters that discuss the ins and outs of psychological disorders, insects and other creepy wildlife biology, and the science behind Star Wars.
We even have a book for those writing chick lit. Check out Will Write for Shoes by Cathy Yardley, which, in addition to offering a primer on writing lighthearted romance, offers sample query letters, sample synopses and scene outlines for when you’re ready to pitch your book to agents and publishers.
Whatever your genre and whatever your jam, good luck with your writing journey, no matter what time of the year it is!
Eric Cohen is the assistant manager of Central Library’s Languages & Literature division. He is the author of Good Hipster Man (reservable through the BPL catalog here) and Keep Swinging (on sale in print and as an ebook).
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