(pseudo) Writing Guide Book Tier List

[Dieter]

[expunged]

 

[John_Owl]

there's so many "how to write" books, I almost have to wonder if it's a genuine example of "those who can't do, teach". Can't write? Write a book about writing.

 

[Phantonym]

This tier list confused my brain... that is entirely my fault for trying to understand it while sleep deprived

 

[owotrucked]

Thank you for gobbling all those writing guide books. Can you elaborate on what you liked and did not in those books?

Also, screenwriting guide might be put in a separate category, no?

I found that they highly value the ability to condense information into the shortest screen time possible, which might diverge from novel writers' values. For instance, a movie might need to reduce a character to being an thematic idea mouthpiece and design the plot to become a factoid. While it allows a story to finish in a couple hours, it forces the movie to become a sort of abstraction from reality. In some way, it's easier for the audience to accept it because they see real people moving around in a lifelike environment. When a movie leaves things unsaid, it lets the viewer imagine and auto complete the characters. But when you think about what the movie explicitly depicts, most characters revolve around a single gimmick.

On the opposite spectrum, a novel writer uses an abstract medium to convey the illusion of realism. Everything unsaid simply doesn't exist. If the surroundings aren't described, then the scene is in a blank liminal room.

Writers have little benefit from reducing abstract text into another abstraction of reality. Instead, they need to allocate more resources into portraying a consistent and immersive realism. Thus writers spend a lot of time convincing that their characters aren't just imaginary mouthpieces, but actual people who could exist in another world.

I think this is especially important for wish-fulfillment novels, where the reader wants to identify with realistic flawed people rather than singular embodiment of a philosophical concept. Novel characters must be shown to flounder on their way or have a wandering mind towards their interests.

In conclusion, screenwriters work from reality towards abstraction, but novel writers work from abstraction to reality. This can affect the methodical approach to design plots and characters at a fundamental level. I think this discrepancy can be felt in adaptations between books and movies. Even 1:1 novel->movie adaptations end up weird or strangely bad. 1:1 movie->novel adptation can't even exist, writers have to pull shit out from their ass

 

[CharlesEBrown]

there's so many "how to write" books, I almost have to wonder if it's a genuine example of "those who can't do, teach". Can't write? Write a book about writing.

A lot of them were guides to the publishing industry at the time they were written, or are used as style manuals for some publishers even today (had a few recommend Strunck & White over the years), but are not that great as overall guides as the industries evolve over time.
And some were "Well, this is what worked for me. Maybe it will work for you too. Or maybe not. But here's my system."
And the rest are just what you say - people who know either what SHOULD work or what THEY want to see, whether it WILL work or not.

 

[John_Owl]

A lot of them were guides to the publishing industry at the time they were written, or are used as style manuals for some publishers even today (had a few recommend Strunck & White over the years), but are not that great as overall guides as the industries evolve over time.
And some were "Well, this is what worked for me. Maybe it will work for you too. Or maybe not. But here's my system."
And the rest are just what you say - people who know either what SHOULD work or what THEY want to see, whether it WILL work or not.

I get it. But I've seen twice as many "how to write" books as any other "how to" books, with the sole exception of the "for dummies" series.

 

[Dieter]

I get it. But I've seen twice as many "how to write" books as any other "how to" books, with the sole exception of the "for dummies" series.

Wait till you learn about the ai-written writing guides up on amazon.

Can you elaborate on what you liked and did not in those books?

You see I tried to, but then I thought that I should be writing my story instead. So no bueno.

Also, screenwriting guide might be put in a separate category, no?

All art mediums have commonalities with each other. Screenwriting and novel writing both share subject of storytelling and narrative building even if they don’t share all of it. I found things there I could construe to me writing novels. It helped me more than writing guides at one point.

 

[John_Owl]

Wait till you learn about the ai-written writing guides up on amazon.

I've heard about those. Terribly written, but still selling better than some genuine authors, sadly.

 

[owotrucked]

You see I tried to, but then I thought that I should be writing my story instead. So no bueno.

It's a real shame, because a tier list without details on the good things other can expect to find is nearly pointless except for discovering their existence. Then again, it must have been a lot of effort to consume those writing guides. Since you decided to share a part of the fruit of those effort, I hoped you wouldn't stop at a shallow level, just short of making it really helpful.

All art mediums have commonalities with each other.

Fair enough, must be a skill issue from me then

 

[fcures]

Sounds like a waste of time reading all those, it's easier to just look at some pages of best sellers in the genre you are writing and just do what they do.

 

[Dieter]

Sounds like a waste of time reading all those, it's easier to just look at some pages of best sellers in the genre you are writing and just do what they do.

Can't tell if ironic but that basically amounts to watching MMA and thinking you can take on 3 dudes at once in a parking lot.

 

[owotrucked]

Can't tell if ironic but that basically amounts to watching MMA and thinking you can take on 3 dudes at once in a parking lot.

So instead you read a bunch of fighting armchair theory books and think you can take 3 dudes at once in a parking lot, got it

 

[fcures]

Can't tell if ironic but that basically amounts to watching MMA and thinking you can take on 3 dudes at once in a parking lot.

We call it experience ?

 

[Deleted member 172779]

It is like you read a non-fictional book, about a person in Jail, and knows what it felt like. Until you got into Jail yourself, and felt different what you read.

The guy above says it all, EXPERIENCE.