Non Scriptwriting Books That Helped You.

[ReRight]

Care to name a few?

[UserName]

That helped you in what way?

[ReRight]

Books that lit the light bulb somehow as far as ideas or inspiration.

[phoenixwriting]

Hawking's "A Brief History Of Time."


No, really. I actually felt smarter for having read it... albeit briefly.

[noh1]

Steven King On Writing.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
The Exorcist

[PeekABooBang]

I have to second Stephen King's "On Writing."

Fabulous --

[Unca Leo]

"Measure Twice, Cut Once" by Norm Abram.

Poems by Robert Frost

[Rican Pecan]

The Bible... Wether you believe in it or not is irrelavant. There are tons of parables and stories that can be turned into symbolic sub plots (and you don't have to worry about copy rights). It's also a good place to look, if you're drawing a blank on what to name one of your characters.

[Hamboogul]

The Giving Tree.

To me, it's a great, simple story about a relationship between a parent and child and the sacrifices a parent's willing to make to see the child blossom.

And the entire book is probably 200 words.

[callingit]

Writing from the Inside Out by Dennis Palumbo.

Dennis is a psychologist who now works exclusively with writers, helping them to let go their inner self and allow their experiences to filter into their writing.


Great stuff. Very enlightening.

[Leech]

The recent books I have purchased are not so much for ideas and inspiration as they are for assistance for the ideas I already have and am trying to think of.

They are works by Freud and Jung, and I'm also trying to get books by other psychologists. I'm also using literature by philosophers.

In the mail, I recently got Aristotle's POETICS, C.G. Jung's THE UNDISCOVERED SELF, and Joseph Campbell's THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES.

And thanks to the replies of your post, I guess I'll also buy King's book.

[32piecesflair]

Stephen King's OTHER book on writing: Secret Window which I read before On Writing.

It was a book club special only, but has some more essays on his writing..it's a companion to On Writing. Information below:

www.myshelf.com/writing/9...indows.htm (http://www.myshelf.com/writing/98-00/secretwindows.htm)

I just found it really entertaining and helpful.

I LOVE The Giving Tree..fabulous book.

[TwoBrad Bradley]

How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler

[Matt Mosley]

THE COMEDY WRITER (novel) by Peter Farrelly (of the Farrelly brothers)

[OrpheusMc]

I always recommend The Artists' Way to people of all creative persuasions.

The definitive 12 step manual to getting off your ass and doing it.

[theblondewritr]

I always recommend The Artists' Way to people of all creative persuasions.

The definitive 12 step manual to getting off your ass and doing it.

Orpheus, I'm glad you mentioned this book. It's applicable to all areas of life. Here's a link to another edition:

The Artists Way at Work www.artistswayatwork.com (http://www.artistswayatwork.com)

[Supersquid191]

On Writing by King is good.

So is...

The Art of Fiction by Ayn Rand
The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner


As for books just for ideas...

anything. you never know where the next idea is gonna come from.

[BadHairDaze]

(Loved the story about the stake.)

And not to be forgotten, that old childhood classic, THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD. :D

[Miss Modular]

The Art of Fiction, John Gardner
Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
Rebel Yell, Lance Olsen

Stuff that I'm looking into:

For A New Novel, Alain Robbe-Grillet
Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life With Words, Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge

Personally, I find these books to much more insightful into the writing process than most books on screenwriting.

[rdwilliams99]

I've found that reading Jung has helped my writing measurably. In particular Jung has helped me understand symbolism and theme. In most of the English classes I've had the discussions on symbolism have been pretty worthless and uninforming. Jung's interpretations of dreams and myths really imparts a deeper psychological understanding of story.

The other day I was watching Catch Me if You Can and I suddenly found myself analyzing it the way Jung analyzes his patients' dreams. Di Caprio's character represents the desire for youthful freedom, unhinged by the permissive father (Walken), but conflicted with the rigid rule-bearing father figure (Hanks). The permissive father dies as the rigid father gains control, a done deal post rambles on longer than it should...

I also liked John Gardner, and no matter what kind of writing you do Strunk and White's Elements of Style is a must read.

--Reagan

www.geocities.com/rdwilli...r_Web.html (http://www.geocities.com/rdwilliams99/Spider_Web.html)