books to read

Ok finally this damn image uploaded properly. If you’re going to do Nanowrimo, then you just HAVE to read this little gem. It’s fun and irreverent, it makes you laugh and it will keep you motivated throughout the month long slog of getting those 50 000 words down on paper, screen, parchment, or whatever your chosen medium. I’ve read it twice. Last year I read it straight after nanowrimo which was a bit odd, but this year I read it at the beginning of October to get myself reaquainted with the madness that is nanowrimo. I will be reading it again at the end of the month, whilst I am on holiday, along with a Julie Myerson novel called Me and The Fat Man, which I am not going to upload an image for.
If you came here via the nano site, and you haven’t yet read a copy of Chris Baty’s book then I strongly recommend that you do. Pinch, borrow, buy or read over someone’s shoulder, just do it, you’ll not regret it and I think it will make you experience of nanowrimo that bit more fun.
If you have dropped in here from outerspace then visit the nano site and see what all the fuss is about.
The next book I want to tell you about is this:
As you can see from the imageof my copy, it has been very well read. I don’t know how many times I have referred to this book over the years. It is a series of essays on writing but you mustn’t let that put you off. David Lodge is an academian and an author and has a very accessible style of writing. Each chapter/essay begins with an excerpt from a well known work of fiction and he then talks about the theme he’s chosen which is relevant to that excerpt. For example, chapter one is all about Beginnings and he uses the opening paragraphs from Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’, and Ford Maddox Ford’s ‘The Good Soldier’.
It’s a book for people who read fiction and a book for people who write fiction. The range of different texts he uses to illustrate and complement his chapters is quite diverse, both classic and modern. You can dip into this book, according to whatever kind of fiction you might be writing or whatever element you might be needing help with, and there’s stuff in there that you might not have considered before as well, which could help breathe new life into a flagging manuscript.
So you’ve got the perfect mixture here, to get you in the mood for Nanowrimo.