Hello and welcome to Waggish Writer. This is the first of the blog post series that will be referred to as "Waggish Writer Geeks Out." This is basically my soapbox where I talk about whatever I want while I do cite the experts when I want to fully embrace and support my geek-ness with facts.
Below is the newly uploaded background of my website. I liked the concept of the pre-set website background, but I wanted to add my own flavor. Hence, a sampling of my library.
I recently went through a de-cluttering phase where I went through all the books on my bookshelves. This selection of books are the ones I decided to keep that light my spirit when I gaze upon them. And they also fit on the shelf. (Some books are on top of the bookshelf as they are too tall.)
So, what are these books? What do they mean to me as a person? As a writer?
I will list the book from left to right with APA citation and a short description of what is the book and why is it in my library.
I will most likely break "The Bookshelf" into a few blog posts to keep it manageable. At the end, I'll create a list in case any of these books strike your fancy for practical writing tools or pure entertainment value.
McKee, R. (1997) Story: substance, structure, style, and the principles of screenwriting. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
This book was a gift from my brother's best friend from high school. At the time, I had not even dream of voyaging into the world of screenwriting with my writing. At that point of my life, only a few people knew I wanted to be a writer. We played DND together with him as the DM. He was one of my first supporters of my writing. In the book, he wrote for me: "The writer's tool chest is full of memories and the ideas they bleed. Here's a manual, but only so much can be learned...but you have more." I keep this book in memory of his support and for the practical guide I found the book to be for my screenwriting as well as developing a story in principle.
Card, O.S. (1990) How to write science fiction and fantasy. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books.
Full confession, this book migrated from my family's library into my possession. This book peeked my interest primarily due to my desire to write fantasy. As some may know before reading this blog post, my first attempt at writing had been a blatant plagiarism of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" series. (J.R. Tolkien is my fantasy idol followed by J.K. Rowling) As a writer whose now exploring more avenues, I found this book fascinating by how closely the building of a sci-fi world resonates with a fantasy world. In some cases, it is swapping technology for magic and magic for technology. There are, from what I understand, hybrids of magic and technology that co-exist.
Bell, J.S. (2009) The art of war for writers. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books.
Another confession, I did not realize this book by James Scott Bell and Scot Olson Card's book came from the same publication company. Perhaps it speaks to me as a writer and my desire to write. The difference is that Bell's book model's its title off of "The Art of War," written by Sun Tzu, a Chinese military strategist about the best ways to fight (1). Each chapter starts with a saying that the chapter takes further. Example: "Chapter 31: Deploy a character who reveals both inner struggle and inner conflict" (Bell, 100). The chapter describes what it meant by inner struggle as well as inner conflict and includes a sample putting its advice in action.
This will be a wrap for the first of the Bookshelf series because I'll have to fight to contain my geek-ness when it comes to "Ready Player One" and my gooey heart over "Little Moments of Love."
Well, if you like what you've read, comment with what are three books from your library.
They can be books you consider your writer's bible(s), authors you look up to, or books you read for the full joy of reading.
If you do, tell me why. Let's geek out together!
To see more of my "Bookshelf" series of "Waggish Writer Geeks Out," check out Part 2 of the series.
APA Citation
1 Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. "The art of war." Accessed May 20, 2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War.
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This is Waggish Writer signing off of this post. Stay tune for more of "Waggish Writer Geeks Out!"
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