Book recommendations for aspiring authors?
Dec 4, 2013 10:47:56 GMT -8
Post by makoeyes on Dec 4, 2013 10:47:56 GMT -8
I've always heard that if you're a writer then you need to read a lot. Can anyone recommend any books that I should read to help with my writing? Here's the issues in particular I'm trying to think of:
Magnificent Bastardry and brilliant schemes - This is the thing that worries me the most. I'm not really a sneaky person and never been good at manipulating people. This is bad because my series is supposed to be loaded with MBs, particularly the main character and the series' Bigger Bad. The way it's heading, it's basically Thirty Gambit Pileup. The main character is supposed to be one of the two biggest Magnificent characters, and his sister's supposed to be able to give him a run for his money.
Making someone other than the viewpoint/main character be the real protagonist of the story - Basically, the final plot arc of the series isn't the main character's story, it's his sister. He's still the "main" character, but it's her story. Sort of like how in Final Fantasy X, Tidus is the main character but it's really about Yuna (or at least according to what I've heard).
Romance - my series isn't really "romance" per se, but there are subplots and elements of romance in it.
World building - Specifically creating an entirely new world from scratch. So far I've not really been good at it. It's not "a magical world within our world" like Harry Potter, but a different universe entirely like a Final Fantasy game. So far I've been mix-mashing cultures to create countries. Like the country the main characters are from is based on America, but its parent country, rather than being strictly British is largely a combination of Britain and France. I'm also considering making it more like the Wheel of Time where instead of doing straight counterparts, the different cultures are heavily blended together so it's hard to recognize which cultures correspond to which real life one. I'm also considering making it sort of like Avatar, where everything has some Asian elements to it (and not just East Asia either). Another example of my world is that one of the religions is heavily based on Christianity but also has Zoroastrian elements as well.
Writing styles - How to make them more well written. This would probably go with nonfiction books.
Poetry - How to write good poetry.
The recommendations don't have to be books either, they could be TV shows, movies, etc. I wasn't really sure where to put this, actually.
Anyone else have some issues that they could use recommendations on?
Magnificent Bastardry and brilliant schemes - This is the thing that worries me the most. I'm not really a sneaky person and never been good at manipulating people. This is bad because my series is supposed to be loaded with MBs, particularly the main character and the series' Bigger Bad. The way it's heading, it's basically Thirty Gambit Pileup. The main character is supposed to be one of the two biggest Magnificent characters, and his sister's supposed to be able to give him a run for his money.
Making someone other than the viewpoint/main character be the real protagonist of the story - Basically, the final plot arc of the series isn't the main character's story, it's his sister. He's still the "main" character, but it's her story. Sort of like how in Final Fantasy X, Tidus is the main character but it's really about Yuna (or at least according to what I've heard).
Romance - my series isn't really "romance" per se, but there are subplots and elements of romance in it.
World building - Specifically creating an entirely new world from scratch. So far I've not really been good at it. It's not "a magical world within our world" like Harry Potter, but a different universe entirely like a Final Fantasy game. So far I've been mix-mashing cultures to create countries. Like the country the main characters are from is based on America, but its parent country, rather than being strictly British is largely a combination of Britain and France. I'm also considering making it more like the Wheel of Time where instead of doing straight counterparts, the different cultures are heavily blended together so it's hard to recognize which cultures correspond to which real life one. I'm also considering making it sort of like Avatar, where everything has some Asian elements to it (and not just East Asia either). Another example of my world is that one of the religions is heavily based on Christianity but also has Zoroastrian elements as well.
Writing styles - How to make them more well written. This would probably go with nonfiction books.
Poetry - How to write good poetry.
The recommendations don't have to be books either, they could be TV shows, movies, etc. I wasn't really sure where to put this, actually.
Anyone else have some issues that they could use recommendations on?