About Me

My photo
Hi, welcome to my blog, I am a writer of short stories, children's and YA novels . An acceptance from People's Friend finally made me a published writer! Yeah, happy days! I have since had stories published in The Weekly News and The Last Laugh anthology. My main love is writing children's/YA novels...I'm now enduring a fruitless search for an agent... I also draw and paint, I like to draw animals (usually my adorable crazy cats!)Occasionally famous people and motorcycles.

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Reading about writing

Has a week gone already? That was quick.

Writing Advice Books
I must admit, I'm not one for reading 'how to write' books, being a tad sceptical about the benefits of doing so. There is such a vast amount of information on the web now, that I haven't felt the need. However, I have just read about half of Louise Jordan's, 'How to write for children', which had been recommended to me a few times and I have to say, I'm finding it all very interesting and I'm feeling quite positive that it will be helpful.
There is lots of advice for writing for all age groups from picture books to teens, so I'd recommend it.
It's also a benefit to me, to have all that information in one place, because I do waste a lot of time looking things up!
I know most writers have read this, and more besides. So maybe I should have read this sooner. Does anyone have a favourite writing advice book?

I'm happy to say I'm 20,000 words into the new 'girl meets ghost' novel and is still going quite well, I'm hoping my new found advice will help me on my way!

Posted by at

10 comments:

  1. Old Kitty18 January 2011 at 13:13

    Oh wow - your new look blog is lovely!! It's really really gorgeous!! Wow!!!!

    "How to write" books... I have a Big Red Book that I use alot from my Open Uni writing course!!! Being a slow reader - I like this because it's divided into mini-sections within mini sections with exercises at the end of each one.

    Yay for your girl meets ghost novel - 20,000 words so far and more!! Woo-hoo!!! Keep going, Penandpaints!!

    Take care
    x

    ReplyDelete
  2. penandpaints18 January 2011 at 13:22

    Hi Old Kitty!!
    Thank you, I've only just changed the old blog, wasn't too sure about it, I thought perhaps it was too much of a change, but I like your reaction!
    Your Big Red Book sounds great!
    Thanks for the encouragment, it keeps me going!
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joanna18 January 2011 at 13:42

    20,000 words is such an achievement. Congratulations for that as well as for this beautiful new -look blog!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous18 January 2011 at 16:01

    I'm so glad you found me again! I did lose my bloggers and tried to get them back, but obviously I missed some!

    Your blog is stunning! So is the "ghost house" photo.

    In the past decades, I've bought only Stephen King's book On Writing. It reads more like a memoir. I don't buy how-to's anymore. If I don't know how to by now, there's no hope!

    My favorite from decades ago is How to Write and Sell Your Personal Experiences by Lois Duncan, most famous for her YA novels. The book is outdated in a way since most of the magazines she wrote for, the high paying ones, no longer exist. But the information in the book is timeless. You might enjoy it; there are probably some used copies out there.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Teresa Ashby18 January 2011 at 23:58

    Your blog is gorgeous!
    One of my favourite books on writing is Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande.
    20,000 words is brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Talli Roland19 January 2011 at 11:08

    Stephen King and Ann Lamott are two of my favourites when it comes to writing books. I'm not usually a fan, either, but their books are so practical.

    ReplyDelete
  7. penandpaints22 January 2011 at 11:45

    Joanna - Thank you for the encouragement!

    Ann - Hello again! Thank you! I really should read the Stephen King one.

    Teresa - Thank you! I wasn't sure about the dark background, but I'm getting used to it!

    Talli - Hi! Thanks for the suggestions, I should grab a pen and write these down.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Suzanne Ross Jones23 January 2011 at 12:36

    Love the new look, penandpaints.

    I adore writing books - read them all the time. Sometimes I think I should lock them all away so I can actually get on with some writing.

    Really like the house in the photo - lovely and spooky.

    XX

    ReplyDelete
  9. joanne fox24 January 2011 at 08:22

    Love the blog makeover - it's really striking and individual. Clever you!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jayne24 January 2011 at 13:42

    It looks very new and swish around here - love the blog make-over! I'd recommend Stephen King's book 'On Writing' - I found it so useful and easy to read (but I am a huge fan of Stephen King anyway!) Also I love the look of the anthology The Last Laugh - great cover! And well done for the People's Friend - that is brilliant news. :)

    Ha - the word verification was 'Kings'. See - he is the way forward!

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate all your comments, thank you!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)