What was the first book you read on creative writing?
For me, it was “The Screenwriter Workbook” by Syd Field. Even if now I'm a book editor and I've always been more into novels, this book was mind-blowing. It really helped me to realize what a story is and why so many don't work.
I remember a passage where he explained that the first thing he asked in his screenwriting courses was to explain the subject. Answers usually were, “I'm writing a story on good and evil",: and then he knew they had no idea of what they were going to write. They hadn't understood yet what a story was.
What about you? What was the first book you read or course about creative writing you attended?
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Hi, Chiara Torrisi. It's been so long, I don't remember the first book on creative writing I read, but I remember reading Save the Cat and Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great.
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A classical Maurice Vaughan :) For novelists it's brilliant also "Save the Cat! writes a novel".
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I've heard of that book, Chiara Torrisi. I'll check it out if I get into novel writing.
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Probably "Save the Cat," but not sure.
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Blake Snyder's book was a great inspiration for a lot of screenwriters, and writers too, Rutger Oosterhoff
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I believe it was "Breathing LIfe Into Your Characters" by Rachel Ballon Chiara Torrisi
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Analyzing characters is a perfect way to start the writing path, Leonardo Ramirez
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Thanks Chiara Torrisi! And I just noticed that you’re a fellow Stage 32 moderator! Congratulations and welcome to the squad!!
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Thanks, Leonardo Ramirez
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It was either the Syd Field Screenplay book or William Goldman Adventures in the Screen Trade Chiara Torrisi
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I've never read it, David Horton
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Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade is the sequel. Both personal and humorous Chiara Torrisi
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Thanks for the suggestion, David Horton ! I have a soft spot for books with some humour
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"Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg and "Becoming a Writer" by Dorothea Brande when they first came out.
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"Becoming a Writer" is incredible: my favourite writing book, Jed Power
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Stephen King's "On Writing." It's a mix of a memoir and a how-to. What stuck with me the most that I still use today is he said to always walk around asking, "What if?"
A clown sits next to a kid in a park. What if it wanted to eat him? Then he makes a book about "IT" the clown.
I do it all day.
What if my boss next to me was actually an alien who hates capitalism? That's why she won't give me a raise. There, there's one I could use right there lol
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So true! The "What if?" exercise is also useful to get out of a writing block, Danny Range: instead of troubling oneself at a desk, it's enough to go out for a walk and let the imagination run.
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Chiara Torrisi That's some real advice I actually need to take lol man. That one hit me good.
I accepted your request, by the way! I love Italy people. My mother's maidan name is Infante and our family is from Calabria; we immigrated on the boat hundreds of years ago then made our way to Youngstown, Ohio (Warren area). Glad to be acquainted and good luck with your writing! Maybe you'll run into me in Naples one day with pizza and that wine in my hands because it all worked out.
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My first book on writing was Stephen King’s On Writing. King’s advice on being honest, disciplined, and fearless with your words really stuck with me. It taught me that writing isn’t just about technique, it’s also about finding your own voice through the process.
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It's a beautiful image, Danny Range
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"On Writing" influenced a lot of writers, I think Eli Huggins