Well, I've read the first twenty books on my reading list. Some were great, some of them were not, but all of them had lessons about writing. Will I learn more with the rest of the list? I certainly hope so. In fact, I expect so; the study of literature is not finite. That's what is so cool about it.
Here's a synopsis of what I learned:
Foundation: short chapters, baby.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: make dialogue perfect.
Brain Wave: help readers envision what they have not seen before.
Non-Step: know the mechanics of your world.
Fahrenheit 451: history gives characters life and purpose.
Wild Seed: passive characters suck.
The Demolished Man: make a splash with characters.
A Case of Conscience: be Creative with Science
Bone Dance: dialogue makes character
Childhood's End: don't leave the reader hanging in a technical world.
The Drowned World: language itself defines theme.
R.U.R.: the heart of science fiction is the evolution of an idea.
The Andromeda Strain: joy of science can give insight into the human condition.
Engine Summer: tone and language themselves can become theme.
Mission of Gravity: science alone does not a story make.
No Blade of Grass: evoke emotion and connect with your reader.
What Entropy Means to Me: don't explain everything immediately to avoid infodump.
The Man in the High Castle: tie theme to your science fiction.
334: describing a person in a sentence is an art.
Permutation City: Couch science fiction in Story, no the other way around.
Here's a synopsis of what I learned:
Foundation: short chapters, baby.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: make dialogue perfect.
Brain Wave: help readers envision what they have not seen before.
Non-Step: know the mechanics of your world.
Fahrenheit 451: history gives characters life and purpose.
Wild Seed: passive characters suck.
The Demolished Man: make a splash with characters.
A Case of Conscience: be Creative with Science
Bone Dance: dialogue makes character
Childhood's End: don't leave the reader hanging in a technical world.
The Drowned World: language itself defines theme.
R.U.R.: the heart of science fiction is the evolution of an idea.
The Andromeda Strain: joy of science can give insight into the human condition.
Engine Summer: tone and language themselves can become theme.
Mission of Gravity: science alone does not a story make.
No Blade of Grass: evoke emotion and connect with your reader.
What Entropy Means to Me: don't explain everything immediately to avoid infodump.
The Man in the High Castle: tie theme to your science fiction.
334: describing a person in a sentence is an art.
Permutation City: Couch science fiction in Story, no the other way around.
RSS Feed