The one book every aspiring author should read...

[clknaps]

And the answer is...I have no idea, I was hoping to get everyone's thoughts on this matter. I'm looking for a book or some books to help me form my ideas into writing that people will actually enjoy reading.

My grammar & spelling is sound (though I always try to brush up on those skills), so I think I'm looking more for a book discussing content, plot development and characterization as it relates to speculative fiction.
For you published folks out there, what book has helped you the most?

Thanks in advance! CLK

[Chaeronia]

I'll be the first to say it: On Writing by Stephen King. Half biographical, half How To..., it's an excellent read. Informative, informal and entertaining. Highly recommended.

[clknaps]

I'll be the first to say it: On Writing by Stephen King. Half biographical, half How To..., it's an excellent read. Informative, informal and entertaining. Highly recommended.

Thank you Chaeronia, I'll add that to my shopping cart. CLK

[Bread Butterbeard]

I myself shall recommend "Sometimes the Magic works" by Terry Brooks, worth the read IMO.

[Magus]

On Writing is absolutely entertaining and amusing, especially the first half. The advice he gives on the subject of writing, however, is so... commonplace. It's something you can find virtually anywhere, and always the first to be told to anybody aspiring in the field. I've read it, and will continue to read it, for it's entertaining and witty text, although not for its writing advice (except that bit about the desk, which is the best part in the entire book, and verilly the best tid-bit on the subject that I've ever heard).

[fuddy]

"Self editing for fiction writers", Renni Brown & Dave King

"How to write science fiction & fantasy", Orson Scott Card

"The elements of style", Strunk & White

[clknaps]

"Self editing for fiction writers", Renni Brown & Dave King

"How to write science fiction & fantasy", Orson Scott Card

"The elements of style", Strunk & White

I've got the last one there, I'll have to look up the other two. Thanks to everyone who gave me their "two cents" it is very much appreciated.

Cheers,
CLK

[aldan]

Well, you shouldn't thank Magus for his two cents, because he obviously hasn't any sense at all....

[clknaps]

Well, you shouldn't thank Magus for his two cents, because he obviously hasn't any sense at all....

YOU, my friend, are a "pot-stirrer." And I mean that in the most delightful way.

CLK

[aldan]

*aldan looks around, then pulls his halo off, polishes it, puts it back on, looks in a mirror and straightens it*

[dragon13writer]

My fav desk reference lately would be How To Write Killer Fiction by Carolyn Wheat. It isn't aimed at any type of fantasy or scifi but it is aimed at mystery and suspense which are the basis for many scifi/fantasy stories. I use it to stimulate ideas. She explains how things have been done before. For instance she suggest in the middle of a murder mystery a second corpse should show up and it should be someone you least expected to be a corpse. I switched it around to where the mentor became the villian turning my novel from mystery to suspense in the middle. Yes there is a fantasy twist, he is a vampire. You should try it out. It's one of the few I got all the way through.

I also liked Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell.

[starweaver]

I've been posting some reviews on the "books and authors" board - you might want to have a look. More are on the way.

My bottom line: The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing + How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (O. S. Card) + books from the Write Great Fiction series on whatever areas of writing you find especially challenging or want to work on

A couple excellent "enrichment" books: Stephen King's On Writing and Ursula LeGuin's Steering the Craft. Both are like spending a weekend with a great writer, but are too personal and eccentric in scope to serve as textbooks on writing.