The Writing Kit

The Writing Kit
From the Editors of Writer’s Digest Books


I received The Writing Kit as a gift. This is a gift you should give yourself. The box contains three treasures.

The first layer is The Mini-Market Book with the subtitle "Everything You Need to Know to Get Published, Including 125 Markets for New Writers". The topics included are: Novel and Short Story Markets, Personal Essay Markets, Children’s Markets, and Poetry Markets. The Appendices contains nine different articles for writer reference. The “Ten Commandments for Writers” listed things that successful writers should keep in mind.

Seventy Solutions to Common Writing Mistakes by Bob Mayer is arranged so the writer can quickly check the table of contents and turn to the needed area of concern. “Misusing Flashbacks and Memories” and “Telling Not Showing” caught my attention as areas I want to read more about.

The treasure hidden on the third layer was a small, square box with short phrases in bold black letters such as "Big Ideas" and "Let The Words Flow". I found two sets of cards inside. The round set suggested different writing activities such as “Go to the mall and pick out a person and write a scene about the individual as they interact with someone else”. The square set listed different topics such as setting and included hints to use on a current project.

This is a wonderful gift. I am already making plans to use it with the round cards arranged in order of the project I’m going to try. Buy one for yourself and purchase an extra kit for one of your writer friends.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White

The first writing conference I attended had a course for beginning writers. The presenter gave us a list of books she felt would assist in our quest for publication. The Elements of Style was on the list.

At the break, I stood in line with the other newbies and bought it. Since that first conference, other writers have mentioned this book when they recommend important books the writer should own. My copy has under one hundred pages including the introduction by E. B. White. The Tables of Contents contains chapter titles such as Omit Needless Words, Use the Active Voice, and Use Definite, Specific, Concrete Language.

Skimming through the index causes me to check on items such as lie/lay and that/which. Looking over the book to write this article, I've decided I'm going to revisit the book to refresh my memory on some grammar rules. Then, I'm going to look at the bookstore to see if there is a later edition which may reflect changes in the language.

As a tutor for Adult Literacy, I discuss the importance of using language correctly to understand and be understood. My Asian immigrant student thanks me each lesson when he learns a new fact about English because he wants to communicate effectively. I am grateful to the first instructor who suggested this book as a tool to being an effective communicator.

Scene and Structure
By
Jack M. Bickham




Jack Bickham’s book is part of the Writers’ Digest series, The Elements of Fiction Writing. It has been waiting on my bookshelf for quite some time. Recently, I remembered the book when I decided I needed to find information about scene and sequel.

Mr. Bickham begins with an explanation of modern fiction and how it is different from fiction of earlier years because readers do not want to wade through long passages. He gives detailed explanations of the characteristics of a scene and a sequel and provides examples in the Appendices with line-by-line explanations.

In the last section of the book, he shows how variations and other techniques can be used to create interesting scenes and sequels. However, he states it is important to understand the basic structures of scene and sequel before attempting these alternatives.

My copy is heavily highlighted, and I have outlined each chapter for a quick review. I plan to revisit the book and my notes until scene and sequel become second nature to me. I am also going to add it to my editing arsenal of writing tools.

I highly recommend a writer refer to this book throughout a writing career.