RECOMMEND A BOOK FOR ME TO READ

Wednesday, November 22, 2006 6:21:36 PM

I suffered through, uh, I mean, I went through my first full-blown critique of my first short story in my Creative Writing class on Monday. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. People made valid comments. The most important thing I learned: I need to stop telling when I should be showing. That one keeps getting me.

And since the prof said the only way I'm going to stop is through practice, I thought I would read some books outside of my usual repertoire to see how the pros write. I know it won't help me completely (I think the best way would be a Pavlov's dog approach; someone needs to hit me every time I do a telling statement instead of a showing one ), but it'll be good for me to check out some other writing styles and see if I get inspired during the Christmas break.

So, suggest a book for me. And it can't be sci-fi, fantasy, or horror. I read that kind of stuff all the time. Unless you think this book is the most awesomest thing ever then maybe I'll check it out. And possibly no bestsellers. I have no ambition to read The Da vinci Code , though mainly because the thing looks really long and I won't have that much time.