ShellyKing.com

Writing

You can’t say, I won’t write today because that excuse will extend into several days, then several months, then…you are not a writer anymore, just someone who dreams about being a writer. ~ Dorothy C. Fontana ~

Writing is my life, and I don’t mean that figuratively. I earn my living as a technical writer, writing online help systems and technical manuals. Occasionally, I write little essays for a local newsletter. And for the last couple of years, I’ve been writing fiction. The technical writing comes naturally. The essays are short and fun. The fiction is the hardest, most distressing, horrifying, and satisfying thing I’ve ever done.

Many of us who read think about writing a novel. But it is an entirely different thing to put one down on paper than it is to pull it off as a reader. It’s like deciding to be left-handed after a lifetime of being right-handed. You know what it is that you must do, but it’s awkward and you have to break things down to the most elemental movements to retrain yourself. And all the while, you must never forget the natural agility of your right hand.

I’m just getting started with publications, but I’ll post them here as they come up. Also, here are some of my favorite books and articles on writing. Enjoy!

Published Work

• Fiction
• Essays in OMVNA Newsletter

Favorite Books on Writing

• On Writing by Stephen King
• Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from the NY Times
• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
• What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter
• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
• No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty

Favorite Books on Writing Mechanics (grammar and stuff)

• Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
• Woe Is I by Patricia T. O’Connor
• When Good People Write Bad Sentences: 12 Steps to Better Writing Habits by Robert W. Harris
• Robert’s Rules of Writing: 101 Unconventional Lessons Every Writer Needs to Know by Robert Masello

Favorite Books on Publishing

• The Practical Writer: From Inspiration to Publication edited by Therese Eiben and Mary Gannon with the staff of “Poets & Writers” magazine
• 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might by Pat Walsh