Learning to write

[ronaldj]

writing down to the bones is a very good book, another is bird by bird....two comic related books about writing  are Understanding Comics by scott Mccloud and Writing for Comics with Peter David.

[Spike]

Scott McCloud's book was one of a series of three.  I have the third one, Making Comics.

Doesn't DC Comics have a book on writing comics?

[Spike]

Re:  DC book:  I found it at a library.  It's with the writing books, not with the other books on creating comics.  A description is at
http://www.watsonguptill.com/detail.html?id=0-8230-1027-9

[JohnnyAngel77]

[Buzz_Dixon]

The Elements of Style by Strunk & White  
Here’s the dirty little secret your English teachers won’t tell you:  All those big, thick, clunky English grammar books they’ve made you cart around since 5th grade could easily be replaced by this slim (105 pages) volume.  It’s all you’ll ever need to know about English grammar, punctuation, and basic writing.

The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri
Though written specifically for aspiring playwrights, this book contains everything you need to know about characterization, plotting, dialog, etc.  A bit academic but absolutely essential.

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
The greatest American short story writer, possibly the greatest short story writer ever, not only gives a view into how his wonderful imagination works, but also helpful hints on finding a story among a morass of ideas.  This is less about nuts and bolts and more about finding your voice.
 
And a 2nd re Stephen King's On Writing.

[Scarn]

[JohnnyAngel77]

[CrypticMyopic]

Try "How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction", edited by J. N. Williamson.  Features advice from Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, and other big names.

   Also, read the classic novels.

   And I'd imagine if one is going to write comic books, then one would also read the classic comic books.  I cannot recommend enough Mike Baron's "Nexus".  Mike Baron puts on a writing clinic in that series.  Get every copy of Nexus volume 2 you can.

  Also recommend the 200 plus issue run of Chris Claremont on Uncanny X-Men.  Anything by Frank Miller, especially Daredevil's Born Again storyline and the Dark Knight Returns.  Ann Nocenti's run on Daredevil is good too.  Things written by Roy Thomas or Marv Wolfman... Old Denny O' Neal Batman issues especially when he worked with Neal Adams... Batman Hush storyline...  and Thor number 337 thru at least 360.

[jonnfan]

I recommend reading at least ten writing how-to books, making sure to cover a variety of genres and mediums.  Most writing advice overlaps genres, so reading books on novel-writing. screenplays, short stories, etc. is important. The huge concept is learning how to tell a story. After a few books, the advice gets pretty redundant, so it's important to practice what you're learning. (A lot of these books will have some kind of writing exercises.)

   Some books on writing that helped me the most are Story by Robert McKee. Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas, and Orson Scott Card's book on writing fantasy. Writing for Children and Teenagers by Lee Wyndham (not sure of the spelling) is also good.  Some good writing exercise books are 3 A.M. Epiphany and 4 A.M. Breakthrough, both by Brian Kiteley.

  This may seem far out there, but I really recommend the Write4Kids website. Yes, it's for children's book authors, but there are a lot of great articles that apply to any kind of writing. Because you have to grab a kid's attention right away, a lot of writing advice for children's writers helps with writing tight as well as grabbing a reader's attention and keeping it. Writer's Digest also has a good website and, of course, a good magazine.