Telling the tale

[Curtis]

Thank you for the clarification, Xue Lan. In that case, I will recommend "Sorcery and Cecilia" by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. It was written as a series of letters back and forth between the two authors, each pretending to be a Victorian-era sorceress/debutante. There's magic (of course) and a mystery to solve, and the milieu to keep consistent. This is a technique that would be easily adaptable by modern authors collaborating on stories via the Internet.

Each one tells what happened to their character over a two or three day period, then sends the letter off to their friend to tell their next part of the story. In this particular instance, the girls are friends who have been seperated for the summer, one rusticating in the countryside while the other "comes out" in London, so there's no problem (until the end) with stepping on each other's toes or pirating each other's characters.

Most authors would probably do this instead with both characters experiencing the same things (roughly), and each telling from their own perspective how events transpired, but you could do it with the two authors playing the parts of e-mail "pen pals" who live far apart but know some of the same people.

[Finding_Fantasy]

I had completely forgotten about this well written book until I watched the movie last night. (Though, as always, the book is way better). That one is

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. It is also known as its full title The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders.

[Dododecapod]

A Canticle for Leibowitz , by Walter M. Miller jr. This gets my vote for the best Science Fiction novel ever written, and not just mine; it has been voted such by four different surveys since it's writing.

Might I also suggest anthing by Chekhov. His imagery is superb, and he isn't quite as overly verbose as many of the Russians.

[spike]

I know this is an old thread but I’m new here and so are lots of others who could probably contribute to everybody’s reading pleasure so it can usefully be revived. (Besides, I can’t sleep right now so I may as well do something useful.)

The story so far: a thread is looking for well-written books that teach about writing. Now read on:

For writing a difficult character simply and clearly:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

For huge themes and potentially confusing science fiction ideas made clear:
Diaspora by Greg Egan

For simple moral ideas we should all be reminded of expressed in an amazing landscape, and an understanding of how to develop a series:
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency By Alexander McCall Smith (and its various sequels)

Plus, here are some bad examples who aren’t necessarily bad writers, just not to be copied: Samuel Beckett, Ernest Hemingway, Olaf Stapledon, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Martin Amis.

And here is a very good book by a very good writer which also falls into the not to be copied category:
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro

Don’t do that, you’ll never wake up.
Spike

[mythicat]

Plus, here are some bad examples who aren’t necessarily bad writers, just not to be copied: Samuel Beckett, Ernest Hemingway, Olaf Stapledon, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Martin Amis.
Spike

You can put Gabriel Garcia Marquez at the top of that list.

[jaeangel]

I read too damn much, so a list of my fave books would take up half a page. But my absolute favorite has to be 'The Black Jewels Trilogy' by Anne Bishop. It's 3 books: 'Daughter of the Blood', 'Heir To The Shadows', and 'Queen of the Darkness'.
I wouldn't recommend it to everyone; it paints Saetan and Hell in a sympathetic light that I as a witch find unique and refreshing, while one Christian friend I recommended it to said it was blasphemous. It's about a female oriented magickal society, where females with strong magickal gifts rule, and males serve them, both physically, emotionally, and sexually. Their main law, between male and female, is for the male to cherish, honor, and protect. The second law is to serve. The third law is to obey. And if obedience interferes with the carrying out of the first two, they toss obedience out the window. The conflict arises when males begin to believe that they are stronger than females, and they start taking advantage and subjugating females, which doesn't work in their society because the females really are the focal point of their society, both physically and magickally. Anne Bishop writes with a uniquely insightful look into the subject as well as a subtle touch of humor as the High Lord of Hell finds himself trying to teach a powerful young Witch how to do the most basic spells like levitation, vanishing, etc. I woudn't recommend it to everyone, but its a must read for anyone with an open mind.
Just my two cents.
Oh, and Jacqueline Carey's 'Kushiel's Legacy' trilogy comes in a very close second.

[vistana]

Oh, and Jacqueline Carey's 'Kushiel's Legacy' trilogy comes in a very close second.

I was just going to mention that one...
gorgeous sensual language, Carey manages to draw vivid pictures without endless paragraphs of description, which just drive me batty.
No other author has made me cry over beauty.

[vistana]

Plus, here are some bad examples who aren’t necessarily bad writers, just not to be copied: Samuel Beckett, Ernest Hemingway, Olaf Stapledon, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Martin Amis.

Spike

The only one of those I've actually read is Robert Heinlein, and I think i agree. Heinlein I would say is far from a bad writer, though he has written bad books, but his style is just uniquely Heinlein, and anyone trying to copy him doesn't come across as anything except someone trying to copy Heinlein

(I read too much Heinlein at a formative age...dumping all of Heinleins ideas about sex on a 12 year old brain has consequences...I blame him atleast partially for my belief that there isn't really anythign wrong with casual sex.)

[Chuckdom19]

Plus, here are some bad examples who aren’t necessarily bad writers, just not to be copied: Samuel Beckett, Ernest Hemingway, Olaf Stapledon, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Martin Amis.

How can you say that? Beckett I understand. But Hemingway, Asimov, Heinlein? Some of the best fiction of the last century came from the minds of these men!

Heinlein's style inspired thousands to reach for space. Hemingway moved people's hearts to look deeper into themselves.

Asimov, well, he just wrote EVERYthing.

[Curtis]

Asimov DID write everything, but he didn't write everything well. I love his histories, autobiographies (he wrote at least three) and science essays, and admire some of his mysteries (the longer ones, which aren't based on puns), but most of his science fiction and fantasy doesn't show well against modern competition. I liked one of the three novellas that made up The Gods Themselves (the one written from an alien viewpoint) and the short story, "The Ugly Child," but most of even his 'classic' works (like "Nightfall" and the Foundation trilogy) just don't make for enjoyable reading. His humor...well, the less said the better.

Speaking for Spike, I believe his point wasn't that Asimov, Heinlein, et al were poor writers, but that they were writers who apprentice writers should not be trying to copy. Their styles worked for them, but probably wouldn't work for others, especially newbies.

[Chuckdom19]

Asimov DID write everything, but he didn't write everything well. I love his histories, autobiographies (he wrote at least three) and science essays, and admire some of his mysteries (the longer ones, which aren't based on puns), but most of his science fiction and fantasy doesn't show well against modern competition. I liked one of the three novellas that made up The Gods Themselves (the one written from an alien viewpoint) and the short story, "The Ugly Child," but most of even his 'classic' works (like "Nightfall" and the Foundation trilogy) just don't make for enjoyable reading. His humor...well, the less said the better.

Speaking for Spike, I believe his point wasn't that Asimov, Heinlein, et al were poor writers, but that they were writers who apprentice writers should not be trying to copy. Their styles worked for them, but probably wouldn't work for others, especially newbies.

Asimov's "Opus 100" was one of my favorites; his bios really grounded one as to what his world looked like then. His humor had to be more a taste thing; his first treasury is an instruction manual on how to tell jokes. Never liked his work on limericks, though.

I would agree about how long it takes to emulate a writer; I'd like to write like Spider Robinson... but it'll take me another 50 years to break my current style. Whatever that is.