I’m a sucker for books by successful writers who share some of their wisdom and secrets. STEERING THE CRAFT: A TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY GUIDE TO SAILING THE SEA OF STORY has gone through several iterations, but this 2015 edition presents a comprehensive–although brief–presentation of Le Guin’s thoughts about writing.
I really like Le Guin’s approach which stressing finding your own voice and style. And, according to Le Guin, you develop your voice and style by writing–of course–and reading. Here’s list of Ursula Le Guin’s favorite books:
Ursula K. Le Guin recommends:
(How many of these books have you read?)
Ursula Le Guin died in 2018, but she left a legacy of wonderful books. Steering the Craft is one of them. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction ix
1 The Sound of Your Writing 1
2 Punctuation and Grammar 11
3 Sentence Length and Complex Syntax 20
4 Repetition 36
5 Adjectives and adverbs 43
6 Verbs: Person and Tense 47
7 Point of View and Voice 61
8 Changing Point of View 87
9 Indirect Narration, or What Tells 94
10 Crowding and Leaping 117
Appendix: The Peer Group Workshop 127
Glossary 136
Exercises
1 Being Gorgeous 8
2 Am I Saramago 18
3 Short and Long 32
4 Again and Again and Again 41
5 Chastity 45
6 The Old Woman 58
7 Points of View 71
8 Changing Voices 89
9 Telling It Slant 97
10 A Terrible Thing to Do 124
Le Guin and I have read a whole lot of the same books, but there are many on her list I wouldn’t recommend to anyone I ever wanted to speak to again.
Dan, I know what you mean…
You have me curious…among those I’ve read or tried (the vast majority), DREAMSNAKE was probably the most disappointing (I liked most of VM’s previous work I’d read).
What was dire?
14, I think.
Jeff, pretty good number!
So much fantasy, particularly the current TikTok-fed variety, is just dead on the page. Le Guin is one of the few whose work actually sings although I find her science ficion a bit dry by comparison. I find much on her list of favorite authors rather odd but I’ve learned never to be surprised by an artist’s taste. I can see why she’d choose Dickens and especially Kipling as both were naturally gifted storytellers.
Of course the most important thing for any artist is to learn from your heroes and then purge them from your system and find your own voice. It’s why so many composers traveled to Paris to study under Nadia Boulanger. I think it’s worth noting that unlike so many of her contemporaries who found their niche and milked it to the very end, Le Guin was always stretching and reassessing herself and her work; sales and critics be damned.
Byron, I’m convinced most of the current fantasy novels of the TikTok variety are all written by ChatGPT. And, you’re right about Le Guin’s career: she was always trying Something New.
George, that’s terribly unfair to current fantasy writers. They’re human beings, not machines, and they’re trying to express themselves even if it turns out they don’t have much to actually say. We can Not Read Them, and let them go merrily along, and that’s okay. I’ve talked with some at conventions, smiling politely as they describe their books, knowing there’s little chance I’m going to sample their wares, but enjoying their enthusiasm. And even the ones who ARE just turning out pages by the yard, well, you know, we’ve likely found some writers like that in some genre or other that have hit our sweet spots, and we’re happy to read those.
Off my soapbox now.
Jeff, have you read any of those TikTok Fantasy novels recently? Massive number of pages with cliched plots and characters. ChatGPT is at work!
What P.K. Dick referred to as Crap Artists have always been with us, George…they’ve just found easier ways to spew excrement.
Todd, complaints from my colleagues still teaching college students focus on the role ChatGPT has in writing term papers and essays.
What a fantastic list of books!
Of course I know most of the “European” ones, read some in school already but access to the classic US books here was limited – not many in our libraries and I would have had to read the translations.
And later as a student I concentrated on SF …
The rest of my day was hard work in maths and physics.
Great photo of Ursula.
I’m sure that’s just a random list of favorite books, not a comprehensive list. For one thing, there are three Jane Austen novels, plus a complete novels omnibus.
When I was putting stories by her in anthologies, she would give me specific directions. Don’t change anything without approval (as if I would!). While “artifact” and “artefact” were possibly the same word, to her they had different meanings and were not to be substituted for each other for consistency’s sake. And there was NOT to be a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style on my desk while I was working on her manuscripts. (Well, there was, but I tried not to use it.)
Jeff, STEERING THE CRAFT has some specific directions, too. And, like Le Guin, I’m not a fan of the CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE. She preferred Strunk & White’s ELEMENTS OF STYLE…and I do, too!
Ha! STRUNK ON STYLE also banned?
Ah, I should’ve read the response first…both, unsurprisingly, have Highly Voluble Detractors.
Lots of parts of the books of poetry but never all of them All of the Austens. Some Twain. But surprising little of the rest. A quirky list but favoritiy science fiction. Did read ISLANDIA.
I tried ISLANDIA once, but at 1040 pages it was just too much. It may read a bit faster if I skip the vowels but I have never been drunk enough to try it.
Jerry, I’ve had a copy of ISLANDIA on my shelf for at least 50 years. I pick it up, feel its heft…and put it back on the shelf! Then I’ll read a John Creasey or an Agatha Christie instead.
Patt, as Jeff pointed out, this is not an exhaustive list of Le Guin’s favorite books. But looking at these 56 title, you get a sense of what Le Guin liked to read.
George et al, I finally figured out how to get your blog on my phone. My computer got hacked about a year and a half ago & I don’t like the new one.
I’m going to Bouchercon this year, not sure if it will be my last. I can’t believe they’ve having the DC one on labor Day. I got a Southwest credit card and using companion passes for a lot of travel. Just got back from a trip to Cape Cod, driving to Reno for a funeral, airfare was $300-450 round trip which is ridiculous.
It’s about a 9 hour drive. The last trip so far this year is a trip to Richmond VA with the “fake/substitute” Ted Fitzgerald to see his daughter’s investiture as minister of her church.
My reading has slowed down. I’m enjoying the new Job Crisis Elvis Cole mystery. Other suggestions welcome.
Maggie, great to have you back on the blog! Would you like some audio books? I’d be happy to send them to you! My traveling days are pretty much over. But, Diane is going on a cruise in December with Patrick and Katie and some other family members. This is Diane’s first cruise ever!
G. I’d love some audio books. Am always trying to catch up on reading that way. I need to get a refresher course in how to access this blog. ( It’s the only one I want to follow).
Maggie, I’ll put a box of audio books in the mail to you next week. Just let me know what address you’d like me to send them to at popeviagra@aol.com