Monday, April 9, 2012

H: How To

H:  Like many authors, I spend time checking out what agents and publishers are looking for. Lots of them love to look at 'How To' books.  If there's something you don't know how to do, there's probably a book out there to tell you.

Growing up on a farm, I didn't realize people called repairman for work around their homes.  It seemed my father could do anything.  He remodeled our entire sprawling farmhouse, rebuild the barn from the ground up and fixed nearly any piece of farming equipment that needed it.  The only thing he wouldn't do by himself was electrical work, not because he didn't know how, but because he wanted an expert to be in charge of that. Like many farmers, he was very leery of fire.  It was a bit of culture shock when I married my husband and found he didn't know how to anything except paint.  We laugh about some of it now, but we still have to call repairmen for things I know my dad could have done.  He learned it from his father, from doing and from neighbors who always pitched into help each other.  If there were books describing how to replace one of the zillion cotter pins in our old hay baler, my dad didn't have it. 

One thing I can say about my father though, if there had been a book, he wouldn't have hesitated to make use of it.  Looking for and asking for help, knowing we need help, is not a sign of failure.  No one knows everything.  Some of us know so little, we don't even know what we don't know.  I had fun writing that.  There are stacks of books available describing every part of the writing business.  There are digital oceans of information, lots of it free, offering advice on editing, promotion, and anything else you might need to know for your writing career.  And if you can't find the exact nugget of information you need, simply pose the question on your blog, on facebook, on twitter, and you'll get more feedback than you probably need.  And somewhere in all those words thrown back at you, is likely to be the answer to your question. 

In the months leading up to this A to Z Challenge, lots of generous folks posted on the A to Z blog their thoughts on how best to succeed at this challenge.  If you have any 'how to' questions on blogging, read those older posts. 

Did you have a favorite 'how to' site or book? Do you try to do most things yourself or do you call for help?

21 comments:

Spanj said...

I love the way that there is always something new to learn. I think my favourite how to book is Stephen King On Writing. Part how to book, part autobiography I could not put it down, it's brilliant.

Jessica L. Celaya said...

It's true that people seemed to know how to fix things better back in the day. We do have google to help us learn new things.
For querying, Elana Johnson has a lot of great advice on her blog. She even has a free e-book about writing query letters.

Talli Roland said...

I am all about Wikipedia and Google! They seem to be my how-to ports of call. That's slightly scary, now that I think about it...

shelly said...

Any smart person knows to call for help.

Sarah Tokeley said...

I definitely ask for help if I need it. Why flounder when the answer is out there?

Your story about your Dad reminded me of when I was first married. I used to drive my husband up the wall because whenever anything needed fixing, I used to call my Dad :-)

Matthew MacNish said...

I usually learn better by just doing something, rather than reading about it, but I love how to books for writing research.

M.J. Fifield said...

I'm with Talli... I'm all about Wikipedia and Google. Which is scary but still true.

When it comes to fixing things around the house or whatever, I mostly just call my significant other. Or his grandfather. He's a true Mr. Fix-It.

Annalisa Crawford said...

That's a good question - I tend to make it up as I go along.

My dad's actually be over this morning to fix something in my bathroom. Aren't dads great?

Bossy Betty said...

Through You Tube, I can do anything. I learned how to snake my drain there and how to jump start a car!

Judy said...

I found a "How to chew gum" article. Does that count?

DonnaGalanti said...

Funny, as come to think of it my Dad also fixed most things. He grew up in the Depression era and maybe that was part of his generation. He liked the challenge of fixing something himself and was very methodical about it. Great post. My husband does the same thing. I do, only if its a "verbal" fix - in my writing that is! LOL

L. Diane Wolfe said...

If it involves my computer, I immediately call my husband!
My father was handy like that. He was a carpenter by trade and build and remodeled so much of our house. He had quite a few how-to books and always did it himself.

Karen Adair said...

Well said, Susan! My Dad was exactly the same way and thankfully my husband is, too, so we've minimized the repair bills. Of course we spent the saved money on our house full of children. :) That makes me happy though. Just like all those who share their wealth of writing knowledge so that the rest of us can succeed in our goals, too. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Susan,

I enjoyed this post - thank you for writing it!

For a "how to" on writing beginnings, I highly recommend Les Edgerton's "Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go."

Since I love to cook, I'm frequently buying cookbooks or looking up recipes online. Cookbooks definitely fall into the "how to" category. :)

Looking forward to reading more of your posts!

Jemi Fraser said...

Great post! My dad was a fixer too - and I married one as well. And my son is already well on his way! :)

The first site I stumbled upon when I first thought about writing with an eye towards publication was Agent Query Connect. That's still my favourite site for answers! :)

Lynn Proctor said...

my son recently looked up on google how to fix something on our car---it's great!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

The day I learned to fix a toilet I was so proud of myself! Sorry, I am Mr Un-Handy Man.

jan said...

My newest "go to" book on writing is "Story Engineering" by Larry Brooks. I'm all about getting help but I also enjoy the pleasure I get out of doing things myself.

Tonja said...

I like to do things myself around the house if I can figure it out or find some sort of resource - online or in a book to tell me how to do it. Electrical stuff is better left to electricians.

Golden Eagle said...

I usually head for eHow or wikiHow if I'm in search of a how-to site. As for a writing how-to book, I thought Plot by Ansen Dibell was a good one.

Unknown said...

I've got 2 books called "How to do (just about) everything" and it covers stuff from boiling an egg to surviving the apocalypse. It's my go to book for everything :)


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