Books like Starting from scratch by Rita Mae Brown
Starting from Scratch is a writers' advisory book that combines Rita Mae Brown’s own career narrative with practical instruction. Drawing on her experience as a poet, novelist, teacher, and Hollywood screenwriter, Brown discusses the day‑to‑day realities of writing—paying rent, sustaining creative energy, and dealing with agents, publishers, critics, and publicity.
Beyond lifestyle tips, the book offers a serious examination of the writer’s craft, covering language, plotting, character development, and symbolism. Brown provides targeted exercises to sharpen dialogue and includes an annotated reading list featuring key works from the seventh century to the late twentieth century.
First publish date: 1988
Genre: Arts & Culture/Fine Art
Authors: Rita Mae Brown
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 (0 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for Starting from scratch by Rita Mae Brown are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.
Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier
for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.
Books similar to Starting from scratch (15 similar books)
Set in north England, Jane Eyre follows an orphaned governess who faces abuse, hardship, and ultimately a complicated love with her employer, Edward Rochester, while contemplating marriage to her austere cousin St. John Rivers.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Three white women in 1962 Mississippi team up with their Black maids to write a forbidden book that challenges the town’s rigid social order.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Jeannette Walls' memoir chronicles her turbulent childhood in a dysfunctional, itinerant family, detailing poverty, alcoholism, and homelessness across the United States as she seeks stability and personal growth.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Elizabeth Gilbert recounts a year of self‑discovery after leaving her life in the United States, traveling through Italy, India and Indonesia to seek pleasure, devotion, and balance.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Elizabeth Gilbert shares her personal creative process, guiding readers to embrace curiosity, overcome fear, and unlock hidden inspiration through practical attitudes and habits for a more creative, passionate life.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Eckhart Tolle expands on his bestseller "The Power of Now" to explore how transcending the ego unlocks personal joy, reduces conflict, and creates a more conscious, compassionate world.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Michelle Obama chronicles her life from South Side Chicago to the White House, revealing the personal drive behind her public advocacy for women, families, and health.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Cheryl Strayed chronicles her 1,100‑mile solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, a journey that confronts grief, self‑discovery, and resilience after her mother's death.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Characters need to speak to each other. Tom Chiarella shows you how. Whether it's an argument, a love scene, a powwow among sixth graders or scientists in a lab, this book demonstrates how to write dialogue that sounds authentic and original.
You'll learn ways to find ideas for literary discussions by tuning in to what you hear every day. You'll learn to use gestures instead of speech, to insert silences that are as effective as outbursts, to add shifts in tone, and other strategies for making conversations more compelling. Nuts and bolts are covered, too - formatting, punctuation, dialogue tags - everything you need to get your characters talking.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Rita Mae Brown, daughter of a legendary figure abandoned at birth, chronicles a life of resilience, humor, and unapologetic honesty—from a challenging upbringing and early activism to her groundbreaking novel *Rubyfruit Jungle* and enduring ties to the South.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan DidionHave a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!