Customer Reviews

The Art & Craft of Novel Writing

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book approaches writing as a mechanical process and gives solid, concrete advice on topics such as characterization, opening scenes, and lots, lots more. The author uses many examples to make his points. Though not a large book, it is rich with non-mystical techniques and tips (I especially liked his advice regarding using small details for characterization instead of knocking a character's personality over the reader's head with lots of narrative, and the advice regarding how to pick a POV to write from). I seriously cannot think of a single other resource (besides a good dictionary) that would be more useful to an aspiring writer -- every single aspect of fiction writing is covered here.

For a while, this was one of the featured books in the Writer's Digest Book Club, and for good reason. If you want to improve your fiction, do not pass up this book.

For someone taking the very first steps toward writing a first novel, this book addresses the wide array of subjects that need consideration for novel writing. The author's explanations and accompanying examples are very illustrative and helpful. He follows his explanations with examples of "good" and "not-so-good" to make his point.

I give it four stars because I've not read any other novel-writing books to compare it to. But, after reading two chapters, I decided I needed to buy my own copy to highlight and notate for future reference.

Starting with detailed chapters on Dramatization, Point of View, Characterization and Plotting, the author moves to Style, Dialog, Indirection, Information and Sex. He finishes with brief chapters that encourage the novice: The Germ, Planning, Beginning, Continuing and Finishing.

This book is a good jump-start to those considering entering the field of novel writing. I'm glad I picked it up.

Except for the discussion of sensory details, this book is too vague to be useful for beginning writers. There are better books, such as Dibell's "Plot."