The 28 Biggest Writing Blunders (And How to Avoid Them) [Hardcover]

William Noble (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-- A concisely written and succinct guide, offering practical advice to anyone who writes. Noble makes it clear that this is not a book about grammar, but about style and attitude. The index is organized by topic, facilitating quick searches. The information is practical and bears repeating no matter how many times writers have heard it.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books (January 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898795044
• ISBN-13: 978-0898795042
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,246,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent Collection of Advice for Mature Writers, June 30, 2011

By 

Judah (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 28 Biggest Writing Blunders (And How to Avoid Them) (Hardcover)

This book presupposes you are an accomplished enough writer on the cusp of being published. The mistakes it talks about are those that cause a piece to stay in a slush pile, or become mediocre. What this book does is help a decent writer polish their style and voice. I disagree with the advice regarding the breakage of grammar rules (lesson 28, for example). I do not believe there is any place inside a piece of commercial fiction (expected to sell well) for accents or weird grammar (like repeating a word 38 times in a row). Grammar experimentation that doesn't work kills a story; if [grammar] experimentation does work, I do not believe the writing will improve enough to justify the risk of it failing.

If you are beginning to write, try The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes instead. That book is more along the lines of how to get started, basics, time management, and other advice for non-serious beginners looking to improve or become more serious about their writing.

This is an advanced course. I did not agree with everything, but found 10/28 chapters helpful. Rating is three and a half stars rounded up to four.

2.0 out of 5 stars For the Mature Writer, not for Novices, July 21, 2010

By 

Herbert L Calhoun "paulocal" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 28 Biggest Writing Blunders (And How to Avoid Them) (Hardcover)

This book is about how a writer is to develop a voice. It is about style, attitude and the impact of a writer's work on his audience. As a result, it assumes that such a writer is mature enough to have mastered the techniques of grammar and otherwise of transferring his ideas from head to paper. Both of which are huge assumptions in my case.

Even though I "get it" -- the idea of breaking all of the rules to free up ones writing from the straitjacket of grammatical formalism and rigidity, this too presupposes that one has already mastered the formulas of grammatical orthodoxy.

I am not yet comfortable with the idea that I have indeed mastered such formalisms, or have entered the realm of good grammatical orthodoxy. I would have been much more comfortable with being "led by the hand" to first better understand these "assumed formalisms," and then allowed to move on to these more advanced topics. But that was not the purpose of this book

Thus, for the mature writer, this book offers an interesting set of "rules of the road" for freeing up ones writing from the strictures of orthodoxy and grammatical formalities. But even for the mature writer, one gets the impression, nevertheless that this book is a case of the tail wagging the dog. as it puts rules of grammar and improving writing technique in the back seat, while attitude, style and voice are put in the driver's seat and given center stage and top billing.

At some point I hope to have reached this exalted status where good grammar and technique can be assumed as givens. Since I am not yet there, I took these 28 "rules of the road" with just little more than a grain of salt, with a view towards a future where my writing will have matured sufficiently such that "establishing a voice" becomes an eminent reality. While there is a lot here, it is directed at the mature writer, not novices like myself. Two stars.