Customer Reviews

Chapter After Chapter: Discover the Dedication and Focus You Need to Write the Book of Your Dreams

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well-written, motivating, at times a bit talky, but still way above the average for 'How to Write' kind of books... That's pretty much how I'd sum up this book. Also, it's oddly good. Never since Stephen King's "On Writing" have I actually enjoyed reading a book like this simply to read the writer's prose. Seller's writing is quirky and fresh, and I will soon be buying more of her books.

Now onto the meat and potatoes. The book is motivation on paper, pure and simple. I actually was unable to finish certain sections because parts of the book had me so excited to do my own writing that long stretches of time passed before I was able to find time to read this again. Every chapter had something different, and overall helpful, to say, ending with a skill-enhancing exercise. I found these exercises to be the most interesting part of the book, and--for me--made it so darn good. I have to say though; not every chapter will help every person. I found myself skipping more than one chapter, feeling the information didn't apply to me. Every writer is different, and will take the advice in a different way. Not to mention, it's a very attractive book. The design of the pages is very handsome, and is what initially drove me to pick up this book.

So, to sum this up quickly, you don't get much better than this (other than the previously mentioned "On Writing"). If you're writing a novel, a collection of short stories/essays, or your ten-thousand (eek) page autobiography, this book is for you. Plain and simple, it'll help you avoid writer's block and push you to do what you need to do to get your dream job done.

9/10

The best part about "Chapter After Chapter" is that Sellers assures writers that they are not alone, and that great works need time to create. This may not be the book for those who are into the "novel in 30 days" school, but it does offer a perspective that can help bring one up to speed. The book is a winner, a sigh of relief.

Update: I've been re-reading this book until now, months after I first picked up the book. I may sound like a gushing high-schooler, but I can't believe that a book can reassure me the way "Chapter After Chapter" does. I'm almost done with the writing of my next graphic novel, and Heather Sellers' words help keep me going.

I always go back to her impressions about dealing with writer's block, warding off tempting new story ideas and learning more about the craft. When it comes to writing projects, I have a hard time finishing what I start, so her musings about having a relationship with your book are dead-on.

This is one of the most motivating writing books I've read recently. Each chapter could probably be summed up in one or two sentences, but that's the beauty of it -- the concepts are clear and well understood while you're reading the book.

I used some of these techniques while writing my first book, but without knowing what I was doing (for example: blocking out or scheduling writing time). As I work on my next book(s), I've found some new motivation from this one and some techniques that I'm actively using.

This book is not perfect. There are suggestions that I think are ridiculous, like you must read 100 books in your chosen genre before starting to write your own novel. Yes, read the books, but get writing as well. Yet, the point is well taken, if a bit skewed. Yes, you should be well read, in your chosen genre and in others as well, if you want to have an original voice.

This book is not perfect, but there are enough gems, that I want to finish the book and buy her other book as well. It is clear that she is a writer who has spent many nights in the trenches, who loves writing and wants to encourage others to write. She, however, pulls no punches in telling you that you must be well equipped to make the commitment to writing, to make time, and do the work.

This will probably become a classic in its genre.

Chapter After Chapter is a winner. I keep this and Heather Sellers other book Page after Page on my writing desk as a reminder of what the writing process is all about. It was like having a good friend by my side encouraging me to keep at it. Heather breaks down the writing process into doable pieces. Not since Bird by Bird have I read a book on writing that's stimulated my brain intellectually and technically as well as being a pleasure to read.

I wanted to like this book - really I did, and not just because I also bought Page After Page at the same time and I have to read it too.

But I don't like it. I'm on Chapter 12 and I'm fed up with the hectoring, lecturing tone. I'm irritated by the voice from the mountain, the 'successful' writer who feels justified in telling the rest of us what we're doing wrong.

If you're looking for a book that'll encourage you and make you feel like writing, you might want to look elsewhere. This one's all about what you're doing wrong. You're whining, wasting your time, not putting enough into it, trying too hard, taking yourself too seriously, not taking your writing seriously enough, whatever. You just don't have what it takes, and Heather Sellers, evidently, does.

I have a bookshelf (make that two) full of books on writing-- but this one was the best. It was like a little voice that told me what I knew deep down, but wasn't listening to. Stuff like, trying to write a book super duper fast isn't the best way to take on a novel; that writing out a plot using lots of "techniques" probably won't result in a meaningful book; that taking your time is okay; to let the story be told its own way; I could go on and on. I like this book because it actually resulted in me writing MORE. And enjoying it again!

I am currently reading this book for the second time, and I just ordered a copy for a fellow writer friend.

This is THE most inspiring novel-writing book I have ever read---and I have read a lot of them, believe me! This is not a book about technique, though the author suggests many helpful books for that. This is a book to give you that little (or big!) push you need to FINALLY get writing---and KEEP writing, and FINISH---the novel that you can't get out of your head.

I love how the author inspires writing by sharing stories from her own and other people's writing lives. I love how she gives so many simple but effective techniques for "keeping in touch" with your novel so that you don't lose sight of it and fail to finish it. There are just a ton of helpful tips in here, but I love it because it is so encouraging. Heather Sellers believes that novels are real contributions to our world; she never discourages would-be authors from writing the books of their dreams (just as the title suggests).

As a result of reading this book, I am finally writing the novel I've had brewing in my head (and only occasionally on paper) for the past 16 years. And I'm having a blast doing it, too! I am so grateful that I found this delightful book.

This is, by far, the best writing book I have in my collection.

I am a complete newbee in reading reference books on writing and this one provided a very very good intro as well as many honed recommendations (of practices, books and so on).

Heather knows how to write beautifully, not letting you go any time. Short chapters, with stories and, by the end of each, some simple and easy to implemment activities, some of them, the author suggests, for the rest of your life, as a basis for writing every single day.

I was actually pissed when there was no more book to read! LOL!
I couldn't put it down - it's like getting letters written by your best friend.

I commenced and couldn't stop - and yes, along the way I did some of the exercises suggested - (usually in the heat of reading, so I just bookmarked where I was, grabbed my notebook and went for it - (and then picked up the book again)
- Sequestering myself with this book was like a sinful pleasure - and you know something? If you do these exercises TRULY for yourself - (not what you think someone may think is more correct) - you will have some mind-blowing results - little realizations that make BIG MAJOR CHANGES in the way you deal with story. Simple things that you would have never expected to find out - like maybe you had a hidden toad-in-the-hole riding along - never suspected. It's full of surprises!

And she does write to YOU. Like you are, in confidence, her best friend. I'd give anything to take her classes, and I would kill to find out how to get the textbook she mentions she wrote on creative writing. - NOT because I am so squirmy to learn to write, (well, I am, but that's how it always is - I still write anyway, I have to - it's , well, like breathing or the heart having to pump - ) But because I always want MORE! lol! - and because I find her style and her viewpoints pretty meshed with where I am coming from as regards the river of writing - so I would call this, as she puts it, one of my wise-guides -

During an exercise, I had a denture-creme moment. The kind where, like in the old Polident commercial, they show how Polident stays stuck, against Brand X, that when affixed to a surface, separates and falls.

One of her "should" exercises did that - I had 2 ideas laminated into one. One was a "should". - So covert, so well hidden underneath, so nigh invisible, that in doing the exercise, this thought popped out of nowhere - so fleeting and vague... I saw it out of the corner of my eye - whuh? - and I could literally hear, feel, (and mentally see) a denture creme separation occur. (But I haven't yet ever used denture creme - but that IS exactly what happened -)

BUT! Such a minuscule thorough crack appeared, it separated with a tiny ripping anti-climatic 'chuh'. Couldn't even remember the thought - but suddenly what ever had been a snaggy-naggy doubt was GONE. G-O-N-E. And it instantly manifested juggernauts in my viewpoint, and in my writing -
She speaks of writing as a discovery process - (which is where it's at for me, when any adventure, (even finding a way to unstick a superglue cap that has hardened beyond NASA's spaceshuttle welds)
leaves me dancing and curious with glee - "Look at that! What else can I conquer?"
And writing and revising - well, that's like building a whole planet, and then getting to take a vacation there to explore the more intricate wonders and byways you have put there, but didn't let yourself totally in on - the details! - gotta love 'em!!

So get this book, make it some tea or wine, get cozy, and curl up and get ready to read and share intimacies with it. I found it like having a best friend on a retreat, a totally comfortable bestest relative visit you personally, - that I could sit down and then be instantly in an otherwhere room, where there were NO interruptions in the conversation -(even if there were 'real' interruptions) - you picked up right where you left off without missing a beat - anything read was an ongoing YOU ARE THERE moment)
And like I said - I was miffed when I was done reading - Already? (It does that to you - you just want to keep reading - and suddenly there was no more book! I turned the last page! Arghhh! But hey! Now I can re-read it and find more treasure!