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Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey [Kindle Edition]

Chuck Wendig
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

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Book Description

“No seriously, he’s not f**king around, you really don’t want to be a writer. But if you’re mad enough to decide that you do, Wendig will be your gonzo-esque guide, from the technical advice about structure, query letters and submissions, to dealing with agents and editors and how to make your characters do as they’re damn well told, he’s full of good advice. Like a cursing, booze-soaked Virgil to your Dante, let him show you around.

Buy this book, your editor will thank you.”

-- Jenni Hill, Editor, Solaris Books

Want to become a novelist? A screenwriter? An all-around freelance penmonkey? Don’t know the difference between beats, scenes, sequences and acts? Not sure where to begin your edit, or how to query an agent, or what liquor goes best with the madness of being a writer? Then CONFESSIONS OF A FREELANCE PENMONKEY is all yours.

CONFESSIONS is a collection of 50+ essays on the subject of writing and the writing life. It covers a wide array of subjects, from technical advice to discussions of publishing versus self-publishing to what to do if you wake up pantsless and ink-stained in the basement of a Tijuana bookstore.

Equal parts hilarious, insane, profane, and profound, CONFESSIONS will take you through the trials and tribulations of the penmonkey’s existence, offering advice every step of the way.

Features popular TERRIBLEMINDS essays:

…“Beware of Writer”

…“Drop That Pen, Grab A Hammer: Building The Writer’s Platform”

…”Exposing Yourself: Do You Write For Free?”

…“No, Seriously, I’m Not F**king Around, You Really Don’t Want To Be A Writer”

…“The Penmonkey’s Paean”

… “Why Your Novel Won’t Get Published”

…“Why You Won’t Finish That Novel”

And more!

(TERRIBLEMINDS has been named one of the top 101 websites for writers by WRITER’S DIGEST magazine!)

"Chuck Wendig has done what so many authors desperately need and will never admit: offered a phenomenal book about the real world of writing, and made it reachable and readable by anyone. An absolute must-read for anyone even thinking of dabbling with words for a living.”

-- Karina Cooper, author, Blood of the Wicked

"Chuck Wendig's Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey is full of the kind of writing advice I wish I'd gotten in school. Practical, brutally honest, and done with the kind of humor that will make it stick in your brain. Whether you're a veteran writer or new to the craft, you'll find something useful in here.

Plus he says ‘f**k’ a lot, so, you know, there's that."

-- Stephen Blackmoore, author, City of the Lost

"In Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey, Chuck Wendig hammers out writing and career advice that's always brave, profane, creative, clever, and honest. And don't forget hilarious. You'll never laugh so hard learning so much."

-- Matt Forbeck, game designer & author, Vegas Knights

“When a writer hits cynical, drunken, mother-hugging rock bottom, that's when they need Chuck Wendig's raw, no-holds barred advice. This is not for the faint of heart. But then again, neither is writing.”

-- Mur Lafferty, host of ISBW (I Should Be Writing), editor of Escape Pod, author of Playing For Keeps

"Despite being irreverent, vulgar, and funny, Chuck Wendig is also surprisingly profound. From one wordslinger about another, Chuck is the real deal and every prospective or working writer should read Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey."

-- Jennifer Brozek, author, The Little Finance Book That Could

“If you want to be a better writer, or just want to be inspired by one of the best takes on writing I’ve ever read, do yourself a favor and buy Confessions.”

-- Daniel Ames, author, Feasting at the Table of the Damned


Product Details

  • File Size: 1085 KB
  • Print Length: 338 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Terribleminds; First Kindle Edition edition (May 18, 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0051JTOLQ
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,210 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
(26)
4.7 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Kate (the other one) May 23, 2011
By Kate
Format:Kindle Edition
4 stars just because I'm name-dropped about half way through the book. Extra star for his hilarious send up of the acknowledgments page.

I kid. I kid.

This is, in essence, TerribleMinds: the remix. Consider this the greatest hits collection of Chuck's writing advice throughout the years, with bonus content and post scripts on many of the articles. You'll see Chuck change his mind about NaNoWriMo, completely reverse his stance on ebooks, and expand on a lot of ideas he only glossed over the first time around. That alone is well worth the $5 price tag.

Bottom line - this is the most honest writing advice you'll come across. You won't agree with everything Chuck puts forward, and he doesn't expect you to. He doesn't approach his methods and musings as The One True Way to Write. Instead he'll give you lots of options to chew on, things to ponder, and a new way of looking at your craft.

Writers, this collection is a boon. Add it to your collection.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey is a fun read, full of encouraging solid advice for people who would like to be what he is - a professional freelance writer. At times challenging, funny, profane, sweet, and inspiring, (occasionally all of those things at once), Chuck's articles - mostly taken from his blog at terribleminds.com - did a very important thing. They made me think long and hard about whether professional writing is for me.

Chuck Wendig is, well, an odd duck with a penchant for creative, colorful profanity that is nothing short of astounding. He is also, by most reports, usually pantsless. You have been warned. And of course, now I can't think about the words long and hard without it being a euphemism. CURSE YOU, WENDIG!!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Dude I mean really. December 22, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition
Seriously, where in the hell can you find writing advice this good in a format that so side-splitting, jaw droppingly hi-frakkin-lar-e-ous?

Nowhere. Only from Chuck Wendig.

It's ridiculous how much this book rocks.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Good little penmonkey July 21, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Is Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey the most useful book of writing advice I will read all year? Yes it is. You too, if you're smart.

When it kicked off with the self-castigating affirmation "I am a writer, and I will finish the s**t that I started" I knew I'd come to the right place. Chuck Wendig's ebook collection of essays on the life and trials of the self-employed writer cuts through the accumulated mythological detritus of the freelancer and tells it like it is.

Confessions is crude, irreverent and frequently blunt to the point of cruelty - "Crap Habits of the Highly Ineffective Writer" and "Why You Probably Still Suck as a Writer" are just two of his dilettante deterring screeds, and not even close to the worst for ego-deflating brutality - but it's fair. Professional writing would appear to be a pretty tough gig.

Wendig pulls no punches in laying out just how much work goes into writing, editing and publishing, not to mention finding ways to avoid starvation during the long gulf between typing "The End" and commencing the four-continent book-signing tour. For that matter, Confessions will leave you with a pretty clear picture of the effort required to make a living from writing for money. This book conveys practical, no-nonsense advice (albeit in an authorial voice so nonsensical it verges on the drunken. And hilarious). Wendig puts fiction-writing under the microscope from every angle until something catches fire: dialogue, editing, structure, plotting. He looks at action scenes, sex scenes, descriptive passages, purple prose. And rewriting: he's big on the rewriting.
... Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've read quite a few books on how to write, or how to develop a particular genre, but hands down, this is the best book on writing out right now. Chuck Wendig is a prodigious wordsmith, who has a wonderful grasp of vulgarity and metaphor. I actual liken him to a modern day Samuel Clemons, I don't mean to overstate this; I think he has potential to be one of the greats. This particular book is chock full of fantastic and on the mark writing tips, but is tremendously entertaining and fun to read all by itself. I think Chuck could write about watching paint dry and it would be humorous and engaging. Mr. Wendig has a gift for cutting through to the unvarnished truth and telling you what you need to hear. I can't recommend this book strongly enough! It is a Juggernaut in a sea of writing advice and stands head and shoulders above its peers. Any aspiring writer will get a bounty of pertinent and constructive writing advice, whether it's for novels, short stories, novellas, screenplays or any writing done for pay or just for personal enjoyment.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
... Then this book is for you.

I tend to avoid How-To-Write books, as the advice is typically some combination of trite, shallow, condescending, or useless to anyone who paid attention in high school English class, but after stumbling onto Chuck's blog, I had a feeling about this one.

Am I ever glad I picked it up! Nuggets of useful advice on a broad spectrum of topics of interest to writers proliferate the pages like sex-crazed sea monkeys. The points are thought-provoking and the creative profanity positively orgasmic... er, I mean hilarious.

And for what it's worth, this is a good read even if you aren't a Penmonkey. My sister, a self-proclaimed cubical monkey with no interest in writing, swiped my Kindle to read this after I showed her a passage or two.

In short, buy the book. And if you need a little to rub on your gums before you pony up the money, check out the author's blog [...]
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars I'm no longer aspiring to be a writer...
I am a writer. I blame Mr. Wendig.

'Confessions' holds a great many pearls of...well, wisdom. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Carol McKenzie
5.0 out of 5 stars Chuck Wendig
If you read Terrible Minds and live by what father Wendig teaches, you should get this book. If you don't and are an aspiring author, you are either weak or your doing it wrong. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ryan Aech
4.0 out of 5 stars Full of gems, stewed in dog poop
Nobody writes writing advice quite like Chuck Wendig, and I cannot recommend his work enough for those of us with "modern" attention spans and irreverent... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Liviu Constantinescu
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilariously honest
It's 3 am, and I'm cackling like a hyena reading the chapter on a 'Day in the life..' Wendig is witty, irreverent and as self-deprecating as we all are, deep down, when we think no... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Bailey Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, serious, and great advice
Chuck really knows how to sling ink! This book is full of funny, insightful, and just plain good advice for all kinds of writers. Yes, there's quite a bit of
Published 8 months ago by pfb
5.0 out of 5 stars Crunchy Goodness sprinkled with Hilarity
I loved this book. It's my second romp with Wendig and I have 3 more waiting in the wings because his writing rocks my writer-ly mind and tickles my funny bone. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Wulfshado
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty dang solid
Other people have commented on the origins of this book. With the exception of some commentary, and a few cleaned up posts, everything in this book could be found with some... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Anthony
5.0 out of 5 stars Bwaaaa HA haaaaaaa haaaa!
God, this thing made me howl with laughter at least once in damn near every chapter/post. Fair warning, though: if you are one of those stick-up-the-butt prudes who hate profanity... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Angela Knight
5.0 out of 5 stars Full On Advice for the Aspiring Artist
Chuck doesn't mess around with words in this book. If you are easily offended by swearing, crass analogies or low-brow humour; don't read this book. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Brett Nash
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More About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chuck Wendig is a novelist, screenwriter, and game designer. He's the author of BLACKBIRDS, DOUBLE DEAD and DINOCALYPSE NOW, and is co-writer of the short film PANDEMIC, the feature film HiM, and the Emmy-nominated digital narrative COLLAPSUS. He lives in Pennsylvania with wife, taco terrier, and tiny human.

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