Dare to Be a Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction [Paperback]

Leonard Bishop (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0898794641 | ISBN-13: 978-0898794649 | Publication Date: September 1992

Solid, no-nonsense writing instruction, dispensed out in 329 easily digestible portions, to help fiction writers polish their skills and support their talent with cultivated craft.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898794641
• ISBN-13: 978-0898794649
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #479,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource for Writers of All Kinds, October 16, 2001

By 

Kevin Nieman "Writer / Provocateur" (Thousand Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dare to Be a Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction (Paperback)

I'm not sure if I'm alone in this pursuit, but as a writer and ever-hopeful, future novelist, I have amassed my own library of "How-to" books on the subject of writing. As it must be with surfers who are ever in search of the perfect wave, I am always in search of the perfect book of writing advice.

What I've always wanted is a book that is flexible enough to meet my own writing needs while inspiring me to "push the envelope," so to speak. Some books cater to science fiction writing, while others target the would-be romance novelist. One book will tell you that writing is an art, while another will tell you that a writer who doesn't write with an audience in mind will achieve the standard definition of the "starving writer.

As my library grew, my knowledge increased, but the desire to learn more about my craft has not been satisfied. I hope it never is.

The book "Dare to Be a Great Writer" is, in my opinion, the author's personal challenge to you, the writer, to never settle with mediocre writing. It is broken down into easily digestible segments with each topic containing clear and concise tips and advice on many different subjects.

"Openings," "Plot," "Character, "Forshadowing," and "Genre" are just some of the many topics in the book. None of these detailed segments are featured together, which I believe is the author daring you to be serious about your writing enough to absorb it all without needing to refer to it constantly. There is an index in the back, just in case you want to figure out how to solve a specific problem, but I've found that I rarely need it.

This book gives me many pieces of clear-cut advice and inspiration that I can safely say that this book has done more for me in honing my writing than any other single book in my writing library. I cannot say that the same will happen for you, but I think it can be an essential part of any serious writer's reference list.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible For Fiction Writers, April 27, 1999

By 

Dennis Latham "ysgazelle" (Guilford, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dare to Be a Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction (Paperback)

This book is wonderful. Mr. Bishop gives excellent advice and samples on every point of fiction. He is both funny and serious. His story of how he began writing is a riot. I use this book constantly when I get depressed over my writing. The best book on writing fiction I have ever read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More important than your dictionary, February 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dare to Be a Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction (Paperback)

I haven't read through Leonard Bishop's book entirely, mostly because it functions more as a key reference book than any treatise on great writing. As instructed by Bishop in his introduction, you can feel free to open to any page and take in great rules and tools of the trade explained and advanced with perfect and often whimsical examples, or seek out your weak points using the index. Before you make the mistake of considering yourself a fiction writer, you need to learn the rules of the road. Bishop has written down the rules and carved out the map as well.