Customer Reviews

The Secret Miracle: The Novelist's Handbook

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

 

 

Well known novelists share their views and answer questions you didn't even know you had. They had the same struggles a new novelist is having. How do you make a character compelling? They'll tell how. When do you know when the novel is finished? They'll say when. When do you toss out whole pages? These and many, many more questions will be answered.

I was writing alone, of course, and wondering about these questions and knew no other novelist to talk to. Now I know many who freely shared their experiences in this well edited book. I am so grateful to Daniel Alarcon for contacting many well-known novelists and pulling this book together.

June Stephenson

In this "handbook for novelist," many fiction writers have submitted answers to a list of questions concerning many aspects of this profession or art. It is very interesting to compare how various accomplished writers address the same topics in different and sometimes polar-opposite ways. It is informative and sometimes entertaining (at least for fellow authors).

Michael Travis Jasper, author of the novel "To Be Chosen"

The authors of The Secret Miracale left no stone unturned in this book. Questions raging from writer's block to how do you know if your book is done, are answered by a number of authors including Akhil Sharma, Tayari Jones, Haruki Murakami, Roddy Doyle, Rick Moody to name a few and they all give their input on their writing habits and style. It was fun to read and keeps you motivated to finish your own work.

I was pleasantly surprised by the richness of the information and writerly wisdom contained in this book... plotting, drafting, short story vs novel, influences... a lot of material is covered and for anyone who is serious about learning to write or who simply is intrigued by the novelist's craft, it's a fascinating collection of writer's opinions and insights on the work they do.

I enjoyed the book because it was easy to read and I could leave it and then pick it up without feeling I missed anything. I assume most are well-known writers who are included in this collection of discussions, but I'm not familiar with the works of most of them, and some have unpronounceable names, or so it seems. Stephen King is included, but most of his contributions are one-liners. Anyway, questions are asked about writing novels and the contributors give their comments. Some of them are quite detailed.

Now, some of the questions are a little odd, but I think most were germane to the process of writing a novel. One thing becomes clear before you've finished a few pages: every writer has his/her own method and style, and the bottom line is what works for them, not what they learned from some book of rules. Some writers of "how-to" books on fiction seem to set their own preferred methods in concrete, but you can only decide that's nonsense after reading this book. It is interesting to read the wide variety of responses to the various questions, and if nothing else, it will reassure the writer-wannabe that the only thing that really matters is WHAT WORKS for him or her. But don't come to this book with the idea that you're going to learn some hard-and-fast rule for writing a novel, because you'll only be disappointed. Still, for all those interested in the writing process, it's enjoyable and informative to read a collection of writer contributions like this. Just have realistic expectations and sit back and enjoy.

I have bought quite a few books on the craft of writing, and this is a different take on that well-worn genre. A question about writing, followed by relatively brief answers from various authors. Not a cover-to-cover read, but some of the responses are interesting. Nice to know there are so many different ways to make the magic happen.

Some of the bestselling authors answer questions about writing. I found some of the comments to be worthwhile, while others were just filler. You really have to weed through this book for worthwhile material. Some of it was so redundant, the various authors said basically the same thing, that I skipped ahead.

There are worthwhile tidbits, though. Like when the authors talk about first readers and how much time they spend writing every day.

The Secret Miracle has joined a select few group of books on my bedside table for reading after a hard day's writing. As a long-time fiction writer (but a relatively new novelist) I found the insights of well-known novelists to be both helpful and encouraging as I carved my first novel from the "wood" of the English language.

Learning that I am not the only one who has second-guessed plot points, failed to create detailed character biographies ahead of time or scrapped the first, second and sometimes third opening chapters until I found the one that worked reassured me that perhaps the first rule of novel-writing may be that there are no rules--only an ongoing struggle to perfect the craft.

I picked up this book while killing time at Barnes and Noble before work. I found it very interesting. The author asks questions to 20-30 different authors and catalogs their responses. If you wonder how other author's work and their opinions on writing and their work habits, this may be a book for you. It does have some mundane questions but many of them are interesting. How long does it take you to write your first draft? What do you want when you read a novel? How do you get your ideas? What is the process you use when you write your book? I found other authors writing process intriguing. Some people may not care about it and if so you probably wont want to read this book.

Based on the 5 star reviews I read here, I sent for Daniel Alarcon's book, eager to enhance my skills/knowledge as a novelist. But what I received was the most boring, inane collection of answers to boring, inane questions the editor put to the writers included in this work. Here are some examples: "How many books do you read in a given month?" "How many books do you read at a time?" "How do you balance reading widely with reading that is immediately useful to your work?" "Are there certain authors you won't read for fear of undue influence?" "Has being a novelist changed the way you read novels?" Do you need more?

Some of the writers queried valiantly tried to give intelligent responses, but others, like Haruki Murakami, treated these questions with the kind of answer they deserve: In response to "What do you read before/during the writing of a novel," he said "I don't care much about what to read when I am writing." A dumb question deserves a vapid answer.

Even if these questions were stimulating, by the time you read a half dozen responses (there are around 40 authors queried here), you feel dazed. Most don't differ that much. It's deadening.

If you like the kinds of questions readers ask of authors at book signings, this book may be for you. If you expect more intelligent, in depth explorations of the writing process, don't buy this book!