59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Buy the original, the revised edition is terrible, August 21, 2005
This review is from: The Weekend Novelist (Paperback)
The beauty of the ORIGINAL edition of this book is its simplicity and its straightforward style. It was/is the ultimate how to write a novel if you also have to have a day job guide.
This second edition is full of hot air! It's laden with jargon and complex diagrams, assumes the reader knows way too much. Concedes completely that writers should adjust their vision because today's readers have been corrupted by TV and film. I STRONGLY disagree with the shift in focus from character to plot. I too will hang on to my worn copy of the original.
Don't bother buying this one. It's not worth the money.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Buy the First Edition, May 15, 2005
This review is from: The Weekend Novelist (Paperback)
Before I begin, I'd just like to clarify something. I'm not sure which page this review will end up on - the page for the first edition, or the second. It belongs on the page for the second.
The first edition is the one with a plain yellow cover and a small picture of a typewriter in the center. It's the plainer of the two. The second edition is the one with the glossier cover, and a co-author as well as Robert J. Ray.
That being cleared up, I'll begin.
I've owned the first edition of this book for several years now. I've worn it to shreds - it helped me write my first novel, dig me out of writer's block, and give me the drive to search for a career in writing. The margins of the pages are all filled with penciled-in notes, and I know almost all of the exercises by heart.
So when I saw that a new, expanded edition had come out, I was estatic.
It was only after I bought it and sat down to read it that I remembered the true, if slightly cliched, saying: "if it's not broken, don't try to fix it."
The new edition of The Weekend Novelist has tried to become too many things. The first edition does what it says it will, and it does it with a quiet grace. This book is full of large, black letters, and assurances that writing will the most difficult thing you've ever done, that it almost certainly can't be done, and that it shouldn't be attempted.
In an attempt to cover more types of novels, the new edition has introduced two new forms of plotting your novel. In addition to the old, linear Aristotle's Incline, there are two new forms: the circular Hero's Journey and Mythical Journey. This would work well, but the references to different points in them are vague, it's difficult to tell when you should use the Journey plots, and the information isn't very coherent. The first edition used one book (The Accedental Tourist) as an example, and it worked wondefully. The new edition uses dozens of books as examples, the result being a large, difficult-to-wade-through mess. I was constantly forgetting which book was which, and having to flip back to find out.
Robert J. Ray's first edition was beautifully written. It praised the act of writing through writing, and it quietly stole your respect. This new edition, like I said before, seems jaded. It makes every part of writing sound like a difficult chore. Instead of inspiring me to write, it made me frightened of my own notebook.
Perhaps the thing that I was most dissapointed in was the book's lack of structure. The first edition weaves all the exercises together seamlessly. This one is confusing - the pieces don't fit together. You'll be left with a series of exercises that aren't coherent, wondering how on earth to connect them all.
And it doesn't even get you to the end of your novel! The front cover guarantees you a completed novel within a year, but this new edition completely demolishes the chapters about the second and third drafts. It makes vague references to them - but then, after you've finished the first draft, it gives two small, frustrating chapters about memoirs and screenwriting - not about novels at all!
This second edition has definitely changed for the worst. The exercises are still good, but they lack something to pull them all together. There are lots of conflicting examples, and the whole tone of the book is depressing. Buy this book, but buy the first edition. It's the real masterpiece.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Bible!, December 10, 2003
I've read all of the so-called writing gurus, John Gardner, Janet Burroughs, Dwight Swain etc., but this is the one that has been most helpful.
Don't be put off by the title. This was how Robert Ray wrote his first novel; I don't think he means to imply that everybody should write only on weekends.
If you're a beginning writer, Ray will take you from idea all the way through three rewrites. The first thing he will do is help you get to know your characters. You will write a back story for each of your main characters, you will come up with a time line, and you will dress them for business. When you finish they will start to come alive for you.
Next he will provide a structure for your novel, something I've been led to believe is the biggest problem for beginning novelists. Ray uses the Three Act method. Act one is where you show the problematic situation and bring your main characters on stage. Act Two is where you build complications. Act Three is the climax and resolution for your novel. Ray will help you fashion plot points that will help you write all the way to the end. There are three of them, plot points one and two and midpoint, which will give you targets to aim at. Ray also emphasizes chains of events before and after each plot point which will further hold your work together.
Every time I start a new novel I skim over the WEEKEND NOVELIST. The man clears things up. I had no idea how rhythm worked in a novel until I reread this book. The scales have fallen from my eyes. What's really surprising is that the book is out of print (Used copies are available). It was originally a Dell Trade Paperback but I got it from Writer's Digest Book Club. They need to republish this baby; it will enhance their somewhat suspect reputation.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
