Customer Reviews

How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

James Frey, where were you when I was taking all those creative writing workshops back in college? His insistence on the Three C's of Premise (character, conflict and conclusion) says it all. He offers practical, down-to-earth advice on writing fiction you will not find in most of the college creative writing workshops, which naturally are mainly taught by very artistic, literary-oriented writer/instructors who do not believe in the validity of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton or any other best-selling, "commerical" authors.

If you want to write fiction that sells to the masses, at the same time use all the necessary literary conventions used by even the most Pulitzer-winner writers, this book is for you. Frey cannot in the thin volume of this book make you into a writer. What he does is give you a fast, concise rundown on the main techniques that are critical to the story, as well as ways to avoid pitfalls. Every good novel from my experience, whether it be a critically-acclaimed "literary" piece or a commercial bestseller, contains the elements discussed in the book.

If you're in to pretentious books on writing, books that are geared toward English Literature majors, this book is not for you. If you want hard, practical easy reading manual on that silly enjoyable thing you love doing (writing fiction), this book is must for you.

How to Write a Damn Good Novel is a fairly quick read and although studious, it doesn't read too much like a text book. I've noticed that some writing books tend to be very dry and sound like they were written by a teacher, like Bickham's writing books. This work is a considerably better than that. Some tend to be more friendly and fun to read like King's "On Writing" and to a lesser extent "The First Five Pages".

One thing I've noticed is that advice can be at polar ends and yet still sound like it is good genuine advice.

Frey recommends using a very structured route to completing a novel. You must have a premise. Write character bios. Complete a step sheet. Know where you are going. The key to writing a salable novel is too write a certain amount every day following the guide lines and rules. Follow them and you will succeed. For a writer that is going to follow this route I'd also recommend the book "Writing the Blockbuster Novel" as it gives some great examples of structuring a big novel. It also gives examples of an actual outline used in a Follet novel, which I thought was very informative. I recommend both of these books.

Stephen King's "On Writing" tells some of his life story and also tells how he writes his books. He describes writing a fictional novel as being like a palentologist digging up bones; the story is already there, it exists in total and the writers job is to dig it up without destroying all the fragile and delicate pieces. King doesn't mention in his book on writing anything about a premise, a step sheet, writing character bios or even knowing the outcome of the story. He mentions that in the writing of "The Green Mile" he didn't even know if the central character John Coffey was going to live or die. One might just say that he is a genius so the rules don't apply. Perhaps.

Another good book that seems to be in conflict to Frey's work is "Immediate Fiction". In this book we are told to start writing. Write. Write. Write. Ok, I get it. Write something.

I think that a melding of the two approaches could probably work very well. Write as much as you can with the basic idea that you have. Write a lot. Then look at the work as if you were following one of the more structured techniques. Does it work? Did you break the rules or seem to follow them instinctively?

I am going to strongly suggest that the beginning writer like myself read a few different types of writing books. I read various reviews and ordered a bunch of books based on what books received some decent reviews. Some of those are listed here. I would also recommend staying away from the more dry, teacher sounding type books, at least at first. There are harder to read, not as fun and don't really say anything different from the others.

How to Write a Damn Good Novel has received lots of good comments, and I concur, it is a very good book and highly recommend.

I had this idea that I'd write for a long, long time. I would jot down this or that, and then forget about my idea. I'd attempt to keep at it, but without any real plan. Well, this book changed my life.

In the two months since I've read this book, I've written over 50,000 words. Granted, much of that is background material and draft, but frankly, this book moved me. It gave me direction, inspiration, and a healthy dose of reality.

Now, don't be mistaken, Frey is not going to teach you all the grammatical rules you're going to need to know. He's not going to go into great detail about characteriztion, voice, plot etc. However, he will cover all of these, and organize them to a conceivable whole. He offers realism in what to expect out of writing.

His tone is light, engaging, and very easy to read. I've already read the book twice, and referred to it, when reading other people's writing.

Simply put, if you ever plan on writing a novel, READ THIS BOOK.

Along with Renni Brown's Self Editing for Fiction Writers and Bird by Bird, this has become one of my favorite books on writing. I just read it yesterday and am amazed at how good it was. I expected another ho-humish how-to with the same old Writers Digest advice but got instead exciting insights, analysis of fine literature, and professional tips on how to improve my novel. I especially liked the way the author kept referring to several master works (A Christmas Carol, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Madam Bovary, Lolita, and The Godfather) to illustrate his points about how to have a premise, internal and external conflict, and a satisfying climax. I loved the tips for avoiding melodrama and producing dramatic literature instead, as well as the original suggestions for improving dialogue, tips I have not encountered in a dozen other books. I am a journalist seven-eigths done with my first novel and think this book would be great for both beginners and those who have been working on their craft for years. Frey has something unique to say and says it so well that it is a treat to read. His gift of self-expression and insights into writing make the qualities of fine fiction understandable and something one can learn to reproduce. The book has a scholarly foundation (with helpful references and research) and original premises but is very funny and entertaining, too.

Practical, professional, and, despite its title, a very insightful book.

I've read scores of books on writing fiction, and this is one of the best I've found. Along with Self Editing for Fiction Writers and If You Want To Write, it's one of those books that's beautifully written and has something special to say. It can teach you structure and how to write drama instead of melodrama to create a novel that hangs together as a satisfying whole. Frey uses examples from noted novels--The Old Man and the Sea, Madame Bovary, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, The Godfather, A Christmas Carol--and shows you how great novels begin, create rising action, and have climaxes that come from their characters' conflicts. This book brings together the worlds of the English classroom and the publishing workshop to show how to write novels with the narrative drive that readers love. There is neither the snobbery of the purely literary nor the crassness of the commercial how-to. I learned more about writing fiction from it than in my Master's program, an English major, and years of writing groups. It's top advice from a practitioner of craft--and funny, inspiring, and entertaining to boot. If I sell my first novel, which two editors are currently considering, it will be because of this book along with the editing I learned from Renni Browne and the inspiration of B. Ueland. It's helped me tremendously as a teacher of writing, too.

For would-be writers who don't have much experience or knowledge of what makes good narrative fiction, this book covers the basics very well -- the importance of well-drawn characters, conflict, consistent point of view, and a unified premise -- as well as some of the necessary work habits for a novelist.

What Frey doesn't give is much real craft advice: how to build character through dialogue and description, how to use language powerfully and originally, how to use metaphor and figurative language, how to show not tell, etc. Maybe this stuff is covered in the follow up book...?

The book was also very male-oriented; all of the hypothetical protagonists Frey uses to illustrate techniques are male, and all of the books he cites as examples of "Damn good novels" are by male authors. Not a serious flaw, but a little off-putting for a female writer.

This book definitely seems more geared toward people interested in mainstream and mystery fiction. For people who are interested in doing more literary writing -- along the lines of the damn good novels he cites as examples -- I'd recommend John Gardner's The Art of Fiction and On Becoming a Novelist instead.

Although most of the advice is pretty standard that you get in any how-to-write book, my two stars comes from his statements that you must have a premise (such as "Cheaters never win") before you begin to write. This kind of approach is perilous for beginning writers, leading to work that can be preachy, predictable, and cliched. Many times, the true premise of a story or novel makes itself known during the revision process, but to begin your first draft that way is to try to shoehorn your story into an ill-fitting formula that serves neither the reader nor the writer.

This is a tough, abrasive-toned book that absolutely wants you to do a damn good job writing a book. This book will not tolerate any namby pamby whining about not having time to write or having writer's block. What this book will do is tell you how to have real, thick, believable characters. It will tell you how to ratchet up every single scene, every bit of dialogue. It will tell you that writing is a terrible occupation for those wishy-washy types who fly by the seat of their muse's pants. It's a career. Clock in, work, clock out. Except you never really clock out. Your mind leaves the room and you find yourself nodding to your husband that it's ok if he buys a new guitar because you're worrying about how to make your protagonist's girlfriend attempt to kill her boss.

In short, you won't need any other book on how to write if you've got this one. It kicks you in the butt, tells you you can do it if you really really try and don't wimp out or run crying every time you get a rejection letter. Instead, this book tells you, keep sending queries, and get going on the next book, and the one after that, too. You could do some thirty odd books even if you wrote slowly but tried hard. So quit whining!

I love this book. It's motivation without stroking. It's advice without flowers and chocolates. Get it if you're serious about that book sitting just to the left of your appendix (everyone says they've got a book in them, right?).

Mr. Frey does a great job of narrowing down the structure of a good novel to its essentials (i.e. Plot, Character, Theme). Every book I've ever read and remembered for more than ten minutes after I closed the cover had these elements in abundance. He offers good and hard to follow advice as to how to write a novel (You *have* to sit down and do the writing!). Excellent reading even if you have no intention of writing a damn good novel because it gives the guidelines for judging whether a novel is damn good or not.

I own this book and the follow up as well. Each tells you pretty much the same things as any other book on writing i have ever read. Incase you don't want to buy the book but get the info then i'll pretty much list the contents of both books:

- write every day, try to get around two or so pages. Just keep writing and worry about the editing later.
- every scene must have conflict. Introduce it, act it out, and then resolve it.
- Every 'hero' must have an equal and opposite 'villain' opposing them.
- empathy for your characters, NOT sympathy.
- the list of things you have already heard goes on and on and on...

Now, don't think i'm condemning this book because i am not. If you are a beginner then you can benefit from this book. Just don't buy it, read it, and then go out and try to find another book that may have more info this did not. There are, however, TWO complaints that i do have with the book. The first is that the author seems to like to reference books that are 'prehistoric' to a younger audience. I'm 26 and the mentioned titles, although i am familiar with almost all of them, have always bored me and are well older than books i would have expected to be mentioned within. If you buy this book then get ready to read about references to 'A Christmas Carol' and 'Scrooge' more than a few times.

The second complaint is that while you are reading you almost get a feeling in your hear that the author is yelling the information at you. He seems as though there is an air that has him thinking he is the greatest writer of all time and that you had better follow his instructions - and ONLY his instructions- or you will fail as a writer. Tiresom indeed.

Like i said, if you are new to writing and have not read any, or atleast only a very few, books on writing then you will benefit. But if you are even slightly more experienced then save your money. You already know what the book will present to you.

And just as a side note there is a book i recommend to any writer. 'Self-Editing for Fiction Writers' is by far the best book on writing i have ever read. It is not only about editing but has so much more on creative writing, the mechanics of dialog and sooooo much more. Looking back, if i had to buy only one book on writing that would be it. And by the way, i have absolutly no affiliation with that book or anyone who was involved in writing or publishing it. I just really think that it is the most useful writing book i have ever read. I hope this all helps.
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