Customer Reviews

Write Good or Die

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was attracted to this collection because of the many contributing authors I admire in it, and also because I knew Scott Nicholson (whose novels I've recently become a fan of) would do a great job with selecting helpful and interesting advice. 'Write Good or Die' met all of my high expectations.

The version I purchased contained 22 articles focused on specific areas of craft, and 11 articles focused on practical business matters for writers. Every single piece was worth reading, and the collection broadened my horizons and got me thinking about the craft and business of writing from new points of view--all of them from either successful or otherwise qualified contributors.

The current price is criminally low, and the proceeds from its sales support a writing-oriented charity. I give it as emphatic a recommendation as I can give.

Scott Nicholson (editor) has gathered more than 30 articles on the writing craft and trade, in a text that will appeal to readers, writers and possibly language arts teachers as well. Kindle readers will recognize several of the contributors and will also be pleased to see chapters dedicated to discussion of e-book technology and its place in the literary industry.

All facets of writing are given coverage in this collection. Chapters include tips on remaining motivated; the actual writing process and using plot, characterization, voice, imagery and dialogue effectively; and the many avenues open to writers wanting to make a living from their craft.

This is not some sort of theoretical tome. Each article is short but jam-packed full of practical suggestions and written in a casual, accessible voice. Aspiring and practising writers will find numerous suggestions to apply to their own work in `Write Good or Die'.

An entertaining and informative read, that's a little bit motivational as well. Highly recommended.

I write a blog called The Newbie's Guide to Publishing (and I also have an ebook of the same title) and I thought I knew it all. But after reading Nicholson's terrific collection, I realized I still had some things left to learn.

This is a must-read for all authors, both new and experienced. It's truly a treasure trove of information. Highly recommended.

While you might find a book with advice from one or two authors, it's not often you find real-life advice from a group of authors across genres and styles. It wasn't apparent to me at first, but much of the book is a compilation of blog posts. I found this format to be a good thing as I discovered new authors, new blogs to delve into later and quick, digestible sections (rather than one long commentary).

Once inside, I was excited to see a number of the authors talking about story telling, structure and archetypes similar to what I've been reading from Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! SeriesSave The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
and Vogler's Mythic Structure that outlines the hero's journey archetypes in story The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition.

These are not the only topics covered _at all_. Write Good or Die has something for everyone, with practical tid-bits based on experience you don't find in the typical writing book. And at the price I paid--$2.99--finding even just a few useful tips or ideas is well worth it.

Well, aside from the fact that the title drove me insane, there were COUNTLESS typos (I stopped counting at 42), and a lot of the advice wasn't helpful or relevant, it was only sort of bad. There were a few articles (maybe 3) that were pretty decent but the majority was just filler. I didn't learn anything new and I kept screaming in my head, "Jesus Christ, don't 'pros' know about spell check and proper grammar?" I only got this book because it was free. Would I recommend it? No. Would I say it was a nice attempt? Absolutely.

I noticed someone gave the book 1 star based on the title alone, admitting to not reading the actual book itself. Here are five stars for putting together helpful content for aspiring writers, and giving it away for free.

Write Good or Die is worth every penny. I mean that sincerely. I would have paid for the advice found this wonderful collection of writings from those who have been there and done that.

It's now a reference work for me. I have gone back to it several times to refresh my mind on the advice I found in it. It's free, so why not pick a copy of this great work. It's worth the investment in time to read.

As an English teacher, I found this book full of practical tips for writing both fiction and non-fiction and will happily recommend it to my students. Some of the sections are about getting your book published, rather than the actual practice of writing, but this doesn't detract from this being a terrific resource for writers of all kinds.

Way better than any $.99 book should be. Helpful, well written (for the most part) by a variety of authors and edited which is more that can I can say for many free/low cost e-books. Well done and a good read for anyone who writes or aspires to do so.

But better! I was expecting more of a laundry list of do's and don'ts but I feel that this approach was superior. It was very interesting and at times, enlightening. Having a variety of authors weigh in on the general topic of how (or how not) to be a successful writer dramatically increased the chance that at least one segment would speak to you and your situation. At first, it seemed that many of them stressed proofreading. The more electronic books I read, the more the advice to do all you can do to avoid simple grammatical errors rings true. Very few of the books I have encountered so far are free of obvious errors. It seems that there are many writers who have neither heard nor heeded this advice.
The focus of this book is on fiction writing, but a considerable amount of the advice is applicable to any written document. It was nice to have links to the authors' websites. If a particular segment made an impression, you can easily learn more about the author.
I would recommend this book to anyone contemplating writing professionally or even semi-professionally. The variety of experiences and viewpoints is a refreshing change from the "bullet points to success" approach. Even if you do not intend to write but would like a better understanding of the world in which your favorite authors work, this book would hold your interest.