To the horror of my legions of loyal readers, I'm going to interrupt the regular blogging for a word from our sponsor.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
How Not to Write a Novel
How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs If You Ever Want to Get Published by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman
I enjoyed this book a lot. I laughed out loud while reading it. Many times. Was it valuable? That's hard to say. Much of the content is aimed, I choose to think, at poorer writers than I. But, boy, was it fun to read.
"How Not" was written by a couple of editors who have seen the same mistakes over and over again. Every tip they give is illustrated with a sample, written atrociously with great wit, which will have you smiling, chuckling, or howling out loud.
Much of the book deals with fairly blatant, glaring mistakes. Don't start the novel with a long, detailed, pointless description of a place or of somebody's childhood. Don't lecture your readers about the evils of whatever it is you dislike. There isn't much real value there to a writer who isn't a hack, except for entertainment value.
Toward the end of the book the tips become more advanced and the tone changes. The early stuff has a "skewer the morons" tone. Later on, there are some serious discussions of writing. Parts of it are actually thought-provoking, instead of laugh-provoking.
Overall I didn't get a huge amount from the book. I'm not making most of those novice mistakes. It is, however, a readable and insightful tome, and I recommend it to beginning and intermediate unpublished novelists.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I laughed out loud while reading it. Many times. Was it valuable? That's hard to say. Much of the content is aimed, I choose to think, at poorer writers than I. But, boy, was it fun to read.
"How Not" was written by a couple of editors who have seen the same mistakes over and over again. Every tip they give is illustrated with a sample, written atrociously with great wit, which will have you smiling, chuckling, or howling out loud.
Much of the book deals with fairly blatant, glaring mistakes. Don't start the novel with a long, detailed, pointless description of a place or of somebody's childhood. Don't lecture your readers about the evils of whatever it is you dislike. There isn't much real value there to a writer who isn't a hack, except for entertainment value.
Toward the end of the book the tips become more advanced and the tone changes. The early stuff has a "skewer the morons" tone. Later on, there are some serious discussions of writing. Parts of it are actually thought-provoking, instead of laugh-provoking.
Overall I didn't get a huge amount from the book. I'm not making most of those novice mistakes. It is, however, a readable and insightful tome, and I recommend it to beginning and intermediate unpublished novelists.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Novel Voices
I approached "Novel Voices" by Jennifer Levasseur with a lot of enthusiasm. The premise is terrific. The authors interviewed 17 award-winning authors and gathered the collected wisdom and insights into one book.
I was quite disappointed. The problem for me is that the novelists were all literary authors. I hadn't heard of a single writer. I didn't recognize anything they'd written. Their bibliographies listed volumes of poetry and collections of short stories along with a few novels. In short, they wrote the kinds of things I don't read and don't write.
I suppose this book has a lot of value for those who aspire to write literary fiction, but my tastes and interests are quite commercial, and I found the book irrelevant and unhelpful. There is nothing wrong with the book itself; I am simply not the target audience.
I'm afraid I can't offer anything specific. I read the book five or six days ago and I remember almost nothing. It wasn't long before I was skimming, looking for something I could relate to, and failing to find it.
I was quite disappointed. The problem for me is that the novelists were all literary authors. I hadn't heard of a single writer. I didn't recognize anything they'd written. Their bibliographies listed volumes of poetry and collections of short stories along with a few novels. In short, they wrote the kinds of things I don't read and don't write.
I suppose this book has a lot of value for those who aspire to write literary fiction, but my tastes and interests are quite commercial, and I found the book irrelevant and unhelpful. There is nothing wrong with the book itself; I am simply not the target audience.
I'm afraid I can't offer anything specific. I read the book five or six days ago and I remember almost nothing. It wasn't long before I was skimming, looking for something I could relate to, and failing to find it.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
O Brave New Blog
I will be taking this blog in a bold new direction in 2010. Some bloggers might worry about alienating their loyal readers with such a move, but I, of course, have no readers.
I have been writing on assignment for Whitesmoke during 2009, creating the same kind of content that I've been posting to this blog. It's a scramble to find enough to write about for Whitesmoke. I don't have enough topics to blog as well without repeating myself. Plus, I'm getting a bit bored with this stuff, since I'm writing about it all the time now. So, I'll be taking "Writing Tips" in a different direction.
Starting immediately, the focus of this blog will be the lessons I learn as a fiction writer who is close to breaking into publication. There will be reviews of books on writing, writing resources, and general insights that I glean as an author.
Since readership quite literally can't get worse, I'm confident that this step is a move in the right direction.
Are you reading this? For the love of God, post a comment.
Thanks,
Brent
I have been writing on assignment for Whitesmoke during 2009, creating the same kind of content that I've been posting to this blog. It's a scramble to find enough to write about for Whitesmoke. I don't have enough topics to blog as well without repeating myself. Plus, I'm getting a bit bored with this stuff, since I'm writing about it all the time now. So, I'll be taking "Writing Tips" in a different direction.
Starting immediately, the focus of this blog will be the lessons I learn as a fiction writer who is close to breaking into publication. There will be reviews of books on writing, writing resources, and general insights that I glean as an author.
Since readership quite literally can't get worse, I'm confident that this step is a move in the right direction.
Are you reading this? For the love of God, post a comment.
Thanks,
Brent
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Monday, October 20, 2008
Better spelling wonted
Today's fun word that looks like an error but isn't is: Wont!
A wont is a habitual way of doing things. He went to school in the morning, as is his wont. There are also adjective and verb forms. He went to school, as he is wont to do.
Your spellchecker can deceive you. Don't trust it.
A wont is a habitual way of doing things. He went to school in the morning, as is his wont. There are also adjective and verb forms. He went to school, as he is wont to do.
Your spellchecker can deceive you. Don't trust it.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Caring Less
If you really don't care at all about something, then you couldn't care less. If you say, "I could care less," then you are saying "I care at least a little."
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