Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been a professional writer since '72, and have been reading how-to books on writing (and taking classes) to improve my craft, for nearly as long. Over this long time, I have quite literally never come across a book like this before. Don Maass, a New York literary agent, writes about how to evoke emotional responses in readers - not in characters (though he covers that, too). Instead, he makes the case that having characters experience emotions doesn't always trigger that in readers (in fact, he suggests that usually doesn't work). Then, having shot down (logically, and with support) the idea that characters experiencing emotions equals readers experiencing emotions, he then shows how - in several chapters - how to reliably evoking strong, memorable and satisfying emotions in your readers. This isn't a 30,000-foot overview, this is down in the weeds, with specific examples and details. I'm finding all kinds of useful tools in this book, including 34 sets of exercises, usually involving writing or rewriting a scene or chapter in your book to evoke emotion. These exercises are usually divided into ten to twenty steps - this is very detailed. In reading this book with my trusty yellow high-lighter pen in hand, I not only terminally colored the book bright neon yellow, I’ve filled my notebook with about 40 pages of scrawled ideas that will make my in-progress novel a lot better – and this is before I get to doing the 34 sets of exercises. Seriously, if you read this book with an eye on really learning how to improve your fiction writing, this book is an entire college class’s worth of material (I say that, having taught writing and book/author/publisher promotion as an adjunct prof at four colleges and universities). To really understand all the insights (I’ve been writing professionally since ’72 and I’d never encountered most of these ideas), you have to study the book, taking notes as if each chapter or sub-chapter was a classroom lecture Then, doing justice to the 34 sets of exercises will take months - but that will be time well-spent. This will work best if you have a novel you're working on or have recently finished in draft form. Going through the exercises will make your book measurably better. Which is why this is unlike any how-to writing book I’ve ever encountered. Bottom Line: If you're serious about this book, you'll learn a lot. One final note. Don Maass also uses examples from classic and current books- these are presented as icons of successful emotional impact (he doesn't find fault, but finds positive examples). My favorite is To Kill a Mockingbird, but he cites others that had such impact that I've ordered them from Amazon. If you want your characters to be more than cardboard, and want your readers to respond emotionally, get this book and make it your study-guide.