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people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #146,762 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
Never buy a book on fiction writing from someone who's never written fiction.
I broke my personal rule. Because there were writers on the podcast, I bought the book. NEVER buy a book on fiction writing from someone who has never written a fiction book.
1. Editing fiction is not fiction writing.
2. Writing a non-fiction book is not fiction writing.
This is a great book for writers who have never finished a book and/or want to edit their current project to death rather than face prospect of rejection.
I absolutely agree that there's an analytical quality to writing, and it pays to follow certain rules. It's also absolutely essential to study and learn and master story structure.
Unfortunately, this book gives you instructions on building The Sagrada Familia when all you really need are the blueprints for a backyard shed. Writing is, ultimately, a creative endeavor. Analyzing your writing to death will kill your voice. Understand structure, and then build your own cathedral.
If you're a new writer, buy Dwight Swain's "Techniques of the Selling Writer". If you're an experienced writer, re-read your annotated copy of Techniques of the Selling Writer. It's dry, it was written in the 60's, and every other book on fiction writing is merely some version of it. Also - yes - Dwight Swain wrote fiction. It wasn't great fiction, but, hey - it's better than nothing.
Check out Writing with Emotion, Tension and Conflict from Cheryl St.John. She writes romance, but she understands that a story is emotion.
I've written 15 books - some of them bestsellers. I'm not saying this to brag. I suck at writing. That's why I keep buying books on writing. I keep hoping I can somehow crack a 'code' and get better. But here's the cold, sad truth: nothing trumps voice.
I'd love to have this guy as an editor. I'm sure he's great. A lot of times, you get an editor who knows something isn't working in your story but doesn't know why. So you get these weird notes that make you want to drink whiskey and bang your head against the wall.
But here's a voice from the trenches: if you want to write fiction, find someone who understands what it's like to have characters who don't follow rules rattling around in your head.
And DO NOT analyze yourself into an early literary grave.
