How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytellingby James N. Frey
James N. Frey has provided the aspiring novelist with an invaluable guide for improving both content and style. Frey's rich experience in the field is inspirational. He writes with clarity and energy and each chapter is replete with positive advice. Frey leads the reader through the complete writing process, from an idea's inception to its ultimate flowering. Some examples worth citing are:
James N. Frey has provided the aspiring novelist with an invaluable guide for improving both content and style. Frey's rich experience in the field is inspirational. He writes with clarity and energy and each chapter is replete with positive advice. Frey leads the reader through the complete writing process, from an idea's inception to its ultimate flowering. Some examples worth citing are:
Structure (Chapter 2); 'Try to avoid predictability. Start at the middle, then do the end and finish with the beginning.'
Language (Chapter 3); 'Avoid cliches like the plague. They make all writing dull as dishwater. If you use mixed metaphors, you are skating on thin ice and could end up in hot water. An inclination towards hyperbole, or exaggeration, is a million times worse than any other problem. Don't confuse tenses because publishers will rejected manuscripts that have been containing obvious errors. Don't use a big word when a breviloquent one can be just as effective. And finally, never start a sentence with a conjunction and punctuate correctly?'
Editing (Chapter 6); 'Revise your work at leest five (6) times before you send it to a agent or an publisher.'
If you follow the steps that Frey has so carefully detailed in this book, your unpublished days will be numbered. Probably in the thousands.
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