Nonfiction
234 pages
5 Stars
First off, notice the subtitle, "...YOU WILL LOVE
Forever." I think that's one of the most important parts of the whole
book. If YOU don't love your novel, no one else will. And, if no one else does
love it, you still will.
I've read several How-to-Write books, and put this right at
the top. It is one I will keep and recommend to people who write short stories,
novels, nonfiction, memoir – in short, to anyone who writes and wants to make
it better.
If you're serious about writing that novel, get and read
this book. If you've been around the business of writing for any length of
time, you probably won't learn a great deal from this book, but it's a
marvelous affirmation you're doing the right stuff. And there may be just
enough difference in his presentation from the other books you've read on the
subject, that this one will resonate and hit that "Ah-ha!" chord
within your breastbone.
What, in my mind, sets Bransford's book apart from so many
of the others who write these books is he was a working agent, as well as a
novelist on his own. So he knows how it's done. He knows the agony and the
ecstasy of writing, and he knows what agents and editors look for and do.
Bransford has a great sense of humor that may not appeal to
everyone, more's the pity. It appeals to me, and for what more can I ask? Yes,
he talks about his books (after all, he is intimately familiar with all the
stages of writing, editing, and publishing those books), but he isn't trying to
sell them, just uses them as examples. He uses other books, too, books most of
his readers will be familiar with. His writing is relaxed, accessible, and not
at all "professorial," though I imagine he could pontificate if he
wanted. Go to Amazon.com and take a look inside the book.
My favorite chapters, or rules, are toward the end, in the
section on Revising. I love Rule 43: Accept feedback graciously and with an
open mind. So many writers feel the need to justify and argue for their
limitations, when they really just need to put their big boy boxers on, smile,
and take it with a simple "Thank you." If it doesn't work for the
critiquer/s it probably won't work for agents or publishers or readers.
Something to think on, eh?
I had
my first novel critiqued by a couple of known authors. They did not like it.
No, not at all. I kept my mouth shut, a smile on my face, the tears in their
ducts, paid them, took my manuscript and their notes home, and cried and cried
and cried. Six months later, I realized I agreed with 95% of what they said,
hauled out their notes, my manuscript, rewrote the novel, and sold it. And the
two authors and I are best friends (they told me later they would either
discourage me forever, or turn me into a writer.). Though his example isn't as
drastic as mine, it was a good affirmation I'd done the right thing.
I love the penultimate and last paragraphs of the first
chapter/rule:
"And if you've already written a novel, you can learn
to write an even better one.
"Here's how."
Yes, I'm going to take him up on that. I'm armed and ready
to write. Again. Thank you, Nathan Bransford!
