Review: Write Your Novel
Write Your Novel! From Getting Started to First Draft by Maggie James
My rating: [rating=4]
Blurb:
Have you always longed to write a novel? In Write Your Novel! From Getting Started to First Draft, I aim to inspire you with the confidence to do just that. With this book, I’ll be your cheerleader, your hand-holder. We’ll work on your mind-set, find sources of support, and deal with procrastination issues. I’ll help you carve out the time to write and together we’ll smash through the excuses that are holding you back.
What else? Do you need help in finding ideas? Worried where to start? Unsure whether writing software is right for you? Confused how to plan your novel? No problem! We cover all these issues and more. Every section ends with an action plan so you’re raring to go!
Review:
[I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.]
3.5 stars. Short and to the point, although on a basic level: in other words, this will likely be a useful and motivating read if you are quite new to writing and/or looking for motivation, but will not bring anything new to someone who’s already studied several books about writing in general.
I think the author liked putting up this guide together, and you can feel it, as she puts the finger on exactly what one should take into account when writing a novel. Battling procrastination, finding a writing software (links are provided), not letting anyone kill your desire to write, how to start looking for ideas, the “hero’s journey”, planning or not planning, writing environment, self-publishing, advice about adverbs and active/passive voice, etc… A lot of aspects are covered, along with examples from the author’s own stories, thus allowing to actually see how her thought processes went and how she got from her initial ideas to the finished novels.
(Side note: the author mentions the Scrivener sofwatre, as well as NaNoWriMo, a yearly “event” that has personally motivated me a lot in years past. For anyone who’d like to take part in November, “winning” (completing 50k words) entitles you to a 50% discount to buy Scrivener. It’s a great software, and the discount makes it dirt cheap.)
As said above, while it’s probably nothing new to someone with experience in that regard, this book’s main interesting feature, in my opinion, is that it covers a lot of essential things to keep in mind. Someone with very little knowledge can easily start from any chapter, motivate themselves, then expand and look for more resources later, using this basis to delve deeper—either using the links provided by the author, or researching on other websites and in other books. As for more experienced writers, since it’s a short read, it can still be useful if you’re finding yourself into a writing slump and are looking for a nice reminder about how to get back to work.
A more developed version would definitely be a good addition. As it is now, I’d say 3*stars for me, but 4* for someone who hasn’t started writing yet and needs to find a good place to start.