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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of good but very basic writing advice,
By Student (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy (Paperback)
I can only presume that Card sees a lot of really terrible stories at writing workshops. While the advice in this book is great, it's also all very basic, and most of it should be obvious to people who have read a significant amount of fiction. I would recommend this book only for extremely inexperienced authors who haven't yet learned the basics of good writing.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read and learn,
By WLJ (Spokane, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy (Paperback)
I just finished reading the old hardback edition published in 1990. I'm sure the new edition is as good or even better. Much of Card's advice applies to any fiction writing - not just SF/F. Read and learn.
2.0 out of 5 stars
An unneccessary toolbox of the obvious,
By blakletter (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy (Paperback)
I've never taken any writing classes aside from the standard high school and college requirements. I read a lot, and I'm starting to write a lot too. If I'm extremely lucky and bust my hump for the next few decades, maybe I'll even enjoy the merest hint of the success Orson Scott Card has found as an amazingly talented writer. Unfortunately, this book isn't going to help me get there. There's nothing in here that I didn't already know, and like I said I haven't got any special experience. How to Write... isn't so much a how-to book as a shopping list of the most obvious information a fiction writer needs to know. In fact, that information is so obvious that most ordinary people know it intuitively, even if they've never written a page of fiction in their lives. For example, the advice you are given to help you create logical, consistent worlds is something not much more complex then "Create logical, consistent worlds". The section on story structure will only give you blatantly obvious advice as well, stuff like it's bad to reveal the solution too early on in a mystery and that you should think about a character's motivation for moving forward through the events of your tale. Do you really need to read an entire book to tell you these things? Probably not. There's nothing in here that will make you say "Of course! This is what my stories have been lacking!" If anything, it will make you feel vastly better about being a writer, because if this is all there is to it (and I suspect that's not the case), writing must be a piece of cake. There are a few valuable pieces of advice in the book such as where to go to get your stories published and how to further your career as a writer- but these gems only tend to be a paragraph or two, not very detailed and not really worth the price of admission. There are many other books entirely devoted to the useful subjects Card is only able to give you a glimpse of, and your money is most likely better spent on those. I recognize the merit of being told the obvious at certain points to keep yourself focused, and in that regard this book may serve you well. However, those looking for hard information and valuable writing exercises should pass this selection by or prepare themselves for sore disappointment.
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