|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
Review
"At last. A damn good how-to book about writing a novel. Practical, down to earth, easily assimilated advice, presented with humor and authority."—Irma Ruth Walker, author of Air Force Wives
"Frey has the genius of a true teacher: a thorough knowledge of his subject, combined with the ability to entertain while communicating that knowledge. This book has practical adviuce for serious writers."—Donna Levin, author of Extraordinary Means
"Superb. The kind of book that should be kept by every author next to the typewriter. Frey not only includes the basics of good writing, but the invaluable hints of how to add depth and texture to a novel. Inspiring and clear, the book gives detailed examples of common pitfalls and how to correct them . . . Not only instructive but pleasurable."—Alla Crone, author of Winds Over Manchuria and East Lies the Sun
"Frey has the genius of a true teacher: a thorough knowledge of his subject, combined with the ability to entertain while communicating that knowledge. This book has practical adviuce for serious writers."—Donna Levin, author of Extraordinary Means
"Superb. The kind of book that should be kept by every author next to the typewriter. Frey not only includes the basics of good writing, but the invaluable hints of how to add depth and texture to a novel. Inspiring and clear, the book gives detailed examples of common pitfalls and how to correct them . . . Not only instructive but pleasurable."—Alla Crone, author of Winds Over Manchuria and East Lies the Sun
Product Description
Written in a clear, crisp, accessible style, this book is perfect for beginners as well as professional writers who need a crash course in the down-to-earth basics of storytelling. Talent and inspiration can't be taught, but Frey does provide scores of helpful suggestions and sensible rules and principles.
An international bestseller, How to Write a Damn Good Novel will enable all writers to face that intimidating first page, keep them on track when they falter, and help them recognize, analyze, and correct the problems in their own work.
An international bestseller, How to Write a Damn Good Novel will enable all writers to face that intimidating first page, keep them on track when they falter, and help them recognize, analyze, and correct the problems in their own work.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
IF YOU can't create characters that are vivid in the reader's imagination, you can't create a damn good novel. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
IF YOU can't create characters that are vivid in the reader's imagination, you can't create a damn good novel. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indispensable, Practical Tool For Writing Novels,
By
This review is from: How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling (Hardcover)
In James N. Frey's "How To Write A Damn Good Novel", he will teach you key methods to creating dynamic, well rounded, and most importantly, highly believable characters for your story, how to make them interesting, noble, slobbish or extraordinarily ordinary. He will explain how conflict is the most important element in turning your characters to life, how the conflicts must be made clear to the reader, and reach climactic conclusions that fully satisfy them at the end of the novel, and he will teach you with practical advice, style and great humor.Mr. Frey speaks heavily of the necessity of Premise, and describes thoroughly the difference between a workable Premise, and one that will fall through the cracks like dry sand. He discusses perspectives, view points, flashbacks, which he feels has been misused greatly in storytelling (agreed), symbolism and the imagists who abuse it, the importance of foreshadowing, and writing sensuous, dramatic prose that engages the reader, along with clever, witty and unique dialogue to keep the reader entertained. And finally, the Zen of writing novels. You will also learn how the only type of writing group worth enlisting in is one that serves destructive criticism. Or how to get along without a writing group entirely. "How To Write A Damn Good Novel" is an indispensable, practical tool for writing novels. His book will change the way you think about sitting down to your word processor or type writer, and likely help you kick the habit of watching too much TV that otherwise keeps you from working on your novel.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Straightforward handbook to professional writing...,
By Mperor (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling (Hardcover)
The title of the book does live up to the overall tone of the book.This book explains, in a very straightforward way (without fancy or pretentious language), what the author believes to be the conventional, acceptable and preferred format of creative writing in prose. He often brings in actual examples of famous novels to illustrate his points. He goes over the structure of the story, the development of characters, the way to build conflict, etc. He does cover the essentials of dramatic storytelling, and offers some practical advice and concrete examples to explain his thoughts. I think the strength of this book is the pacing and straightforwardness. It covers the basics, and is presented in simple, understandable language. It is an easy read. This is good for people who are considering going into professional writing and would like to have a simple handbook to get them started. However, if you already know a lot of writing, or have read a lot of other texts, then this book is probably avoidable, as the basics are generally mostly similar in every book about the subject matter.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Instructional, Informative, Entertaining,
By Ben Wand "I used to be cool..." (Gresham, OR United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling (Hardcover)
This book was like a writing course. It is a well-written book describing, chapter by chapter, the necessary elements for novel writing. Topics include: Character, conflict, climax; the importance of premise, writing effective dialog, constructing a stepsheet, growing characters, effective prose, and much more. I liked how Mr. Frey used extensive examples, and cited well-known novels for inspiration. For anyone even thinking of writing a novel of any genre, this is a must read!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
