Customer Reviews

Novelist's Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must warn you: this is a very personal review. Your experience might be very different to mine, leaving me with mixed feelings on how to rate this book.

If you are like me, you will have read several books on writing by now. You probably started out with the basics (e.g. Stein On Writing?) and now you would like to focus on specific subjects, parts of your talent that need some fine tuning.

Well, I'm not saying this book is of no use, but there was nothing new to be found for me. The index is impressive, it certainly gives you the idea that there's lots to be learned... but I couldn't find anything I didn't know. Because I am a novice writer, I find it hard to question the masterpieces quoted in the examples. But... I can't help but wonder, is it just my taste or are most of the examples really nothing to write home about?

It is up to you. I would recommend reading "Characters and Viewpoints" by Orson Scott Card, which delivers much more than the title promises. My personal opinion is, you don't need "Crafting Scenes". If you find your scenes are not ideal, it is a lot more likely that something else is wrong instead. Picking up Orson Scott Card's book will proof my point.

It is difficult to imagine a more helpful and concise book for writers than Obstfeld's "The Novelist's Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes". As part of a series from Writers's Digest, this book covers the critical component of any novel: writing encounters, chapters, and scenes that have the ability to grip the reader and keep them turning pages.

Though the book is trade paper sized and only 211 pages, it is simply jammed with helpful ideas. Each chapter covers an essential aspect of writing scenes expertly. There is information on:

* Beginning a Scene
* Length
* Point of View
* Setting
* Ending a Scene
* Character, Plot, & Theme Development
* Writing the Payoff
* Character Meetings
* Finales
* Structure
* Revising

Plus there are chapters that discuss how to write genre-specific scenes (sci-fi, romance, etc.) that are also compelling.

A typical chapter within the book starts with quotes from others on the art of writing. Obstfeld then lays out general concepts and cites examples from novels and movies that support his chapter topic. Excerpts from several award-winning novels raises the quality of the book as it lets beginning writers see how the "pros" do it. Some chapters include workbook-like assignments to help readers flesh out their scenes.

While all the chapters are developed well, the one covering character, plot, and theme development is particularly enlightening. The author elects to write an encounter scene with an emphasis on each aspect. It is amazing to see how a scene can change as it is written to the characters rather than plot and vice versa.

Obstfeld has taught writing professionally in addition to having published more than two dozen novels and it shows in his style. He can quickly and directly address a topic and elucidate it easily. As a result, writers of all varieties and levels of talent can benefit from "Crafting Scenes".

Highly recommended to all writers and truly worthy of a five star rating.

I did learn from this book and used it and liked it.
I recomend it highly.
I have read almost 100 others about writing but this one is between one of the top bests.

Yowza, baby! This book was coolio to the maximus, man!
I sayz check this bad boy of a book out! Me outta here. Peace!

Tired of wading through books that offer little more than encouragement and the standard blase questions about writing what you know? ...And from "authors" whom you even wonder have really been published other than churning out the sporadic "How To" books? If this is you and you're looking for some actual techniques that you can USE, you'll find this one a definite help. Written by a writer who leaps genres and delivers more reliably than the Fed EX guy, you can tell this is written by someone who really knows what they're talking about. Highly recommended!

If you want to move beyond books that merely encourage you but don't provide actual tools, then I recommend this book. If you merely want to be cheered from the sidelines, go elsewhere - but this book is excellent, very insightful, extremely useful. Well worth the money.

As a beginning writer I needed something to help me plan my scenes. I knew what I wanted to write, but just didn't know how to go about making it effective. This book does a good job outlining tips and suggestions which will definitely make your scenes better.

This is one of the best three books. I like "Writing Fiction" by Janet Burroway and "Writing Dialogue" by Tom Chiarella. "Crafting Scenes" is a fast read, a broad outline, and doesn't waste your time. I would give it five stars for content, organization and advice and remove one star for the uneven quality of his example-paragraphs---some of which are perfectly on target, others less so.

This book is written by a real writer who had written, and sold, numerous works, insluding screenplays. He knows what he is talking about and it shows in the book. It is eminently practical and offers a look at how to make scenes work from a writer's perspective. You won't find old, hand-me-down, paint-by-the-numbers schemes in this book. What you will find is an approach that will let you write "from the inside"--the way a real writer does.

If you want to write well, this is the book to buy.

In lucid, easy-reading language, Obstfeld tells you everything you ever needed to know about writing scenes but couldn't find anywhere else. Just his chapter on openings alone, is well worth the price of the book. But there's so much more. His explanations of promise and pay-off are more instructive than anything else I've read, and Obstfeld has better guidelines for writing action/suspense scenes than other books I've read devoted to the genre. Obstfeld writes both genre and literary fiction, and is patronizing about neither one. The examples he uses are outstanding. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not emerging a better writer because of it. It's that good.