Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print

By Lawrence Block

Book Overview

Block covers every step of the novel writing and selling process to help writers deliver a salable manuscript to the right editor's desk. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898792088
• ISBN13: 9780898792089
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 197 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

I started with this book

The copy I have is the one I bought for the novel writing class I took in 1983. Block had a burning desire to write and some of his ancedotes are entertaining. The book is good for someone starting out to write a novel. I've purchase many books on writing since that class. I read Stephen King's book on writing, and Block's book is better. It would nice if it could be updated. I used a typewriter when I took my 1983 class. I'd recommend this book for someone who wants to write a novel. Rewriting, Baby, is what most writers spend most of their time doing!

Nice introduction

I first read this book a decade or two ago. It is an old book. As others have noted, it could use an update in terms of word processing, etc. However, the fact is that I still own the book and look at it more often than just about any other book I've read on writing. There are some great books on writing out there--for instance, I found Orson Scott Card's "Characters and Viewpoint" and Gary Provost's "Make Your Words Work" to be extremely illuminating--but "Writing the Novel" probably provides the best foundation and introduction to writing I've seen. Why? It does more than teaches "technique," which is not always a good thing. Beyond technique, it also teaches you how to think like a writer. It hints at the nuts-and-bolts of a writer's life. It even models what makes for a good attitude (successful) toward the business and the client, which is the reader. More than anything, for those who love quality writing, you will just enjoy reading it. You can certainly move beyond "Writing the Novel" (don't forget to actually write, though!) but you may find yourself coming back to it again and again for understanding of the craft.

A page-turner

Some overlap with the material in Larry Block's "Telling Lies for Fun and Profit," but I'm still not sorry I got both. He will have you in stitches.

An excellent companion for the first-time novelist

I've been turning to Lawrence Block's books on writing for more years now than I can remember, and I can't recommend them highly enough. However, _Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print_ is more specifically aimed at writers who are attempting (or comtemplating) their first novels than are his other books, and writers who have already faced the start-up questions--like what kind of book is the one for them to write--may find his other books more helpful. Those already familiar with his wonderful _Telling Lies for Fun and Profit_ (my favorite) will also find that _Writing the Novel_ borrows heavily from it, with some chapters almost identical. Nevertheless, if you want a compact, conversational, encouraging, and down-to-earth companion to walk you through your first attempt at writing a novel, this book is excellent: Block even provides support for the post-novel blues you may experience when you've accomplished your goal. If, however, you've already tackled your first novel and still want the benefit of his humorous, sensible know-how, you should seek out the longer, more detail-oriented _Telling Lies_, or _Spider, Spin Me a Web_ (which focusses more on related issues about the writer's life). All are wonderful, but your own needs and experience will dictate which you will find more useful.

If writing is your burning desire, read this book.

Lawrence Block, unlike most of those who write writing books, really has been published, does this stuff for a living, and obviously loves the craft. Also, unlike most of those who write writing books, he doesn't try to tell the reader how to write. He doesn't attempt to impress the would-be writer with elaborate "methods" or "systems" which are worth exactly nothing when a writer is first starting out. Methods and systems which work for one writer inevitably do not work for another. For instance, I do not outline. Some writers (and instructors of writing) would consider this a failing. I do not. As Block says so eloquently in his book, "The novel is an organic thing." It's nice to know that I'm not necessarily doing it wrong. In fact, Block lets us know there is no "wrong" way to write one's novel. That's refreshing. He goes about the business of talking about writing in terms of the easiest way to get the job done and always with the caveat that we writers each come to that business with our own habits, quirks and methods and the trick is to find the best one for each of us. The writer can't depend upon anyone else to find that "first step" in "the journey of a thousand miles" for him or her. It's hard work, and since somebody's got to do it, it might as well be me . . . or you . . . or the neighbor lady down the street with the manuscript hidden in her closet. A tremendously encouraging and insightful book. I suggest it highly.