Writing the Popular Novel

By Loren D. Estleman

Book Overview

Writing great fiction is, quite simply, hard work. It requires dedication to the craft, hours of thought and research, attention to detail and sentence structure, a clear understanding of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582972885
• ISBN13: 9781582972886
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.5" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

This is a great book!

This book was great--great advice, very insightful. I loved it! Don't pay attention to the negative reviewers.

Not what I expected

I expected yet another basic how-to with lots of step-by-step instructions and writing exercises. None of that is in there, but I read it anyway, and this book is GREAT. The style is conversational and direct. One of the best pieces of advice I found was the chapter on 10 ways to fail as a writer, such as "Keep a journal." Instead the author advocates "Save your creative energies for paying work." Having read journaling books, I can see the author's point: if I only have an hour in a day to write, should I journal or work on my novel? Which one has the potential to result in a check? Another one: "Write screenplays instead of novels." The author again makes an excellent point that writing a novel takes as much time as polishing a screenplay, and is comparitively easier to sell. So why not write the novel and be paid millions so someone *else* can write the screenplay? There's also some debunking about leading chapters with hooks and ending them with cliffhangers. This book is full of very practical, real-world advice. For beginning writers, though, I'd suggest a basic introductory book on the elements of novel-writing. If you've a bit more experience and are ready to really roll up your sleeves and produce, this book is definitely for you.