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Reviews
Writing Short Stories: A Writers' and Artists' Companion by Tania Hershman, Courttia Newland
belle_fiction's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
A fantastically written book for aspiring short story writers everywhere!
The book is split into three sections: one documenting the history of the short story, the second focusing on tips from other short story writers and the third on practical publishing advice. I found that the first and third sections of the book were the best and the most helpful for upcoming authors.
Newland and Hershman offer sooo many tips on what makes a good reader, writer, short story, and give helpful advice on revising and editing their work. They also provide links to short story magazines looking for new stories, advice on how to hone your plot, the quality of your story, your narrators, characters, voice and, most importantly, the structure.
It is written in a lovely and accessible way and provides further reading to authors and short stories which influenced them and their work.
A simply beautiful book which provided me with a profound insight into the short story world.
All that's left for me to do now is to grab a pen, some paper and a collection of short stories, and see where my new found inspiration takes me!
A fantastically written book for aspiring short story writers everywhere!
The book is split into three sections: one documenting the history of the short story, the second focusing on tips from other short story writers and the third on practical publishing advice. I found that the first and third sections of the book were the best and the most helpful for upcoming authors.
Newland and Hershman offer sooo many tips on what makes a good reader, writer, short story, and give helpful advice on revising and editing their work. They also provide links to short story magazines looking for new stories, advice on how to hone your plot, the quality of your story, your narrators, characters, voice and, most importantly, the structure.
It is written in a lovely and accessible way and provides further reading to authors and short stories which influenced them and their work.
A simply beautiful book which provided me with a profound insight into the short story world.
All that's left for me to do now is to grab a pen, some paper and a collection of short stories, and see where my new found inspiration takes me!
sinisterbeard's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
krisz's review against another edition
1.0
Firstly:
- I give 1 star to this book because of the typeset. Whoever decided on this font for the book, I'd take him to the backyard and bash him on the head with a shovel until he moves. This was awful to read, the worst sans serif type I have ever seen, and the most important parts of the book have grey background too. I can't even begin to think what this guy had in mind when he designed the book? Didn't he get this salary from the company for the past 6 months? Did the acquisition manager sleep with the typesetter's wife? OR WHAT?
Otherwise:
- In the beginning I merely disliked this book for the uninteresting intros, chapter upon chapter with stuff that was presented in a really non appealing way. I actually put the book down for a year :(
- Then slowly, slowly it started to sound like a book, when it put the things aside that the writers thought they have to start the book with and now they can really write what they really want to say.
- It had some really good points, for example introducing the reader into how each author developed a story idea and worked out the text.
All in all:
- It's a good book! But DON'T BUY IT IN PRINT.
- I give 1 star to this book because of the typeset. Whoever decided on this font for the book, I'd take him to the backyard and bash him on the head with a shovel until he moves. This was awful to read, the worst sans serif type I have ever seen, and the most important parts of the book have grey background too. I can't even begin to think what this guy had in mind when he designed the book? Didn't he get this salary from the company for the past 6 months? Did the acquisition manager sleep with the typesetter's wife? OR WHAT?
Otherwise:
- In the beginning I merely disliked this book for the uninteresting intros, chapter upon chapter with stuff that was presented in a really non appealing way. I actually put the book down for a year :(
- Then slowly, slowly it started to sound like a book, when it put the things aside that the writers thought they have to start the book with and now they can really write what they really want to say.
- It had some really good points, for example introducing the reader into how each author developed a story idea and worked out the text.
All in all:
- It's a good book! But DON'T BUY IT IN PRINT.
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