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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Hilarious and informative! If you write novels or screenplays, you need to read this book.
Revealing, provoking and humorous.
Chuck doesn't hold your hand, but also offers valid advice in short sentences. This book has the same style for me as Baltazar Gracian's The Art of Prudence, so it was a very satisfactory identification with the style.
Good to get and open at random pages for quick reminders.
Chuck doesn't hold your hand, but also offers valid advice in short sentences. This book has the same style for me as Baltazar Gracian's The Art of Prudence, so it was a very satisfactory identification with the style.
Good to get and open at random pages for quick reminders.
Sloppily written with lots of probably good advice. I dunno. I'm going to thinking about this for while.
I guess I should have read something on Chuck Wendig's blog before getting this book, but well, here I am. If I remember correctly, one of the bits of advice in this book is to read many books on writing, because if there is only one thing in it that sticks with you and improves your writing, it's worth it. Between the crude, sexist and bigoted jokes (and that's basically what most of this book is), I did indeed find a handful of practical tips for writing, so I guess as per the "rule" above, it was worth it. Still won't recommend this book, as you can read most of the 250/275 things in other books without all the cringey alpha male posing.
Straightforward and uncensored (though I'm sure it has been), Chuck Wendig takes you on a point-by-point run through lists of writing-related topics. Without adding extra flash, chunks of excerpts to prove a point, and in a tone that treats the reader as an equal, it's an easy read that is useful to anyone dabbling in writing, of any sort and at any level.
Picked this up after throughly enjoying his interview on Book Riot's Reading Lives podcast. This book made me laugh, nod, groan in annoyed agreement and close it feeling inspired. It is a must read for any writer, even overworked reporters. Highly recommend it for anyone who has to write a lot and is feeling blah about the process.
I loved this book! i can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a book so much. His parlance is on point! Literally, every sentence was so life-giving that I felt satiated. His writing, for me, is excusite because his delivery is colorful, witty, fun, and honest. Although I'm not particularly interested in the genres he's written for, I'll more than likely give his other books a try.
I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting and entertaining read, not withstanding the subject matter. And for all those who are actually interested in the subject matter: why haven't you read this book yet?
I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting and entertaining read, not withstanding the subject matter. And for all those who are actually interested in the subject matter: why haven't you read this book yet?
2 stars for language and crassness. Some of the stuff in there is interesting and important with great nuggets ("description is quicksand"). Wish he wouldn't use "fuck" every two items, though. I think he meant to do that.
I bought this little gem of a book for 77p on my Kindle, and wasn't really expecting much. Let's face it, books are normally that cheap for a reason, right?
Well, I was proved wrong.
This isn't a particularly long book (Amazon tells me it is 96 pages), but there is a lot of information packed in here. As far as writing advice goes, it's no nonsense, butt-kicking advice that makes you want to just go out there (metaphorically) and write. Chuck Wendig reminds me why I wanted to become a writer in the first place - it's a hell of a lot of fun! Hard work, but fun! He emphasises that the main goal of the first draft is just to write, and then the hard work of revising and polishing comes later (kind of like the spirit of NaNoWriMo).
Aside from the motivational writing advice, there were other reasons that I enjoyed this book. Firstly, Wendig's style is just so weird. The metaphor he uses for flinging out a first draft and revising later is the image of the Greek god Hephaestus vomiting up a lump of molten metal (first draft) and then molding it into a sword or similar (the revisions). Yes, really. It made me smile on a lot of occasions, because some of the imagery he comes out with is so bizarre and out there it makes you read it twice. I wonder if his fiction is the same. o.o
There is a lot of swearing in this book, but it didn't bother me. It just kind of sounded like his natural voice (not sure what that says about him as a person, but hey XD). I know that's a major turn off for some readers, however, which is why I mention it.
One of the only reasons why this book lost a star is that, after a time, Wendig's style starts to grate. Perhaps that can be remedied with not reading it all in one sitting, but as it's such a short book, perhaps not. The other reason is that some of the information is repeated, but, as the book is a collection of blog posts (and some of the things he says in the book reveals that), that is perhaps to be expected. Once again, this could perhaps be remedied by not readint it all in one sitting.
All in all, with all its quirks, butt-kicking action and no nonsense advice, this is one of the most motivational writing advice books I've read so far. It makes me want to sit down and just get the hell on with writing a novel!
Well, I was proved wrong.
This isn't a particularly long book (Amazon tells me it is 96 pages), but there is a lot of information packed in here. As far as writing advice goes, it's no nonsense, butt-kicking advice that makes you want to just go out there (metaphorically) and write. Chuck Wendig reminds me why I wanted to become a writer in the first place - it's a hell of a lot of fun! Hard work, but fun! He emphasises that the main goal of the first draft is just to write, and then the hard work of revising and polishing comes later (kind of like the spirit of NaNoWriMo).
Aside from the motivational writing advice, there were other reasons that I enjoyed this book. Firstly, Wendig's style is just so weird. The metaphor he uses for flinging out a first draft and revising later is the image of the Greek god Hephaestus vomiting up a lump of molten metal (first draft) and then molding it into a sword or similar (the revisions). Yes, really. It made me smile on a lot of occasions, because some of the imagery he comes out with is so bizarre and out there it makes you read it twice. I wonder if his fiction is the same. o.o
There is a lot of swearing in this book, but it didn't bother me. It just kind of sounded like his natural voice (not sure what that says about him as a person, but hey XD). I know that's a major turn off for some readers, however, which is why I mention it.
One of the only reasons why this book lost a star is that, after a time, Wendig's style starts to grate. Perhaps that can be remedied with not reading it all in one sitting, but as it's such a short book, perhaps not. The other reason is that some of the information is repeated, but, as the book is a collection of blog posts (and some of the things he says in the book reveals that), that is perhaps to be expected. Once again, this could perhaps be remedied by not readint it all in one sitting.
All in all, with all its quirks, butt-kicking action and no nonsense advice, this is one of the most motivational writing advice books I've read so far. It makes me want to sit down and just get the hell on with writing a novel!