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44 reviews for:
The Kick-Ass Writer: 1001 Ways to Write Great Fiction, Get Published, and Earn Your Audience
Chuck Wendig
4.02 AVERAGE
44 reviews for:
The Kick-Ass Writer: 1001 Ways to Write Great Fiction, Get Published, and Earn Your Audience
Chuck Wendig
4.02 AVERAGE
A very easy to read collection of writing tips, unsurprisingly well-written and done in Chuck Wendig's pithy and irreverent style. It's quite obviously a cut and shut job from a variety of his blogposts but I think it works as one long piece, though it's the kind of book that's better in small helpings rather than read for prolonged periods because it's lots of little bits of advice and it doesn't really flow in a way that encourages to keep reading.
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
This is a fun one to circle back to after reading Wendig's latest book of writing advice. This is a high-octane stream-of-consciousness pep-talk, laden with profanity and digressions.
Reading this book is like having a pep-talk given by an extremely passionate coach who has drunk several pots of coffee. Definitely a loving kick to just sit down and get writing!
Reading this book is like having a pep-talk given by an extremely passionate coach who has drunk several pots of coffee. Definitely a loving kick to just sit down and get writing!
This is the fifth book in my Kindle Unlimited Experiment. For the 30 day trial, I'm only reading books that are part of the program and keeping track what the total cost of the books would have been.
The Kick-Ass Writer is a collection of 1001 writing tips, broken down into 31 lists of 25 items each. I do realize that doesn't quite add up to 1001 but it's still a lot tips.
Here are the contents:
- 25 things you should know about being a writer
- 25 questions to ask as you write
- 25 things I want to say to so-called "aspiring" writers
- 25 things you should know about writing a novel
- 25 ways to be a better writer
- 25 things writers should stop doing
- 25 things you should know about writing horror
- 25 ways to defeat writer's block
- 25 ways to plot, plan, and prep your story
- 25 things you should know about character
- 25 things you should know about description
- 25 things you should know about writing a goddamn sentence
- 25 things you should know about plot
- 25 things you should know about narrative
- 25 things you should know about protagonists
- 25 things you should know about setting
- 25 things you should know about suspense and tension in storytelling
- 25 things you should know about theme
- 25 things you should know about writing a scene
- 25 things you should know about dialogue
- 25 things you should know about endings
- 25 things you should know about editing, revising, and rewriting
- 25 things you should know about getting published
- 25 things you should know about agents
- 25 things you should know about queries
- 25 things you should know about self-publishing
- 25 things you should know about blogging
- 25 things you should know about social media
- 25 things you should know about crowdfunding
- 25 things ways to earn your audience
- 25 things you should know about hybrid authors
There's a lot of useful tips contained in this book but writing, much like photography, is very much a "learn by doing" kind of activity. Still, Wendig dispenses some useful advice leavened with humor. Quite a bit of it feels recycled from his other writing books, though. Probably 80% of it. Considering how many writing books he has in print, I guess I shouldn't be this surprised. However, there's a lot of repetition between the individual topics as well. The most useful tips were in the writing horror section and the topics related to publishing.
while I'm a tremendous Chuck Wendig fan, I don't think I'll be pickign up any more of his writing books. The humor isn't enough to make me forget I've read most of this before. 2 out of 5 stars.
Current Kindle Unlimited Savings Total: $25.73.
The Kick-Ass Writer is a collection of 1001 writing tips, broken down into 31 lists of 25 items each. I do realize that doesn't quite add up to 1001 but it's still a lot tips.
Here are the contents:
- 25 things you should know about being a writer
- 25 questions to ask as you write
- 25 things I want to say to so-called "aspiring" writers
- 25 things you should know about writing a novel
- 25 ways to be a better writer
- 25 things writers should stop doing
- 25 things you should know about writing horror
- 25 ways to defeat writer's block
- 25 ways to plot, plan, and prep your story
- 25 things you should know about character
- 25 things you should know about description
- 25 things you should know about writing a goddamn sentence
- 25 things you should know about plot
- 25 things you should know about narrative
- 25 things you should know about protagonists
- 25 things you should know about setting
- 25 things you should know about suspense and tension in storytelling
- 25 things you should know about theme
- 25 things you should know about writing a scene
- 25 things you should know about dialogue
- 25 things you should know about endings
- 25 things you should know about editing, revising, and rewriting
- 25 things you should know about getting published
- 25 things you should know about agents
- 25 things you should know about queries
- 25 things you should know about self-publishing
- 25 things you should know about blogging
- 25 things you should know about social media
- 25 things you should know about crowdfunding
- 25 things ways to earn your audience
- 25 things you should know about hybrid authors
There's a lot of useful tips contained in this book but writing, much like photography, is very much a "learn by doing" kind of activity. Still, Wendig dispenses some useful advice leavened with humor. Quite a bit of it feels recycled from his other writing books, though. Probably 80% of it. Considering how many writing books he has in print, I guess I shouldn't be this surprised. However, there's a lot of repetition between the individual topics as well. The most useful tips were in the writing horror section and the topics related to publishing.
while I'm a tremendous Chuck Wendig fan, I don't think I'll be pickign up any more of his writing books. The humor isn't enough to make me forget I've read most of this before. 2 out of 5 stars.
Current Kindle Unlimited Savings Total: $25.73.
informative
fast-paced
I have heard Chuck Wendig on panels in person and found him charming, but this book is tedious and obnoxious; which is a shame because there is some good advice hidden within. I appreciated the Pelaton instructor-like motivation to encourage actual writing progress as the goal. So, I will save you the time-go write. Go right now and start writing and don't read this book. Or listen to "Writing Excuses" podcast, or something with more investigation into craft, but also write and write and write. You got this (but don't get this).
This is a book of great bite-sized lists of advice on writing. Wendig is delightfully profane and combines motivation with real talk in a way that makes anyone feel like they can take on the writing hydra and emerge victorious.
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
[First Glance]
I'd seen Pinterest pins of various quotes from this book, particularly during the NaNoWriMo season. Considering his mouth (foul words and verbal slaps in the face), I knew I'd likely be both amused and annoyed with Wendig's style.
[Positive Bits]
I love lists! A list forces a writer to be concise and to really make sense of their thoughts. Listmaking is one of my favorite writing tools, both for vague story outlines and for stretching my creative writing muscles.
Between the jokes and silly metaphors, Wendig built a legitimate collection of writing tips I think any author could benefit from. Actually, I love the fact that the book's lists make quoting Wendig's points so easy! After all, every statement is numbered.
Wendig's voice is approachable. There is no master-student dynamic in this book. Instead, he gives you that smartass friend who's telling you all about his opinions. If nonfiction usually bores you to tears, it's likely due to a teacher's tone being used throughout the text. Some people just learn better from peers.
[Less Enjoyable Bits]
One list is fun. A dozen lists can still be entertaining. But 282 pages of lists? I'm sure it made writing the book itself much easier, but lists with the exact same format can get a bit mind-numbing.
Wendig ended up with a lot of repetition and contradiction between his lists. For example, he discussed how a plot generally needs a beginning, middle, and end on a list only to repeat that point again on another list a few pages later (maybe with a new joke). At the same time, he'd mention how you have to know how the story ends, except that you don't have to know until you get there, but be sure to write the ending first, unless you don't. It was a little frustrating.
I think that Wendig's humor is best ingested in small amounts, like rich chocolate cake. Too much, and you just get sick of it. To be fair, though, I expected to end up feeling this way by the end of the book; I follow his blog, so I'm well aware of his voice and how I react to it.
I'd seen Pinterest pins of various quotes from this book, particularly during the NaNoWriMo season. Considering his mouth (foul words and verbal slaps in the face), I knew I'd likely be both amused and annoyed with Wendig's style.
[Positive Bits]
I love lists! A list forces a writer to be concise and to really make sense of their thoughts. Listmaking is one of my favorite writing tools, both for vague story outlines and for stretching my creative writing muscles.
Between the jokes and silly metaphors, Wendig built a legitimate collection of writing tips I think any author could benefit from. Actually, I love the fact that the book's lists make quoting Wendig's points so easy! After all, every statement is numbered.
Wendig's voice is approachable. There is no master-student dynamic in this book. Instead, he gives you that smartass friend who's telling you all about his opinions. If nonfiction usually bores you to tears, it's likely due to a teacher's tone being used throughout the text. Some people just learn better from peers.
[Less Enjoyable Bits]
One list is fun. A dozen lists can still be entertaining. But 282 pages of lists? I'm sure it made writing the book itself much easier, but lists with the exact same format can get a bit mind-numbing.
Wendig ended up with a lot of repetition and contradiction between his lists. For example, he discussed how a plot generally needs a beginning, middle, and end on a list only to repeat that point again on another list a few pages later (maybe with a new joke). At the same time, he'd mention how you have to know how the story ends, except that you don't have to know until you get there, but be sure to write the ending first, unless you don't. It was a little frustrating.
I think that Wendig's humor is best ingested in small amounts, like rich chocolate cake. Too much, and you just get sick of it. To be fair, though, I expected to end up feeling this way by the end of the book; I follow his blog, so I'm well aware of his voice and how I react to it.
While some of the more crass humor was a bit much and fell a little flat, much of this book quite amusing to read. Wendig conveys his voice to the page with sincerity, delivering craft and business knowledge that is sometimes familiar but always phrased with clarity and originality. Whether returning to advice I've heard before, or presenting something I had never previously considered, Wendig always leaves me thinking about my writing, inspired to go work, and better equipped to handle being a writer--and all that entails in the modern age.
The numbered format of this book makes for a different reading experience, but it is absolutely full of worthwhile observations on craft, story, and writing business from someone who has been doing this successfully long enough to know what he is talking about. It's a handy resource for anyone invested in storytelling and hoping to make something of a living off of this business of putting words on a page.
The numbered format of this book makes for a different reading experience, but it is absolutely full of worthwhile observations on craft, story, and writing business from someone who has been doing this successfully long enough to know what he is talking about. It's a handy resource for anyone invested in storytelling and hoping to make something of a living off of this business of putting words on a page.
This book could have been half as long and it would have been twice as good.