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ruthelibrarian's review
4.0
I think this book has a lot to offer. My biggest problem is that I could not connect to the examples at all.
eowyns_helmet's review
Excellent book on what makes a good story (SparkNotes version -- emotion, emotion, emotion). For anyone trying to engage readers, this is an excellent explanation of why stories work and step-by-step primer on what to do as you are constructing a story. It isn't fool proof (too many fools in the world) but really worth it if you are a story-teller.
yailbe's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
this book is full of book stuff! i can’t wait to use it to write my own books
thegirlwitheaquaribbons's review
5.0
Good book. Especially for writers. Enjoyable read. Makes you think different. More about internal conflict.
the1germ's review
3.0
Eh. There were a few decent nuggets in here that I jotted down in a notepad, but it was mostly repetitive and long-winded. I enjoyed the anecdotes about what head-scratching bestsellers were doing right, and wish there were more of them.
It's also largely focused on writing with a single main character, and it was kind of a turn off for me when it insinuated additional POV characters should only serve the "main" character's story.
Worth checking out at the library, but not really a cover-to-cover revelation.
It's also largely focused on writing with a single main character, and it was kind of a turn off for me when it insinuated additional POV characters should only serve the "main" character's story.
Worth checking out at the library, but not really a cover-to-cover revelation.
kbeucler's review against another edition
2.5
I read this for a fiction class I’m taking for my MFA program. I usually hate books like this. I don’t really believe that anyone can teach you how to write. They can teach you how they write, but you have to figure out what strategies work for you. I thought Cron had some useful things to say about story and your main character’s driving misbelief and how the inner story (the change the main character goes through) drives the plot. When she gets to the parts about outlining all the scenes, I experience my regular frustration at these books, though. I hate writing really in depth outlines because it makes me not excited to actually write the book because I already know everything about the story. I like writing to discover the story, not figuring everything out before I start. Maybe this isn’t as efficient as Cron’s system and I don’t have a book deal to prove my way works, so I could be wrong. But I don’t think I’ll be adopting all of Cron’s strategies.
skillyillian's review against another edition
I have every intention of finishing this but it likely won't be until after the new Year and there's no point in letting it just sit in my reading pile if I'm not reading it. It's really good I'm just busy.
katieproctorbooks's review
5.0
This book was excellent! So many great writing tips and “what to do”s. I will use lots of this information to revise my current novel and definitely in each of the ones I write after!
rebeccarennerfl's review
I feel very mixed about this book. I teach creative writing, and I've tried to make a study of "what works" in popular stories. Liza Cron both hits and misses in this book.
The strongest section by far is Part II "Creating the Inside Story." One of the things I've noticed many of my students do is create short stories that encompass a series of exciting events that don't really matter. Cron says essentially that it's the character's internal struggle that makes the external struggle important. I totally agree with that.
For me, there are two major things that make a story work:
1. Characters that the reader can feel for, who want something and do things to get it; and
2. A promise is made in the beginning that the story fulfills.
Cron says those two things more or less. The major problem with this book is that Cron goes on and on and ON belaboring each and every point as if her reader must be thick in the head. The pretend novel that was being developed throughout the book fueled this fire. Those parts were so boring and useless that by the end of part two, I mostly skipped them. The examples Cron uses from actual books, like The Great Gatsby and A Prayer for Owen Meany (okay, okay, I know I'm being biased here, because those are two of my favorite novels; Cron has good taste) do a much better job of illustrating her point than the crappy in-development stuff she's padding her word count with.
Basically, that's what this book read like: a little bit of really stellar advice that was almost eclipsed by the rest of the junk surrounding it.
My advice? If you read this, check it out from the library. Read pages 35-123 and skip the rest.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
The strongest section by far is Part II "Creating the Inside Story." One of the things I've noticed many of my students do is create short stories that encompass a series of exciting events that don't really matter. Cron says essentially that it's the character's internal struggle that makes the external struggle important. I totally agree with that.
For me, there are two major things that make a story work:
1. Characters that the reader can feel for, who want something and do things to get it; and
2. A promise is made in the beginning that the story fulfills.
Cron says those two things more or less. The major problem with this book is that Cron goes on and on and ON belaboring each and every point as if her reader must be thick in the head. The pretend novel that was being developed throughout the book fueled this fire. Those parts were so boring and useless that by the end of part two, I mostly skipped them. The examples Cron uses from actual books, like The Great Gatsby and A Prayer for Owen Meany (okay, okay, I know I'm being biased here, because those are two of my favorite novels; Cron has good taste) do a much better job of illustrating her point than the crappy in-development stuff she's padding her word count with.
Basically, that's what this book read like: a little bit of really stellar advice that was almost eclipsed by the rest of the junk surrounding it.
My advice? If you read this, check it out from the library. Read pages 35-123 and skip the rest.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.