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thepamz's review against another edition
5.0
Como veo que va a ser una constante de la serie de libros de Now Write, te llevas muchos consejos que aplican sin importar el género literario que elijas. Tiene varios ejercicios que no me gustaron pero no lo hacen un mal libro. La sección de investigación está ridícula y claramente escrita por vatos de países donde hacerte amigo de un policía y pedirle que te lleve a una de sus rondas no significa desaparecer de la faz de la tierra, pero la sección sobre revisión, en contraste, es suuuuper útil.
jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
One of many writing books I read over three months. Writing exercises for the mystery set. Interesting, some useful, others less so.
panda_incognito's review against another edition
3.0
Although my library only just purchased this book, it was originally published in 2011. At first, I thought, "That's not that long ago," but it was, man. It was. I didn't know a lot of the names of authors in this book, since their careers peaked long ago, the advice about writing about other cultures was outdated, and the references about competing against movies and DVDs for your readers' attention were quaint.
Because this book is so dated, I would recommend [b:How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America|58438538|How to Write a Mystery A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America|Lee Child|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647448107l/58438538._SY75_.jpg|84737313] to someone who is looking for current mystery-writing advice and insight into contemporary publishing trends, but this older book is valuable for people who are seeking mystery-writing exercises to implement.
The short essays in this book vary in quality. Sometimes, they are incredibly insightful, practical, and fresh, and other times, a writer takes up their three pages with excerpts of their latest novel to prove whatever obvious point they're trying to make. However, regardless what specific essays someone finds helpful, many of the suggested exercises are unique, concrete, and beneficial. They're not just vague writing prompts, but are finely tuned exercises for experimenting with different techniques.
The essays and exercises involve every element of mystery writing, and authors from all sub-genres are represented. This book is extremely comprehensive, and the exercises provide a guided way for readers to experiment with new concepts and put things into practice that they might never use in a novel, but that will build a variety of different essential skills.
Because this book is so dated, I would recommend [b:How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America|58438538|How to Write a Mystery A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America|Lee Child|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647448107l/58438538._SY75_.jpg|84737313] to someone who is looking for current mystery-writing advice and insight into contemporary publishing trends, but this older book is valuable for people who are seeking mystery-writing exercises to implement.
The short essays in this book vary in quality. Sometimes, they are incredibly insightful, practical, and fresh, and other times, a writer takes up their three pages with excerpts of their latest novel to prove whatever obvious point they're trying to make. However, regardless what specific essays someone finds helpful, many of the suggested exercises are unique, concrete, and beneficial. They're not just vague writing prompts, but are finely tuned exercises for experimenting with different techniques.
The essays and exercises involve every element of mystery writing, and authors from all sub-genres are represented. This book is extremely comprehensive, and the exercises provide a guided way for readers to experiment with new concepts and put things into practice that they might never use in a novel, but that will build a variety of different essential skills.
powerlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Each chapter is written by a different established author. The chapters are short, but pack quite a punch, and each one has a useful exercise that the reader can try out to apply the lesson learned while reading the chapter. This book is comprehensive and covers all aspects of writing a mystery–not just plotting and suspense, but creating authentic protagonists, villains, using setting, and writing dialogue.
5 stars!
5 stars!
alexauthorshay's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the exercises were actually quite useful. I haven't even done any yet and I already have some more ideas for my current novel and a more solid frame work for it. However, a lot of the essays, if not the exercises themselves, were quite similar and repetitive, particularly regarding the importance of setting and "show, don't tell." While I highly agree that both of these are important, considering the number of authors contributing to this work, I was hoping for a more diverse range of topics discussed. I was surprised to find any topic mentioned more than once; yes there is a formula of sorts for mystery writing, but there are so many successful authors that have to do it differently from each other--certainly they could find something else equally as important to write on?
jenniferworrell's review
5.0
Great book for all writers, not just mystery writers. Lots of good essays on writing in general, and even those that focus on mystery/thriller/suspense have takeaways that can apply to most genres. The essays are short and there is an exercise with each.
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