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A review by drblockbooks
كتابة الرواية من الحبكة إلى الطباعة by Lawrence Block, لورانس بلوك, صبرى محمد حسن
5.0
I enjoyed this book. It was written in a conversational style, as though you were grabbing a coffee with Mr. Block (no relation to me, by the way) and he was dispensing his wisdom to you.
The thing about most writing advice books is that they all generally contain good advice, but unless you've written several books already, you aren't sure which bits will work for you and, thus, what you are reading can be overwhelming. As someone who has now written a good many books, I am able to find those useful bits or at least wonder if certain bits might actually work for me. I am also able to recognize the bits which will absolutely NOT work for me since I've either tried it before or know my writing process well enough to understand System X just ain't for me. For example, my favorite chapter was the chapter about rewriting because of Block's thoughts about rewriting; basically, do as little of it as possible.
The best thing about WRITING THE NOVEL is that it was published in 1979, before the computer and word processing revolution, before all the digital writing tools and courses and etc. Why is this good? Because the book is strictly about the process of imagining and then writing a novel. Block doesn't need to waste any time talking about this computer program, or that writing tool. His advice is all very general but with specific examples from his career and the careers of other writers.
This book has absolutely nothing in it about self-publishing, because self-publishing wasn't an option in 1979.
Who should read this book? Anyone with designs on becoming a novelist should read it. (There are some good anecdotes about Block's life as a noob writer.) Anyone who has written a few novels, regardless of whether they have been published. Any self-published authors who are seeking to "up their game" or move into the traditional publishing world. (There are a couple of chapters about old school trad pub that are interesting.)
The thing about most writing advice books is that they all generally contain good advice, but unless you've written several books already, you aren't sure which bits will work for you and, thus, what you are reading can be overwhelming. As someone who has now written a good many books, I am able to find those useful bits or at least wonder if certain bits might actually work for me. I am also able to recognize the bits which will absolutely NOT work for me since I've either tried it before or know my writing process well enough to understand System X just ain't for me. For example, my favorite chapter was the chapter about rewriting because of Block's thoughts about rewriting; basically, do as little of it as possible.
The best thing about WRITING THE NOVEL is that it was published in 1979, before the computer and word processing revolution, before all the digital writing tools and courses and etc. Why is this good? Because the book is strictly about the process of imagining and then writing a novel. Block doesn't need to waste any time talking about this computer program, or that writing tool. His advice is all very general but with specific examples from his career and the careers of other writers.
This book has absolutely nothing in it about self-publishing, because self-publishing wasn't an option in 1979.
Who should read this book? Anyone with designs on becoming a novelist should read it. (There are some good anecdotes about Block's life as a noob writer.) Anyone who has written a few novels, regardless of whether they have been published. Any self-published authors who are seeking to "up their game" or move into the traditional publishing world. (There are a couple of chapters about old school trad pub that are interesting.)