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A review by joshgauthier
Damn Fine Story: Mastering the Tools of a Powerful Narrative by Chuck Wendig
5.0
And with that, Chuck Wendig's Damn Fine Story becomes one of my favorite books on the craft and art of storytelling.
Wendig delivers the lessons of this book from the key perspective that writing rules are... malleable at the best of times. He does not try to tell us how we must write. Rather, he begins with simple questions that largely stem from the idea--what are we trying to achieve? From there, he provides an overview and discussion of some key strategies and tools available to storytellers with the repeated urging--use what works and toss the rest.
It is difficult to find a piece of writing advice that is wholly and entirely new. And this book does not set itself up as containing fundamentally new thoughts on storytelling. Rather, Wendig works to offer new perspective on old advice, applying his spin and approach to some familiar core concepts. And he is greatly successful in this goal. Wendig presents these ideas in ways I have never quite considered before, bringing new insight to familiar lessons. And his advice for the application of these "rules" is refreshingly open, stemming from the writer and the characters rather than the constraints of what a story "should" be.
And mixed in to this discussion on art and craft, Wendig also discusses the idea of storytelling--its purpose and passion in our lives. His approach to a book like this is much what I expected based on what I know about Wendig's work--it's funny, conversational, sometimes crass, and always entertaining. Full of cultural references and offbeat humor, Damn Fine Story keeps its momentum from the first page to the last and proves itself a wonderful resource and inspiration for anyone interested in the act of storytelling--whatever form that may take.
Wendig delivers the lessons of this book from the key perspective that writing rules are... malleable at the best of times. He does not try to tell us how we must write. Rather, he begins with simple questions that largely stem from the idea--what are we trying to achieve? From there, he provides an overview and discussion of some key strategies and tools available to storytellers with the repeated urging--use what works and toss the rest.
It is difficult to find a piece of writing advice that is wholly and entirely new. And this book does not set itself up as containing fundamentally new thoughts on storytelling. Rather, Wendig works to offer new perspective on old advice, applying his spin and approach to some familiar core concepts. And he is greatly successful in this goal. Wendig presents these ideas in ways I have never quite considered before, bringing new insight to familiar lessons. And his advice for the application of these "rules" is refreshingly open, stemming from the writer and the characters rather than the constraints of what a story "should" be.
And mixed in to this discussion on art and craft, Wendig also discusses the idea of storytelling--its purpose and passion in our lives. His approach to a book like this is much what I expected based on what I know about Wendig's work--it's funny, conversational, sometimes crass, and always entertaining. Full of cultural references and offbeat humor, Damn Fine Story keeps its momentum from the first page to the last and proves itself a wonderful resource and inspiration for anyone interested in the act of storytelling--whatever form that may take.