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How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling By James N. Frey ( St. Martin's Press )
Release Date: 1987-12-15
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $19.95
Price: $13.57
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Product Description
Written in a clear, crisp, accessible style, this book is perfect for beginners as well as professional writers who need a crash course in the down-to-earth basics of storytelling. Talent and inspiration can't be taught, but Frey does provide scores of helpful suggestions and sensible rules and principles.
An international bestseller, How to Write a Damn Good Novel will enable all writers to face that intimidating first page, keep them on track when they falter, and help them recognize, analyze, and correct the problems in their own work.
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 Great Tips in a Little Book ( adventure66 )
I would recommend this book as a good reference. Frey fulfills his promise that the book is a "step-by-step no nonsense guide to dramatic storytelling."
The title of chapter two gives a flavor of the book. "The Three Greatest Rules of Dramatic Writing: Conflict! Conflict! Conflict!"
This is, of course, true. Without a character who faces a problem, your story is like a sheet in the wind.
In writing this review, I thumbed Frey's book and found it to be a great review of writing concepts.
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 Good companion
I bought this book while writing my first novel to get some of the 'tricks of the trade'. I dont know what I exactly expected it to be, but it is not 'tricks of the trade', as it were. It's more like a textbook. A very decent one even. It is obviously well written in a clear and concise language and supported by very good examples of the techniques and exercices suggested.
I have read other reviews stating that this book delivers advice on things so basic, that you didn't even thought of them. This, I believe, is rubbish. This book doesn't deliver anything that you probably in some way, shape or form did not already know if you are an aspiring writer. It does, however, organize all this information in a very good way, making it easy to check and re-check your work in progress. Sometimes you will know something, but being human, forget it, and then perhaps find it somewhere in the pages of this book. It serves as a great inspiration/organizer,and is a very good place to look when you get stuck.
Highly recommendable.
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Fresh Air
I've read a lot of books on writing, and I've found that many of them are basically identical. "How to Write A Damn Good Novel", however, is well-written and full of good advice. The writer has a great personality, and really knows how to instruct in a way that works. This book has practical and SPECIFIC information on how to write a Damn Good Novel.
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GET THIS BOOK!
Can you write a proper English sentence? Can you think abstractly enough to invent interesting details, yet analytically enough to form and follow a plan? Would you like to know how to use those skills to write a damn good novel?
My first novel attempt resulted in 50,000 words of useless mush. I knew how many words I needed, had a general idea of who my characters were and what the story was. So I wrote and wrote and wrote until I had that many words and the story was done. It sucked like a black hole. I read it several times, then abandoned my writing ambitions and deleted the files.
Years later, I had a second idea for a novel. From my earlier failure, I knew I needed some guidance first. I checked out 20 library books (from 3 counties). This is the one that helped the most. For what I needed, it was more useful than all the others combined.
I am now in the middle of my second draft. I continue to re-read "How to Write a Damn Good Novel" about once a month. Now that I have a foundation, a comfort level, and some context, I get some benefit from other books. But this book is my bible.
Thank you, James, for putting all the important basics into a readable and practical form!
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It's like taking a writing course ( iraitiel_s )
I really want to write a novel, but of course I am not a writer at all. Therefore, I started searching for a book that could provide me with a little orientation on how to start writing a novel, and I decided to purchase this book. It was the BEST decision I could have made. I did not get just a little orientation. This book is like actually being enrolled into a creative writing course. It is very well written and very easy to understand. I actually feel like taking a writing class, and I am sure that my first book will not be as bad as I thought it would be now that I know the basic elements a good novel should have.
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Addiction
