two thirds of this book is really useful
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I bought this book quite a while ago and still dip into it now and again for inspiration. Different writers give their advice, and i have earmarked those chapters written by the writers i found the most inspiring/helpful. There are two or three 'advisers' whose advice is a little superior and somewhat irritating, but this is made up for by those whose advice i have gleaned plenty from. I have recommended this book to several writing friends, and was certainly glad to discover it myself. You WILL find this book useful and an ispiration when you are stuck for where to go next in your story. If you read this book with 'your story' in mind, you will end up writing down copious notes for ideas...my copy of this book is full of margin notes!! Certainly worth the money.
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Not helpful at all
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This book implies that is is a guide to creative writing. I found it irritating. It's more like a group of people discussing elements of writing from their own particular perspective, with little to no constructive advice.
Yes there are excercises suggested, but the instructions are often badly laid out. There is a certain element of literary 'snobbery' - commercial success appears to be frowned upon by the authors and contributors.
I would not recommend it to anyone who is looking for an introduction to creative writing, especially if their interest lies in popular fiction.
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Not actually much use
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Imagine you wanted to learn wood working. But imagine you bought a book full of sentences like, "Wood is as old as the world", or, "To be human is to need wooden furniture...".
You'd feel a little ripped off. You want actual instructions on how to work with wood, not thoughtful aphorisms, no matter how clever.
That's the problem with this book. Need advice on plotting? Well, in the "Plotting and shaping" section you'll read, "We write things in order to make sense of the world". That's true, I guess. Even profound. But not a great deal of use. Where's discussion of narrative arcs? Where are real examples of plots taken from real books, showing how it's been done in the past, complete with expert commentary? In short, where's the substance?
There's a lot more exactly like that. This isn't a book that teaches. It suggests and implies. It waves a hand in the direction of travel but doesn't give actual directions. Sadly, this is all-too common in creative writing literature. Authors can be as secretive as magicians in guarding their techniques and methods. There's a reluctance to closely analyse technique, perhaps for fear of breaking it.
Others reviewers have suggested that this book is "inspiring". That might be true but for that to be the case you'd need to have already learnt the skills this book purports to teach (it is, after all, a "coursebook"). Above all, I keep coming back to the thought that this book teaches its readers to suck eggs... To tread water when you want to learn how to swim.
The book can also be annoyingly patronising and has definite concepts of high and low literature. Of "Bestselling plots", one contributor writes sniffly that they belong to "books sold in dump bins at airports". Thanks for that opinion, but is it helpful? This rather cynical theme runs throughout the book. You're unlikely to find discussion of books by Harold Robbins, or Stephen King, or Frederick Forsyth, or Catherine Cookson (or any other popular author -- the books that people actually buy and enjoy). But you will find mention of Virginia Wolfe. I'd check for more examples like this but the book lacks an index -- another annoyance.
There is some good stuff in this book, and I've given it 3 out of 5 for being so readable and entertaining. But it's perilously close to being a useless frivolity. Reading it is a matter of sifting the silt to find the gold. Worse than that, there's a lot of iron pyrite sprinkled in there, in the form of aphorisms and vague advice that looks valuable, but is actually worthless.
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Not a bad book, but...
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I bought this book on the strength of the reviews given here, and as such I have to offer an alternative view of this book than that which has been portrayed so far.
This book is *not* a bad book, it just meets none of the expectations I was led to believe it contained, which I felt was worth mentioning in case others are looking for similar.
From the description, and reviews so far, I expected this to be a course on creative writing which I could study alone in my own time. It is not, except in the loosest sense. For me, this book is more suited as material for someone who wishes to create their own local creative writing group, rather than an individual that wants a progressive series of exercises to follow - the focus is significantly towards group work:
"Try the following exercise either yourself or in a group." (Which it then goes on to add, "This exercise is especially effective in class because...".)
"Have the workshop participants read out their hundred-word stories..."
"Now choose just one of the stories the class has..."
"But a favourite group exercise in this area..."
There are, however, exercises which individuals can do, but I never had the feeling of being addressed as a reader or participant, and the exercises seemed to be difficult to work out when I was actually supposed to do something. This tended to be due to the text describing the exercise to be performed, rather than `giving' me the exercise to do:
"The following exercises are intended to free up the memory and imagination. And to put the writer in closer touch with her or his own self.
1. Shut your eyes and put yourself back in a childhood bedroom. Spend some time there remembering the wallpaper, .... When you are ready, write about it in as minutely detailed a way as you are able....
2. Now remember yourself.... Write about yourself from the pen of the six-year-old....
3. etc."
The above may seen fairly direct as it tells you in each point to `write', but the narrative paragraph directly following the numbered exercises says...
"Put a time limit on each exercise. They should all be done quite quickly. At the most thirty minutes each. It is a liberating exercise to get students to read out their work to one another soon after writing it."
You can see that if you started the exercise as you reached it, you wouldn't get the instructions that followed them, and this is a recurring problem in that it establishes a pattern where you don't want to start the exercises when it appears you are being prompted, as there is likely to be further instructions later. This gets you used to skipping over the exercises, and the narrative never takes you back to them. (You can also see here, again, the focus on it being better as a group exercise, further leaving the impression that there will be little reward in performing them solo.)
As the previous reviewer said, and is very apt for the approach taken in this book, "useful as little thought-experiments even if you don't actually do them", because in a lot of cases you will not do what is suggested.
I could go on, but I hope I have given a flavour of the style of this book, and as I said to begin, it is not a bad book but it does have a very particular style to it. This is a common book to find in most high-street bookstores, so before you buy this book I would recommend you visit one and browse the book to see if the approach matches your own needs.
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Inspiring and full of detailed advice
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"The Creative Writing Coursebook" contains a wealth of information for the aspiring writer. At 400 pages it is both substantial and comprehensive. It is structured so as to cover every stage of the writing process, from gathering first ideas, to characterisation, points of view, setting, plotting, and then to revising your text. Lastly it discusses the values of writing workshops and the practical business of finding an agent or publisher. Each of these topics is subdivided into a number of articles by different authors, which helps convey the variety of approaches and styles adopted by writers. This is the beauty of this book, as well as the thing which separates it from many similar titles on the market. This is no step-by-step guide claiming to guarantee bestselling success but a more thought-provoking book which encourages you to think for yourself. Sometimes you may even find yourself disagreeing with the authors on certain points, but this is legitimate as well!
The articles help you to explore how/why/when/where you write, and, from that basis, to develop your own methods and voice. At every stage there are also exercises to help loosen your creative muscles - useful as little thought-experiments even if you don't actually do them. There is also a useful bibliography, both of fiction and of other useful books on writing, to help you go further. It is possible to read it straight through or even topic-by-topic, almost as a reference book, if you like. I find it most useful to open it at a random page whenever I have a spare moment, since there is always good advice to be had no matter what stage you are at in your writing. However you use it, it is an excellent book with something to offer for every writer out there.
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