Welcome to Litsy!

.5/5⭐ Super pretentious. The author talks about himself in the highest terms and name/location drops all over the place. He says he has “merrily disregarded every distinction between highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow taste“ as if he's some benevolent writing god and then proceeds to name specific authors he clearly thinks fall into one of those brows (but he doesn't distinguish, so it's not elitist!). ⬇

4/5⭐ I was hoping the entries would be more focused on the craft, the how, of writing. Instead they're all motivational stories, the why of writing. Which is fine and well done, just not what I was looking for, so I skipped most of them. The quotes and comics peppered throughout are a nice touch. #roll100

4.5/5⭐ Contains many short entries on granular writing topics divided into comprehensive categories. I can see the exercises and topics for consideration being incredibly helpful for my own creative writing. A small number of authors seem elitist in their advice, but the vast majority are down to earth. The list of prompts at the end is lackluster, but the exercises within the entries are complex and thought provoking. #roll100

Interesting application of the left-right brain distinction to writer's block, which Klauser argues is due to the left-brain's tendency to criticise and analyse when what's needed is right-brained free-flowing creativity. A range of exercises help break this tendency, allowing the left-brain its proper role as editor and improver of unimpeded creativity, and there are also useful tips on grammar, writing pitfalls, logical fallacies, etc.

#writing

Enjoying some beautiful weather, the garden, and a used bookstore pickup! 📚 🌞 🪴

A very short and approachable primer for writing a novel. It covers all the basics: establishing a routine, choosing your POV, crafting plot and dialogue, using language appropriately, reading your drafts, and making edits. He also ends with a bit of advice for getting published.

My one gripe with this was his excessive use of examples that involved sex and/or violence. Is that all he could come up with??

“The process of writing a novel is like taking a journey by boat. You have to continually set yourself on course. If you get distracted or allow yourself to drift, you will never make it to the destination.”

Good advice, albeit not very helpful for writers with ADHD, in my opinion.

Someday I hope to write a romance novel. This book is going to come in useful!

#OminousOctober Day 27: #Leaves

I‘m back into my massive journal readthrough project, and I‘ve hit the part where I was obsessed with accurate book-to-screen adaptations. (A 6-page rant about THE BLACK CAULDRON preceded this paragraph.) It‘s something I‘ve thought about a lot lately because my opinion has totally changed. These days, I get way more excited about adaptations that switch stuff up but still preserve the source material‘s feel.