Writing the Breakout Novel - Donald Maass

This is probably my favorite book on writing, though I am also very fond of Stephen King's On Writing and Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. The first two books are both inspirational and informative. Strunk and White has a straight forward approach with no fluff, however I have recently come across a blog, Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, that is not so enamored with the book. I still like Strunk and White. One must remember that it is a style guide and that rules are made to be broken.

The  premise of Writing the Breakout Novel is that a writer has control of his or her career merely by writing the absolute best novel possible. Less encouraging is his suggestion that the mid-list is dead and that it is harder to stay published than get published. He provides expiring examples of writers who had been successful, floundered, and seemingly at the end of their careers, and became even more successful by writing their breakout novel.

This book is a  must-read. I used to read from WTBN for thirty minutes just to get inspired before writing; this practice really worked.

GO TO: Donald Mass Literary Agency to learn more about his books.

Writing in Overdrive: Write Faster, Write Freely, Write Brilliantly (by Jim Denney)

Writing in Overdrive: Write Faster, Write Freely, Write Brilliantly by Jim Denney is a well researched and motivational account of the creative process. Denney relates accounts of several renowned authors such as Ray Bradbury, Michael Moorcock, and Stephen King to name a few.

Included in the book are many examples of how writing quickly, getting in the zone, and trusting your Muse produce quality fiction. I was amazed at how Michael Moorcock wrote his early books. There is also a wonderful story of Ray Bradbury and his classic work Fahrenheit 451. I was surprised at how quickly such enduring classics were created.

Denney provides tips for breaking writer's block and eliminating needless work. My favorite piece of advice for writing quickly and freely concerned focus on the main plot line of the story (especially during the first draft). I learned that subplots can lead to dead ends (which I have experienced in my own writing). For some reason, this particular section was liberating. I could almost feel myself writing faster (and I am already a quick writer).

As a "cliff-jumper" or "panster" I have grown fond of plotting, outlining, and story structuring. Denney discusses the benefit of planning a story; at least enough fend off writer's block. Much of the message in this book concerns finding the right mixture of narrative push methods (cliff jumping or writing by the seat of your pants) and planning.

Denney has clearly studied successful writers and done a considerable amount of writing fiction and non-fiction. Writing in Overdrive relies on many stories of famous writers. These were entertaining and often inspirational if nothing else.

I look forward to reading other books by Jim Denney.

Understanding Cultural Differences: German, French, American - Edward T. Hall

This is an interesting book on cultural differences. The focus is on business and management, but still a worthwhile read for anyone interested in people and how they think. A family member loaned it to me and I read it over the span of several months, picking it up and working through a chapter whenever I needed a break from fiction. If you have read my other book reviews, you have probably realized I spend most of my time in the realm of fiction or studying the craft of writing. My nonfiction tastes lean toward history and biography, with forays into business and management.

In a perfect world I could live and work in France and Germany for a few years and see what this book is really about.

Attention! This Book Will Make You Money (Audiobook) - Jim F. Kukral

This book was not what I was looking for, but I still gave it 3 stars because it may be useful for others. The book contains some interesting stories and examples, but is slightly dated. Online marketing changes quickly. Attention! spends unnecessary time presenting the case that online marketing and social media is important. Most people now understand this.

The first part of this book explains why getting the right kind of attention is important for marketing and business in general. No surprise there. Next, the author lists a lot of people who are “that guy” and can promote products, secure book deals, and make things happen because they have earned celebrity status in unique ways. He elaborates that businesses or groups can be “that guy” and achieve the same results. To be really honest, I grew tired of hearing the term “that guy.”

I am a relatively new student of marketing and promotion. I tried some of the attention getting ideas as I read the book, but on a small scale. There was a good section about using You Tube or blogs to get attention of key people, rather than blasting a social media message at random. The idea seems brilliant, though I have not yet used it successfully.

I did try it in a blog post titled, Fix My Harley - A Brilliant Idea, to ask people who see the blog and video to offer advice. Originally, I was going to purchase a domain name and build this into an interactive do it yourself site, but it has already been done. Jim Kukral's handling of the possibilities is much better than I am making it sound. This part of his message was excellent.

Unfortunately, other attention getting ideas were offensive. In one section about blogging he suggested to “go negative” and while writing a negative blog might be necessary, I cannot advocate doing it just to get attention. There are a few qualifying statements afterward, but the fact remains that he went there and I don’t want to follow. Some examples were clownish (wearing silly clothes), but this technique has a long history of success, so I don’t knock it.

I found his discussions of the following topics useful and insightful:

- Limitations of press releases
- Limitations of media blasts
- Benefit of one on one media contacts
     - respect their time
     - have your pitch ready
     - be on topic
     - lead with credibility

I didn't find the section on idea generation particularly helpful, because I bought the book looking for ways to implement ideas I already had. The suggestions were good, but not terribly original. I may implement the suggestion to wear a special hat during idea time, because hats are fun, right? The psychology behind this idea is sound. Having a set time and environment can be a good practice for generating ideas or writing.

There were too many examples of marketing ploys. Two or three examples of eating contests would have been plenty, but the narration of examples for this one technique went on until I wanted to turn the audio book off.

The most aggravating thing in the book was the constant web site links. I felt like I was on Google constantly (distracting). This is a trend I see in a lot of nonfiction books lately. When I purchase a book, I want to read it, not surf the web. I can do that for free. Some people will really enjoy this aspect of the book. I didn’t.

I wanted to like this book, and still believe others may find it useful. It was not what I was looking for. If you don't know that you need to get people's attention to market products and if you have not embraced the value of marketing online (social media, videos, and blogs) then this book is a must read. If you are looking specifics, there are some, but not enough for my taste.

The Secret War Against Hitler - William Casey

I listened to the Audio Book version of this book and enjoyed it, because I was also reading a Ken Follett book (Jackdaws) at the time. This book starts out with William Casey’s account of the OSS (Officer of Strategic Services) in World War II. The Secret War Against Hitler is an autobiography and drags in places, but there were many details I had never heard despite all the movies and documentaries that have been made on the time period.

The Secret War Against Hitler was a decent read (listen) and contained some interesting historical facts and characters.