Scan barcode
orsuros's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed the examples and perspective of this book. It certainly made me think about some aspects of writing and storytelling in vastly different ways. I'd definitely recommend it for any writer who wants to better understand how stories connect with audiences.
iamcaitlinjacobs's review against another edition
5.0
Really great book on writing - such a great focus. I loved the chapter near the beginning that discussed why we read stories and why they're important in our lives. I'll definitely be using a lot of things I learned here in my own writing.
raven_morgan's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of really solid and practical advice in this one.
brandiv's review against another edition
5.0
This e-book, full of tips and tricks for writers is incredibly helpful for anyone who finds that they need a little organization and structure for their craft. David Farland (who also writes as Dave Wolverton) first goes through what is at the root of a great, compelling story and how to play to what audiences are looking for. Next, he goes into concise details of tools writers could use to help them tell their stories in a way that provides maximum emotional impact in their readers. In particular, I found the bits about layering conflicts within various characters in the story to be the most helpful of all the "novel plotting tools."
The last third of Million Dollar Outlines deals with the actual creation of an outline. (Farland uses the sixth Harry Potter novel as an example throughout this section, by the way, so if you've never read the Potter novels know that you will have one of them massively spoiled for you.) This section was absolute gold for me. As an aspiring writer, I finally have an image in my mind of how an outline can work for me, and I owe David Farland big time. His idea of outlining includes mapping out conflicts across the story for each major and significant minor character as well as mapping emotions of characters and scenes. As you do this, you can go back and create more drafts of an outline that will grow into larger detail until you are satisfied enough to begin writing the story for real. Your outline may wind up being 80 or 100 pages, but if it gets you in a mindset to understand what you wish to accomplish in your story, it can be incredibly helpful.
Highly recommended for any aspiring writer, even those who consider themselves "pants"-ers or discovery writers. I used to think I was a discovery writer, making things up as I go, but more structure is needed to help me organize and understand any project I may undertake and I have found a lot of useful information in Million Dollar Outlines.
The last third of Million Dollar Outlines deals with the actual creation of an outline. (Farland uses the sixth Harry Potter novel as an example throughout this section, by the way, so if you've never read the Potter novels know that you will have one of them massively spoiled for you.) This section was absolute gold for me. As an aspiring writer, I finally have an image in my mind of how an outline can work for me, and I owe David Farland big time. His idea of outlining includes mapping out conflicts across the story for each major and significant minor character as well as mapping emotions of characters and scenes. As you do this, you can go back and create more drafts of an outline that will grow into larger detail until you are satisfied enough to begin writing the story for real. Your outline may wind up being 80 or 100 pages, but if it gets you in a mindset to understand what you wish to accomplish in your story, it can be incredibly helpful.
Highly recommended for any aspiring writer, even those who consider themselves "pants"-ers or discovery writers. I used to think I was a discovery writer, making things up as I go, but more structure is needed to help me organize and understand any project I may undertake and I have found a lot of useful information in Million Dollar Outlines.
readerturnedwriter's review against another edition
4.0
David Farland had a ton of great ideas and useful methods packed into this book. Reading through it (as I'm in the midst of brainstorming and outlining my book) had been extremely helpful. I will be coming back to it as a reference. It wasn't quite five stars because I felt it was too long a book; the beginning had too much information that I felt was interesting, but not applicably helpful and not needed. It could have given all the information in a much shorter book. However, the information provided makes the book well worth the read.
danguajars's review against another edition
4.0
Este hombre es un experto, es quien enseñó y propició el éxito de Brandon Sanderson y Stephanie Meyer, entre otros.
Su análisis del mercado es bien contundente y la manera en que expone sus ideas es muy clara. Lo estoy estudiando detenidamente, a veces releo capítulos completos.
Buenísimo, aunque tiene la mirada mercantilista que no me agrada mucho, aún así lo recomiendo para autores que quieran pensar en dedicar su vida a escribir (únicamente).
Su análisis del mercado es bien contundente y la manera en que expone sus ideas es muy clara. Lo estoy estudiando detenidamente, a veces releo capítulos completos.
Buenísimo, aunque tiene la mirada mercantilista que no me agrada mucho, aún así lo recomiendo para autores que quieran pensar en dedicar su vida a escribir (únicamente).
dankeohane's review against another edition
5.0
This was a fantastic book on developing outlines, characterization and most significantly plot and story for writers of popular fiction. What works, what doesn't. Ironically, the one specific thing this book doesn't cover is how to actually, physically write an outline. Makes sense upon reading, since that's the final part of the process and is so subjective in style - but the development from idea to detailed plot development is so important, and this is where McFarland takes us. The guy has lived an amazing life and has quite a remarkable resume of writing both prose and screenplays. I'm not sure I've ever read a how-to book all the way to the very end (including in this case every appendix, which by themselves were worth the price), except for maybe King's ON WRITING, but I did for this. Easy read, quick, informative chapters and sections, and not a single wasted word. Everything, everything in this book has an application and lesson to be learned for writers of any level. If there was one minor complaint, and it's nto even enough to lose a star, it's the fromatting for the kindle. It looked more like a manuscript with double spacing and paragraph indents, as opposed to the standard book look & feel to it. Perhaps this has been rectified, and for me had 0 impact on the tons of information I got from the book. Hopefully McFarland will produce a print version of this book, I would love to have it for my shelf.
sdramsey's review against another edition
4.0
I'm well aware of the irony in my writing a review of a book about outlining. Or even reading one, for that matter, since I'm pretty much an inveterate "discovery" writer (aka "pantser"). I bought a copy of this ebook to help out when the author's son was in an accident, and I wanted to contribute to their medical costs, the state of such things for writers being generally terrible south of the border. It took me quite a while to read it because I had it on my smartphone, and read it generally in short bursts while waiting in lines and offices.
However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that even for a non-outliner like me, this book has some solid advice to impart. As well as dealing with the nitty-gritty of novel outlining, Farland has a lot of good points to make about evaluating the character relationships in your fledgling novel, incorporating emotional "beats", and finding ways to improve every scene. The writing is smooth and friendly, and uses many real-world examples to illustrate points. For both aspiring and intermediate authors, I highly recommend it even if you're not a fan of outlines; you'll likely find advice inside to help you take your writing up a notch.
However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that even for a non-outliner like me, this book has some solid advice to impart. As well as dealing with the nitty-gritty of novel outlining, Farland has a lot of good points to make about evaluating the character relationships in your fledgling novel, incorporating emotional "beats", and finding ways to improve every scene. The writing is smooth and friendly, and uses many real-world examples to illustrate points. For both aspiring and intermediate authors, I highly recommend it even if you're not a fan of outlines; you'll likely find advice inside to help you take your writing up a notch.