Scan barcode
absentminded_reader's review against another edition
4.0
I bought this book on sale years ago, then forgot about it. When I bumped into David Wolverton at a FanX last spring, he recommended the book to me, and I was embarrassed to discover I already owned it! Since then I’ve been reading through the book and enjoying it. It goes far beyond the mechanics of what makes a best-selling outline. This book is all about story craft. I highly recommend it for intermediate writers who have a few failed novels under their belt already.
I believe even pantsers will enjoy this book. Although Wolverton is an outliner extraordinaire, there’s enough to be learned just by reading the headlines of each section for pantsers to come away enriched. I’m not sure if I will ever outline as extensively as Wolverton does, however. Wolverton‘s method is very thorough, but felt to me as if I would be writing my book over and over again in different forms. I worry that the impetus for creation, the spark to write the story, might be snuffed out in some of these iterations.
Of special interest to me was the appendix where Wolverton analyzed the brainstorming session of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas as they discussed the Indiana Jones story with the screenwriter, Lawrence Kasdan. There are pearls and pearls of wisdom to be gained by reading that section alone. It’s very informative.
Overall, I recommend this book. I appreciated the reminders on story craft. Although the primer in the beginning was too novice orientated to be of interest to me, the book quickly became very in-depth and useful. I’ve made copious bookmarks and plan to refer to it frequently during my next work in progress.
I believe even pantsers will enjoy this book. Although Wolverton is an outliner extraordinaire, there’s enough to be learned just by reading the headlines of each section for pantsers to come away enriched. I’m not sure if I will ever outline as extensively as Wolverton does, however. Wolverton‘s method is very thorough, but felt to me as if I would be writing my book over and over again in different forms. I worry that the impetus for creation, the spark to write the story, might be snuffed out in some of these iterations.
Of special interest to me was the appendix where Wolverton analyzed the brainstorming session of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas as they discussed the Indiana Jones story with the screenwriter, Lawrence Kasdan. There are pearls and pearls of wisdom to be gained by reading that section alone. It’s very informative.
Overall, I recommend this book. I appreciated the reminders on story craft. Although the primer in the beginning was too novice orientated to be of interest to me, the book quickly became very in-depth and useful. I’ve made copious bookmarks and plan to refer to it frequently during my next work in progress.
lightfra's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this book up after completing Farland's "The Story Puzzle" lecture series. Some of the elements from that series are repeated in the book, but I still found it a worthwhile read and found myself thinking of new ways to approach my own series-wide outline.
kittalia's review against another edition
5.0
One of the better books on writing plots, it offers a great look into how to write to a larger audience, tools for plotting and creating good plot cycles, and ways to plot beyond the Hero's Journey and 3 act structure. Although parts of it aren't applicable to every novel, it is a great toolbox.
jjwilbourne's review
4.0
I read a review that most of this could be learned from listening to the podcast Writing Excuses. I'm a long time listener to that show (I've probably listened to every episode twice, save the newest season) and I was concerned that it might be a waste to invest in this book.
Luckily, that review was not entirely accurate. Yes, the podcast does say many of the same things that are in the book (two of the hosts were students of the author), but to be fair, any book on story writing will likely share many of the same points. But David Farland sinks deeper into the topics that the podcast has yet to touch.
Some of the more interesting topics are right at the front of the book where Farland talks about the psychology behind storytelling and his theories on why people turn to fiction. That knowledge can help inform how you construct your novel and also informs why what he talks about throughout the book works.
Surprisingly, There is actually very little "outlining" instruction in the book. It talks more about the elements of story and how to identify them so that when your constructing your conflict loops, you're able to box them properly. Understanding these elements will allow you to outline much more efficiently.
I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who writes commercial fiction.
Luckily, that review was not entirely accurate. Yes, the podcast does say many of the same things that are in the book (two of the hosts were students of the author), but to be fair, any book on story writing will likely share many of the same points. But David Farland sinks deeper into the topics that the podcast has yet to touch.
Some of the more interesting topics are right at the front of the book where Farland talks about the psychology behind storytelling and his theories on why people turn to fiction. That knowledge can help inform how you construct your novel and also informs why what he talks about throughout the book works.
Surprisingly, There is actually very little "outlining" instruction in the book. It talks more about the elements of story and how to identify them so that when your constructing your conflict loops, you're able to box them properly. Understanding these elements will allow you to outline much more efficiently.
I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who writes commercial fiction.
More...