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A review by paladinjane
Don't Live For Your Obituary: Advice, Commentary and Personal Observations on Writing, 2008-2017 by John Scalzi
4.0
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book is most valuable to aspiring writers. Most of the content, as you might expect from the title, involves Scalzi sharing advice on writing based on his own experiences over the years. He covers a wide range of topics, from time management, the business/financial side of things, and relationships with other writers. He also discusses various controversies in the SF genre and common questions people have for writers. Of course, all of this is done in his trademark honest, quippy style. It's relatable, and funny, and it makes a book of advice and commentary much more interesting to read than perhaps the average book of advice for writers. This is not a particularly detailed book of advice; if you want something exhaustive in its minutiae, you'll want to look elsewhere. This is Scalzi sharing about his life as a writer, I think hoping to be entertaining and helpful and encouraging. I enjoyed this, and I think others will too.
The content of this book is taken from his blog posts from the last 10 years. If you're a frequent visitor to his blog, I imagine some of this might be familiar.
This book is most valuable to aspiring writers. Most of the content, as you might expect from the title, involves Scalzi sharing advice on writing based on his own experiences over the years. He covers a wide range of topics, from time management, the business/financial side of things, and relationships with other writers. He also discusses various controversies in the SF genre and common questions people have for writers. Of course, all of this is done in his trademark honest, quippy style. It's relatable, and funny, and it makes a book of advice and commentary much more interesting to read than perhaps the average book of advice for writers. This is not a particularly detailed book of advice; if you want something exhaustive in its minutiae, you'll want to look elsewhere. This is Scalzi sharing about his life as a writer, I think hoping to be entertaining and helpful and encouraging. I enjoyed this, and I think others will too.
The content of this book is taken from his blog posts from the last 10 years. If you're a frequent visitor to his blog, I imagine some of this might be familiar.