jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
One of many writing books I read over three months. Filled with exercises and things to try when you're stuck, want to experiment, or just feel like you're in a writing rut. Useful, some are better than others..
twocents's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't do most of the exercises, but it gave me some ideas to consider, which is what I was after. Some sections were more helpful than others. (Some were clear ego-stroking... not sure how those got through the editing process, but maybe seeing someone hair flip over their own awesomeness is helpful.)
josephvanburen's review against another edition
3.0
There are a lot of writing books out there but not so many that focus on speculative genres, so I'm always excited when I come across one that does. This particular book had a few nuggets of treasure that I found very valuable, but the majority of it was not helpful to me. Despite the seasoned professionals that contributed, this book is definitely focused largely on beginning writers. Too much "how to get ideas" and not enough "how to make my existing ideas better" for me. Also, about half of this book focuses on screenwriting rather than fiction, which I found only marginally helpful. For the few great take-aways I got from this book, it was worth reading. If you are a speculative writer who is just starting or suffers from writer's block, the exercises in this book will probably be of great value to you. If not, you might want to skip this one.
alexauthorshay's review against another edition
3.0
Considering the number of ideas I got for my novel simply from reading the mysteries book, I thought I would get more out of this one for the series I'm currently creating a world for. Similar to the last one, several of the prompts are similar in nature, though they are divided among more categories. However, most of the exercises deal with horror and screenwriting, with some science fiction and next to no fantasy. Though they are all lumped together as "speculative fiction", since there is a book specifically for screen writing, I personally feel jipped by reading about things that, as a novelist, have no relevance for me. Further more, each of the three genres have such a following and their own formulas that really they should get their own books, or at least separated sections within this book.
candiecane333's review against another edition
4.0
Great helpful tips to generate ideas, turn ideas into stories, develop your story deeper or drag you out of a stuck place
eliwray's review against another edition
4.0
I certainly didn't finish every essay this time around. But every one I read had useful, actionable questions to ask myself, and concise insight into the topic. Im sure I'll come back to this book repeatedly.
jameseckman's review
3.0
Short writing exercises by an assortment of writers. Amusing filler reading, I'm too lazy to be a writer.
octopus_farmer's review
5.0
This is so great! I am seriously considering buying this book for all the great advice and exercises in this book. Fun, easy to read, A+ advice.
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