A review by rainydancer
This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley
3.0
2.5ish stars
"I wish I had the answers to these problem. I don't." - (Walter Mosley not caring about my 11 hour work days)
At least this book let me know early on that I was not, in fact, going to be finishing my novel in a year. I think it was page 9 that casually mentions, "oh when I say write everyday, I mean for at LEAST an hour and a half". Oh. Okay.
All in all, I was a bit disappointed that there really wasn't too much new information. I felt it sort of oddly talked a long time about the basics of writing, that I think many young students would know, only to spend a super short time on second drafts, third, and the whole editing process. Then a page or so about publishing and agents; all the sort of final important details that I sort of crave from a published writer's book about creating your first novel. It could very well be only me looking for these things, but I felt the emphasis was placed on the incorrect things. I have to think most people picking up this book would know what a metaphor and first person narratives are; how to turn a first or second draft into a published work, less so.
"I wish I had the answers to these problem. I don't." - (Walter Mosley not caring about my 11 hour work days)
At least this book let me know early on that I was not, in fact, going to be finishing my novel in a year. I think it was page 9 that casually mentions, "oh when I say write everyday, I mean for at LEAST an hour and a half". Oh. Okay.
All in all, I was a bit disappointed that there really wasn't too much new information. I felt it sort of oddly talked a long time about the basics of writing, that I think many young students would know, only to spend a super short time on second drafts, third, and the whole editing process. Then a page or so about publishing and agents; all the sort of final important details that I sort of crave from a published writer's book about creating your first novel. It could very well be only me looking for these things, but I felt the emphasis was placed on the incorrect things. I have to think most people picking up this book would know what a metaphor and first person narratives are; how to turn a first or second draft into a published work, less so.