Guest Review: The Anatomy Of Prose, By Marjorie Boulton

The Anatomy of Prose is a rigorous 1950s analysis of prose, seeking to classify different elements of prose as you would classify insects or flowers. From the broad divisions of types of prose (narrative, argumentative, dramatic, informative, contemplative), Boulton proceeds to smaller divisions and sub-divisions, for example listing and defining 36 different rhetorical devices. Despite the intense detail, it was an easy read—the writing, as you’d expect from an anatomist of prose, was quite stylish and always very clear.

The part I found most interesting and useful was the chapter on prose rhythm. Boulton explains how to scan prose in the same way as poetry, breaking it down into “feet” and then analysing where the stress falls within each foot. For example “become” is an iambic foot, because the stress falls on the second syllable, whereas “outcome” is a spondee, because both syllables are stressed. There’s a great listing of all possible combinations up to the five-syllable dochmiac, and then examples of passages scanned for rhythm. For example in a Bible passage (Psalm 90, v1-9), she shows how the rhythm builds up to climaxes such as the molossus (three syllables, all stressed)—“Thou art God”. Important parts like this are surrounded by weaker stresses to highlight them. When the passage speaks of man’s weakness, the rhythm is faltering, using weaker paeons (four syllables with only one syllable stressed). The rhythm, in other words, reflects and amplifies the content.

I don’t think I’ll spend much time analysing the rhythm of my prose, or anyone else’s, in that much detail, but it’s wonderful to have that knowledge in the back of my head, as a way of understanding why a particular passage may or may not work.

The explanations throughout are clear and well illustrated with examples, mostly from older literature like the Bible and 18th century writers, but also some more contemporary (for 1954) writers like Hemingway, Steinbeck and Woolf. I’ve never seen writing analysed so scientifically before. I’ve noticed that a sentence can sound immeasurably better when the order is altered a little or a word is taken out, but never knew why. This book helped me to understand it much better, and I think it will make me a better writer and reader.

Andrew Blackman's debut novel, On The Holloway Road, won the Luke Bitmead Writer's Bursary and was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize. He recently moved back to the UK after living for six years in New York, where he worked as a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

How To Win Your Arguments

There are several strategies which can be employed in order to win your arguments.

One is to state your view then immediately run in circles with your fingers in your ears while shouting "la la la, not listening!" This can be very effective if you can sing very loudly (as can I), or you have plenty of stamina and a higher boredom threshold than those you are arguing against.

Another is to state that there's no point trying to discuss something with someone whose mind is so obviously closed. This tactic provides no substance but is a useful exercise in meaningless point-scoring, and can sometimes lend an air of superiority to a stance which only really deserves attention from The Point And Laugh Brigade.

A better strategy is to ensure that your argument has a substantial logical basis and is presented in an appropriate way, and there are some books which can help you with this.

For a gently humorous exploration of the subject, you'll not find better than Madsen Pirie’s How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic. It's an easy read; it's entertaining, well-written, and witty; and it's very informative.

Anthony Weston’s Rulebook for Arguments is a slim book which provides a slightly more serious read and discusses the various forms an argument can take.

If, however, you're prepared to go really hard-core then The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph is the book for you. It is dry and dense and at times almost impenetrable: I doubt it contains a single joke. But it's rock-solid, rigorous, and absolutely reliable and if you're brave enough to tackle it, it is a fascinating and transforming read.

What do any of these books have to do with publishing? Not much. But if a writer cannot formulate a coherent and logical argument then at best they're going to make themselves look foolish and at worst they're going to fail, no matter which genre they favour.

Guest Review: Bird By Bird, By Anne Lamott

The final semester of my senior year had come, and one thing stood between me and a Bachelor of Arts in English—the dreaded capstone course. Part thesis, part professor’s pet project, the capstone centred on a theme such as “The Role of the Fool in Shakespeare” or “Archetypal Literary Theory.” Sometimes it proved interested; often it did not. I ended up with one of the latter, a nebulously named course titled “Life Writing” that was helmed by a professor who refused to define the topic (“Life Writing is whatever you want it to be”), had more ambition than sense (“If you don’t read every word of the twenty-three assigned books, you cannot expect a good grade”), and possessed an ego to match (“I am the god of this class”). Not exactly enjoyable. But somewhere in the middle of it, I found something that was: Anne Lamott’s delightfully messy writing manual Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life.

If it sounds strange to have read a book about writing narratives in a course that dealt with autobiography, well, join the club. But Bird By Bird fit the bill in that it intersperses Lamott’s literary dictums with bits about her own life. Well, more than just bits, really. Lamott lays on the personal detail pretty thick. Page after page can pass before she breaks away from discussing the execrable psychological short story she penned as a child or how she trained her toddler to recite anti-war chants on cue or her cancer-stricken friend Pammy’s final days and gets back to the practical stuff.

This will annoy those who want technical details on the finer points of plotting or easily avoided grammatical errors. Two things, though, keep the book from becoming an exercise in self-indulgence, the first being that the stories usually relate quite well to whatever Lamott wants to expound. Take the chapter “Short Assignments,” for example. To illustrate how writers need to tackle tiny tasks, she relates how her then-ten-year-old brother was trying to complete a humongous report on birds in a single evening. Panic threatened, but her father sat down, “put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”
The second is Lamott’s delightfully screwball sense of humor. “The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the truth,” she says. “We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write very little.” Rare is the volume on writing that can wring a smile from you. Bird By Bird squeezes out belly laughs, and in doing so, reminds us that writing involves more than toil and tedium. It contains joy, too.

My thanks to Loren Eaton for his review: this is of one of my favourite writing books. There is also an audio version of the book called Word by Word, a pun which doesn't quite work for me but which fills me with delight, nevertheless.

Guest Review: The Writer's Essential Tackle Box, by Lynn Price

We all know the lovely Lynn Price of Behler Publications, and her fantastically useful and funny blog: now you can get your hands on a great big chunk of her advice in this beautiful and fascinating book, The Writer's Essential Tackle Box: Getting a Hook on the Publishing Industry. This review, from Lyndsey R. Davis, is for the American edition of the book: but in May a UK edition is going to appear from prizewinning independent publisher, Snowbooks (who, regular readers will know, happen to be one of my absolute favourite publishers). Watch out for it!


With the abundance of ‘how to write’ blogs and books on the market, Lynn Price, of Behler Publications, tackles the issue from a fresh perspective in The Writer’s Essential Tackle Box. It’s not a fishy story. She deals with issues that others do not cover.

For a published author re-entering the game, or the newbie bursting with story ideas, the process can be daunting. Ms. Price gives an insider’s view of the industry using a Question and Answer format, interviewing the Who’s Who of the publishing world; her pithy remarks clarify while engaging the reader. Many books present an author’s single point of view how something should be done; Ms. Price’s experts corroborate—in their own words—what works.

Navigating the book is easy. The four sections have subheadings which direct the reader to specific topics—no need to use the index. However, the latter avails a quick search.

Section 1: The Interviews offers over two hundred pages packed with pragmatic approaches. Agents such as Andrea Brown, Rita Rosenkranz, Peter Cox and Laurie McLean elaborate on procuring representation. Wilda Williams of Library Journal, Jim Cox of Midwest Book Review, and Lauren Roberts of BiblioBuffet suggest ways to use their services in expanding a book’s exposure. Jerry D. Simmons clarifies the murky waters of publishing: the pros and cons of big and small houses, explaining the complex system of book sales and returns. Amy Collins and Sharon Goldinger detail what a Book Shepherd does for those who elect to self-publish, and how they are distinct from vanity presses. Writing on tours and bookstore signings, Gayle Shanks adds to Ms Price’s tips for the prepared author. George Foster illustrates the secrets of cover design. Greg Snider answers questions about distribution, while Ingram and Lightning Source disclose warehousing facts, information excluded from most ‘how-to’ books for writers. Mike Sirota promotes the independent editor’s role in producing a polished work. Victoria Strauss and Peter Cox shed light on how to connect with the cyber world and internet resources. Anita Halton and Annie Jennings spell out why authors need publicists and public relations specialists. Website creation is no longer the elusive fish with Cathy Scott’s design. Ms. Price hooks the reader with her introductions and simplifies with her summaries.

Section 2: “Forget the bait, pass me the Maalox”: The Submission Process provides the prospective author with a step-by-step, hilarious approach to the often painful journey. Here, the pragmatic lessons begin: busting the myths that are foisted on anxious writers, enumerating instructions on The Log Line, the Pitch, the Author’s Bio, query letters, synopses, and the fateful rejection. However, this section ends on a high note with the Promotion plan.

Section 3: “Chumming the Waters” distinguishes between commercial publishers, vanity presses, and print on demand, and adds to Jerry Simmon’s interview on publishing. Ms. Price itemizes the nitty-gritty issues in succinct nibbles: cash flow, print runs, pricing, reviews, marketing, sales force, disclosure and more. With this information, the aspiring author can recognize the pitfalls and make informed choices.

Section 4: “The Writer’s Survival Style Guide” is packed, like sardines, with the ‘worst and best examples’ of writing. Ms. Price updates the standard that was set by Strunk and White’s Elements of Style with this lexicon of contemporary editing because it’s more readable and humorous. In this text, a writer learns to recognize a ‘sick’ submission and give it a proper four-part autopsy. However, a worthy submission may emerge after the surgery on the Fluffitis, Backstoryosis, Dialog Tagococcal, and Pointofviewicemia and overloaded descriptions with a heavy emphasis on telling instead of showing. Though she doesn’t state a resurrection is possible, her examples offer hope that rewrites will distill the essence of a good story and if mixed with a balance of description and dialog, it may be possible to recover from a case of Dullitis.

Ms. Price anticipates questions that a reader, unfamiliar with the industry, might have. She presents a lexicon that includes more than a glossary of terms. Her clear examples show how it should be done, and complex definitions become understandable. Though this book serves a new writer well, the savvy author will enjoy the sage reminders, profound insights, and recommendations, to say nothing of reveling in her wit.

Some books lend themselves to becoming dog-eared—no doubt supported by the margarita-making beagle. Thumbed pages and bent corners reflect its usefulness. This book meets that criterion because it satisfies a need in every writer. Unfortunately, for those who claim they can only afford a single comprehensive reference on writing, Ms. Price has removed any excuse for someone not to tackle the writing and editing of a piece.


Lyndsey Davis writes fiction and non-fiction, since retiring as a US Navy Chaplain. She has published non-fiction articles for newspapers, magazines, websites and co-authored two books: Daily Devotions for Advent and Christmas, Daily Devotions for Lent and Easter. An irregular blogger, she twitters and writes articles, devotionals and stories for several online services and publications, while juggling several Works in Progress. Of course, the real balancing act is saved for home life, with a husband, two sons, four cats, one dog, twenty fish and a turtle.

Guest Review: Twelve Short Stories And Their Making

My thanks to Paul Lamb for bringing this lovely little book to my attention, and for letting me reproduce his review of it, which originally appeared on his blog last year.


I’ll confess at the start of this post that I don’t have a high respect for most how-to writing guides. I’m not sure that fiction writing can be taught. Having said that, though, I do think it can be learned. In my experience this is done in two ways: extensive reading and exhaustive writing. We’re on our own for the second part, but occasionally we can find a little help with the first part.

I recently finished reading 12 Short Stories and Their Making, an anthology collected by Paul Mandelbaum and published in 2005 by Persea Books. Within are twelve richly textured short stories followed by interviews with their authors. Among the writers included are familiar names like Sandra Cisneros, Ellen Gilchrist, Gail Godwin, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Tobias Wolff. Each author’s story is presented first, and it is followed by a conversation between Mandelbaum and the author. The conversations provide insight into the varying creative processes of these diverse writers.

This isn’t a book telling you how to write your short story. Rather, it is a book telling you how these authors wrote their short stories. The conversations describe how the stories came to be written the way they were as well as how they couldn’t have been written in any other way. We see what their motivations and intentions were. Sometimes we see what other writing has influenced them or what incidents in their lives found their way into the stories and why. Mandelbaum also manages to tease some technical discussion from each writer. By offering these insights, this book lets all of us see how it might be done and so perhaps plumb our murky depths to find our own motivations. It gives us a sort of permission to venture down new creative roads.

The anthology does not try to be all things to all writers. Rather, it takes a more measured approach, offering two selections for each of the categories: character, plot, point of view/voice, setting, structure, and theme. The stories are arranged by which category they best illustrate. With a breakdown like this, and with the in-depth interviews that follow each story, this book might deserve a place on your reference shelf.

For my part, I always like to read anthologies because I get introduced to writers I have not tried before. Often I find a new favorite among them. Persea Books has several other writer-focused anthologies that might merit your attention as well.

These Things Make Me Happy!

Daniel Blythe, who comments here regularly and has a two-part series due to appear on this blog as soon as I get my act together and schedule it, has a new book out. It's called Autonomy, it's a Dr Who novel, and I think it's currently available at Waterstone's in a three-for-two offer. Buy yourself a copy now, before I rush out and buy them all in a fan-girl frenzy.

As if that wasn't enough, I heard yesterday that Marian Perera, who blogs at Flights of Fancy (which is a lovely blog full of writing help and scam-busting advice) has signed her first book contract: her novel Before the Storm will be published by Samain Publishing.

All this, and it's nearly the end of the summer holidays, too. No wonder I'm grinning.

Wanna Be A Writer? Vote For This Book Now!

Thanks to the magic of Facebook, I've learned that Jane Wenham-Jones's book Wannabe a Writer? is up for a prize over at The People's Book Awards. It's a great book for aspiring writers but don't risk reading it while you're eating: it made me laugh so much I shot a piece of sweetcorn out of my nose (and you'd be amazed how far a snort-propelled piece of sweetcorn can travel).

The good thing about The People's Book Awards is that anyone and everyone can vote for the shortlisted titles. So, if you've read Jane's book and would like to support it, and her, then please follow this link, and cast your vote.

Reviewers Wanted!

Last night on Twitter's Litchat several people asked if there were any software programs which could help writers work and while I suspect that most are no more than expensive procrastination tools, I bet that there are a few which are useful.

The thing is, I just don't know which ones they are. I'm relatively non-technical: I write most of my work by hand, using a real pen and real paper, and then I "type" up my work into Microsoft Word using Dragon NaturallySpeaking and a couple of associated gadgets which I've reviewed here, but I don't use anything else to produce my work.

So if you use any specialist writing software, hardware or gadgets, then I'd be grateful if you'd consider writing a review of it for me, listing its good points along with its bad, and explaining just who you think might benefit from using it. Email your review to me at "HPRW at tesco dot net", and put "HPRW review" in the subject-line so I don't mistake you for spam (and while we're at it, I would welcome some more reviews of writing-related books if anyone feels so inclined).

The Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction

My thanks to Jacky Taylor for this review.

'A successful flash enchants us, each small story successfully rendered engulfing us for a brief moment... in its own brand of light, or truth.' So says Tara Masih in her informative and engaging introduction to the Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, published by the Rose Metal Press.

Flash fiction is a burgeoning form in this twenty first century, and Masih informs us that it has actually been around much longer than most people think – since the early part of the nineteenth when Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe were amongst its earliest proponents.

Now, in this age of compression, where all aspects of life are crammed ever more cheek by jowl, the flash seems the ideal bite-size fiction to savour in those increasingly brief moments we have to ourselves. So it follows that as the flash itself garners more attention, with a high online profile and a growing number of writers engaging in the form, the inevitable 'How To Do It' books should start pouring from the publishers.

There are many writing guides brought in on the wave of creative writing courses steadily multiplying across the globe. There are good ones and bad ones: the Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction is definitely a good one; I would even say a very good one. It doesn't promise unparalleled success or anything else it can't deliver, but does provide real insight into how writers work in this medium doing by exactly what it says on the cover – providing guidance that gently leads the would-be flash writer along the path to making their own work truly shine.

Collectively, the twenty five essays contained here explore the different facets of writing good flash fiction and such a prismatic approach reveals much of the art to writing the very best of them. The authors, many distinguished and multi-award winners amongst them, are all actively engaged in the form as either writers, teachers or editors – some in all three – and precisely because of this experience, they don't mess around but go straight to the heart of what they want to say. Each focuses on an aspect of either writing, teaching or editing flash fiction and, as forceful advocates of the form, what they convey is frequently eloquent, often illuminating, always passionate.

The book covers ten main areas ranging from 'In Defense of the Exercise', through others such as 'Beginnings and Endings' and 'Taking Risks' to 'A Call to Action'. Each of these is further defined by the essays themselves with inevitable titles like Expose Yourself to Flash and Flash in the Pan, but don't let that put you off: under the puns you'll find some incisive, educative writing.

Many sections are inspiring and with the added bonus of both top-notch examples of the form, and exercises to get the creative juices flowing, this makes the volume an invaluable addition to any writer's reference collection. A couple of the contributors do get a little caught up in their own philosophising but are no less interesting for that, and there are some truly inspiring pieces to get fingers flashing across keyboards and pens moving in hot little hands.

It seems churlish to single out specific authors from the pack when so much of the writing here is good, but both Jennifer Pieroni and Vanessa Gebbie deserve a special mention for getting me to briefly abandon this review, in order to go and write a new flash myself! I really can't think of a better recommendation than that.

Jacky Taylor is an Arts Education professional and lives in Portsmouth. She has worked as a teacher, lecturer, community arts practitioner, arts administrator and welfare rights advisor. The first three pages of her novel won second prize at the Winchester Writers' Conference; she has now written the other two hundred and ninety five pages of it, and has just started submitting her work.

Book Reviews: An Update

I've just updated my post about book reviews, which is linked to under "writers' resources" over there on the right: to help all you newly published authors, it now includes a link to a brilliant post on Editor Unleashed which gives advice on how to get your book reviewed in all the best places. Get reading.

Bad Science: The Giveaway

Oops. I should have blogged about this last week. Sorry about that.

Following on from my rather slapdash, ranty review of it, copies of Ben Goldacre's wonderful book Bad Science have been reserved for Catdownunder, for this great blog post; for Sally Zigmond, for the beautifully-phrased rant about diabetes which she left in the comments stream; and to Big Fat Lion, for amusing me when I really needed some cheer.

If you could email me your real-life addresses ("hprw at tesco dot net" should reach me; stick "HPRW Bad Science" or something similar in the subject-line so I don't mistake you for spam), I'll make sure your copies are delivered post-haste. Remember to review them once you've read them, if you can: the more people who read Ben's book the better.

Bad Science And Bad Research

You might remember how I’ve decided to discuss logic and research here in an attempt to fight back against some of the very dubious argument techniques I've seen some writers rely on. And as that all sounds very dull and dry I'm getting things off to a nice gentle start today by suggesting a little reading, backed up with a great giveaway.

Dr Ben Goldacre writes a column for the Guardian called Bad Science in which he discusses the misuse and misinterpretation of science. One of his common themes is how the media frequently misrepresents scientific research in order to present a more sensationalist story and while we really should know what our politicians are up to and how our banks’ bosses are paid, the stories Goldacre covers are far more important to most of our daily lives. I’m astonished that his column isn’t more appreciated.

His Guardian articles also appear on his blog, which is a true delight: the discussions that evolve there are well-informed, articulate, reasoned and hilarious, and I usually learn more there about the truth of a story than from the news coverage I see all about me.

There is also a Bad Science book, which is a quick and funny read: but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s lightweight. It’s beautifully researched, meticulously referenced and jam-packed solid with advice and information for everyone who has ever marvelled at a newspaper story, or wondered why so many scientists seem to research such ridiculous things. And it’s all written in very clear and accessible language so it’s suitable for just about anyone, even those without a science background: my thirteen-year-old son is now reading my copy and is enjoying it immensely.

I have no doubt: if your writing depends on research in any way and you don't want to make yourself look foolish, this book is essential reading for you no matter what you’re researching: it discusses verifying data, interpreting data and how research should be structured, and warns against common misconceptions and mistakes.

I could go on about how this book makes science interesting, accessible and entertaining; or about how the fabulous Dr Goldacre meticulously unravels all the nonsense about supposed links between the MMR vaccine and autism; I could quote extensively from the book to make my point and make you laugh at the same time: the chapters about homeopathy and Gillian McKeith are riotously entertaining. But I won't do any of that. Instead I urge you to get your hands on a copy and read it for yourself, and there are two ways you could do this: you could go out and buy yourself a copy right now, or you could leave a comment here and tell me exactly why you deserve to be given one of the free copies which HarperPerennial has promised to provide to my readers.

The lucky winners will be selected a week from today from everyone who has commented on this post, and I’ll admit right now that I’m likely to be biased towards people who make me laugh, people who pay attention, and people who make sense. Those nice people at HarperPerennial will, of course, have some say in the matter so if you promote Bad Science and this giveaway in some way (on your own blogs, perhaps—remember to post links here or we won't know about your efforts), then that might well score you extra points.

The Author's Big Mistake

I thought that this novice writer's reaction to a poor review was bad. But last week Alice Hoffman claimed the prize for The Worst Ever Reaction To An Unfavourable Book Review by posting the reviewer's email address and phone number onto Twitter and encouraging her fans to harass the reviewer concerned.

In Hoffman's favour she has now apologised, and her Twitter account has been deleted: but I'm amazed that she saw fit to put someone else's personal information up on the internet in order to get others to make contact. It's an appalling thing to have done.

I loved Hoffman's book Blackbird House, and I've enjoyed a good few of her other titles, too. But as a direct result of this, I will not be buying any more of Alice Hoffman's books.

You can read a good account of this at the wonderful Galleycat; Gawker mopped into all the corners with screenshots of all of her terrible Tweets; The Book Maven told the story and added some more background about a previous Hoffman overreaction. You can read what Lynn Price (of Behler Publications) has to say about it here; Editorial Ass has picked up the story, too; AuthorScoop mentioned it; and (inevitably) it's now being discussed at Absolute Write.

In an attempt to be fair, I have to point out that Alice Hoffman isn't the only writer to spew her objections to a bad review onto the internet. Anne Rice introduced her new and exciting paragraph-free style when she objected to an Amazon review of one of her books, while Laurell K Hamilton took us Christmas shopping for her characters and along the way revealed how much work her editors have to do.

This kind of reaction to a review has been called The Author's Big Mistake for a very good reason: it can't change the review, and the results are going to hang around for an awfully long time (as is shown by the links I've given above). If an author is determined to respond to a bad review but would like to keep some dignity intact, then the only possible course of action is to thank the reviewer for his or her time, and hope that they like the next book better. It's possible to do this with grace and style, as was ably demonstrated when I reviewed a book called We'll Always Be Pals on my other blog, The Self-Publishing Review. I wasn't terribly keen on the book but its author, Tom McManus, left a few very gracious comments, including this:

It's all good Jane, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and you have yours. I am not hurt by it. As you know, when you put something out there like a book, you take the good and the not so good in stride.

I just wish that Alice Hoffman had spoken with Mr McManus before she visted Twitter. She could have learned a lot.

But the last word here must go to John Scalzi, who has written an excellent analysis of The Author's Big Mistake. Some people are indeed crazy screechy monkeys, and some writers are asstards.


Edited to add some more linky heaven:

Thanks to Daniel Blythe, here's another writer reacting to a poor review. She's switched off the comments to her blog so there are no reactions there: we'll just have to make up for that here.

Pub Rants has now blogged about it too.

These ones come courtesy of AuthorScoop:

When Richard Ford shot Alice Hoffman's book: "it's not like I shot her." That's OK then.

There are some scary stories about more writers who have overreacted to bad reviews at The Salon.

And here Alain de Botton reacts to a very negative review. I've not read the book, but I am backing slowly away: here it's the reviewer who scares me the most.

Guest Review: Ron Carlson Writes a Story

I'd not come across this book before Caleb J Ross submitted his review, and it's a real treasure: I strongly recommend it. If you have your own favourite book about writing or publishing do please consider sending me a review, and I'll put it up here as soon as my schedule allows.


Instead of waxing on aspects of craft or grammar as so many instructional writing books do, Ron Carlson’s (author of the collections At the Jim Bridger and A Kind of Flying among many others) Ron Carlson Writes a Story opts for a focus on the process of organically discovering a narrative. Using his story, “The Governor’s Ball,” as the book’s foundation, Carlson takes the reader on his journey from word one to THE END, emphasizing the discovery above the planned technical route that many of us may be used to.

Carlson champions this organic process of discovery, rooted by what he calls a “collision,” which is an idea, event, anything that strikes his attention in a memorable way. This is the seed of a story, pre-outline, pre-pen to paper. In the case of “The Governor’s Ball,” this collision is between the actual event of Mr. Carlson losing a mattress from the back of his truck during a move, and an actual governor’s ball that the author and his wife attended years ago. Now, with this seed, or collision, where does he go?

Carlson dismisses detailed outlines and otherwise structure in favor of the story’s already present inventory. As he says, “I’m constantly looking for things that are going to help me find the next sentence, survive the story”. Simply put, he promotes using every word laid down as an inventory of possibilities for following words, until reaching the end of the story. Seems logical, and it is. But so often forgotten.

Ron Carlson Writes a Story is not a typical Writer’s Digest, prepackaged how-to. This is something useful, something with the potential to truly influence a writer’s storytelling abilities, but beware of control, As Ron Carlson says, “Writing is exploration, it isn’t neat”.

Caleb J Ross has published fiction and non-fiction all over, most recently in Flint Hills Review, Vestal Review, and online in Dogmatika, No Record Press, Word Riot, 3:AM Magazine, and Cherry Bleeds. He is the co-editor of Colored Chalk and a co-editor for the Guild of Outsider Writers. He loves ACID cigars.

Guest Review: Write Away, by Elizabeth George

For some time I've had a copy of this book on my shelf, waiting to be read: when Helen Parker sent this review to me, I took the book down from my shelf for a quick flick through and sure enough, an hour and a half later I was still reading it. Either I'm a compulsive reader, or this is an excellent book. You decide! My thanks to Helen for this review. You can find her blog here; her first book (a ghostwritten biography) is about to be published.


As the Sunday Times says on the front cover of this book: ‘A perfect DIY guide for the determined new novelist’ and as Mariella Frostrup says on the back cover: ‘Indispensable’. I’ve read many books that discuss the dos and don’ts of writing and, in my opinion, this is one of the best.

Write away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life by Elizabeth George does exactly what it says on the tin – sorry, cover; it guides the writer patiently and thoroughly through the many difficult stages of writing a novel. From the very first sentence it persuades the reader that writing a novel is not just possible, it’s actually achievable:

I find it both fascinating and disconcerting when I discover yet another person who believes that writing can’t be taught. Frankly I don’t understand this point of view.

And if Elizabeth George says that, then I believe her.

Elizabeth George is the author of the bestselling Inspector Linley novels. She has also been a writing teacher for many years and plans her book in logical, well defined chapters covering the usual subjects: character, story, plot, place and dialogue but she also discusses in great depth the trickier (for me anyway) subject of viewpoint. As Ms George says:

You have to have a point of view in the novel and wise is the writer who makes her decision about point of view early in the process. This one element of craft is crucial because it’s part of how a writer dramatizes events. It also is critical to how the story is structured (as you will see I hope), and often it’s part of the entire artistic idea behind the novel.

This is a book that speaks to you as an equal, not a book that talks down, up, or in a roundabout way to a would-be novelist. It’s more about technique than talent because Elizabeth George believes that the former can be taught whilst the latter is presumably either God-given or just given out to those who have the discipline to write year after year, day after day, hour after hour, same time, same place because as she says, ‘A lot of writing is being able to delay gratification’. Read the chapter on the value of ‘bum glue’ and you’ll realize that you simply can’t, or don’t want to, argue with Ms George’s belief that writing your novel is simply ‘moving it forward a sentence at a time’.

I feel there are many of us who would benefit from the author’s no-nonsense approach to writing, unfortunately I believe her writing classes take place only in the USA although her novels are all, to my knowledge, set in the UK.

If nothing else, you must read chapter twenty-two where The Process in a Nutshell sets out the writing of your novel in fourteen difficult, bone-wearying, hurdle-jumping stages. The book preceding this list clearly and simply tells you how to do it and for any remaining doubters, here’s what Elizabeth George tells her students on the first day of her creative writing course:

• You will be published if you possess three qualities; talent, passion and discipline.


• You will probably be published if you possess two of these three qualities: either a combination of talent and discipline or a combination of passion and discipline.


• You will likely be published if you possess neither talent nor passion but still have discipline.

Please note; she never says you will not be published.

Guest Review: Mortification: Writers' Stories Of Their Public Shame, Edited By Robin Robertson

My thanks to Katy Jackson for this review.

I first read this book some years ago and its stories are both compelling and appalling. It's essential reading for anyone considering a writing career: but be prepared to cringe!

If I was published, nay, when I am published, my life will be long one colourful conga of delights. My make up will never run or cause me to look like a performance mime artist. I will lose that last stone of flab and my wrinkles will disappear overnight. I will waft from suave literary luncheon to sophisticated cocktail party in a fragrant cloud of peer approval and tinkling laughter. Everybody will love me unconditionally and without pause, hesitation or deviation. Yes, when I am published, my life will be transformed.

But like some rather more intimate acts, the event itself can be something of an anti-climax full of accidental clumsy embarrassment and unintentional hilarity. Mortification: Writers' Stories of Their Public Shame gathers together contributions from seventy writers who share their shame, blushes, mishaps and misdemeanours in a collection of laugh-out-loud funny tales of book signings gone wrong, AWOL public appearances, and fragile egos crushed at the hands of jaded local radio presenters. With pieces from Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Val McDermid, Colm Toibin and Andrew Motion among others, this collection of writers’ tales of the should-have-expected is a charming and hysterical account of what really happens on the other side of the gulf of publication. From cases of mistaken identity and the self-inflicted wounds of over-indulgence to a whip-cracking S&M prostitute at a literary festival, Mortification is a cringe-inducing carnival of delights. Or as satellite TV would probably put it, when good writers go bad.

It is life affirming to know that even the finest and best known writers have ignominy thrust upon them and suffer humiliation and rejection at the hands of an occasionally indifferent world. Whether published or not (-yet-), Mortification also reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously or to let our attention-craving ego strap itself too firmly into the driving seat only at our own peril. This wildly entertaining book provides the perfect antidote to an attack of the writers' blues. You will never look at a literary event in quite the same way again.

Katy blogs at Moving Back, Moving On. Her first book, The Self-build Survival Guide, was published in 2007 and its publication day came, as it turned out in the wonderful bad timing of things, as she was in the process of splitting up with her long-term partner. She probably spent the day itself up a ladder, painting and muttering swear words. She is currently working on her next book.

Guest Review: The Writer's Springboard, by Margaret Graham

My thanks to Kate Kelly for this review: I'd not come across this book before she submitted her review, and it's a real delight.

Margaret Graham is a bestselling author with twelve novels to her credit. She is also an excellent writing tutor and mentor who runs a number of workshops and writing classes, so she is well positioned to produce a handbook like this on the craft of writing.

The Writer's Springboard contains much of the content of her classes covering a broad spectrum of writing skills from the basics of Point of View and Show not Tell, to the more complex topics of structure and voice. She also gives clear examples, in a ‘before and after’ format, to clarify these points.

This little book has a huge amount of information crammed into its pages, maybe too much. It’s not a book that can be read cover to cover in one sitting, but is more a book to be taken a chunk at a time in order to fully absorb the wealth of advice and information it contains. But for this very reason it makes an excellent reference book that you will revisit again and again and still find something new. It is well laid out in a logical way, and it is therefore easy to find your way around.

I’ve read a number of books of this ilk and there are others, perhaps, that would be better suited for beginners than this one. But if you are a writer with a bit of experience who is looking to develop and hone your craft, then this is a book that you will keep coming back to.


Kate Kelly is a UK-based science fiction writer. By day she works as a marine scientist, but at night she returns to her first love—writing. Her short fiction has been published in a number of SF and horror magazines and anthologies, and she was winner of the 2008 Western Gazette Award for a local writer in the Yeovil Prize, being shortlisted in both the novel and short story categories. She is currently working of a couple of children’s novels, and hunting for an agent.

How To Respond To Reviews

I have a tiny blog called The Self-Publishing Review in which I consider self-published books from the viewpoint of a mainstream publishing editor. As I read I count all the errors and instances of sloppy writing that I find; and once I've found fifteen problems I stop reading and post details of how far I got in the book, and the sorts of errors I found.

I began the blog because a self-published writer took exception when I wrote that most self-published books were dreadful. He insisted I just hadn’t seen enough of them: and so I decided to start my review in order to rectify that.

Overall, I’ve found it a disappointing experience. Judging by the books I’ve been sent so far, the vast majority of self-published writers are bad writers who have published terrible books. So far I’ve only read one book right through to the end. I’ve not even got half-way through any of the others and some of the writers involved have not taken it too well: a few have tried to engage me in arguments and one author even had the misfortune of having some very argumentative friends who were determined to defend her writing reputation.

I was more than a little pleased when Rosalie Warren, the author of Charity's Child, emailed me to thank me for the review I’d written about her book. It was clear that she had thought about my comments, understood them, and had gone on to apply them to the rest of her book. I had no doubt that her writing would improve as a result of her positive attitude and I wasn't surprised when I subsequently learned that she has a novel called Low Tide, Lunan Bay being published today by a good mainstream publisher, Robert Hale. I shall buy myself a copy with a great big smile on my face—which is much more than I'd have done if she'd argued with me!

Guest Review: How Not To Write A Novel, by David Armstrong

My thanks to Daniel Blythe for this review.


How Not to Write a Novel: Confessions of a Mid-list Author, by David Armstrong.

"For every JK Rowling there are 1000 David Armstrongs", explains the blurb to this quirky and curmudgeonly addition to the groaning shelves of the How-To genre. I always made a point of never buying one of these by anyone who hadn't had a novel published — and there are plenty of those blind theorisers out there, believe you me. Would you purchase How To Cook by a Delia wannabe who didn't know her way around a kitchen? Or Learn To Drive by someone with no valid licence? Of course not. Thankfully, Mr Armstrong establishes his credentials with a small but solid canon of crime novels, placing him solidly in what used to be called the 'mid-list'.

A loose A-Z follows, covering such matters as Agents, Discipline, Ideas, Quotations and the Xylophone. If you suspect that the latter is a jokey entry designed to address the problem of covering the letter X, you'd be right. Armstrong's style is dry (ironic-dry, not dusty-dry), chatty, personal and engagingly cynical — at every turn he urges his readers not to become novelists, which I find terribly amusing (not to mention very good advice).

This is far from being just a nuts-and-bolts book — it's a worm's-eye view of the industry, a salutary tale of how a talented writer can be left adrift on the choppy seas of publishing with his editor and agent sailing off in a big yacht. But it's also packed full of useful nuggets, gained from his years of experience — and complemented by the experiences of others. This is certainly one writing manual which won't try to convince you that you can have a bestseller and get rich and famous overnight. Armstrong tells you — from bitter experience — all about the indifference of reviewers, the importance of luck and the trap of the vanity press. He covers tips on dialogue and doing your research. He even dares to question the sacred mantra of 'kill your darlings'. But most of all, he keeps a sense of perspective — which makes this book essential not just for the zealous neophyte, but also for the jaded professional of some years' standing.

And always remember - it's a miserable business. Don't do it.


Daniel Blythe hasn't provided me with a biography to include here, probably because I forgot to ask him for one: but he appears to have written a few books (if you want to appear keen you could even buy a couple); according to my eight-year-old son, who is deeply cynical and notoriously difficult to impress unless you make a fool of yourself, have your own sonic screwdriver, and give away sweeties, he does really good school visits; and he has his own website, too.

Book Review Sites

There are all sorts of book review blogs on the internet, but some are better than others.

Dovegreyreader was one of the first and is still very well-regarded; I like her blog but it takes an age to load for me (yes, I'm still on dial-up...) so I don't read it as often as I would like to; and I am constantly amazed by the number of books that she works her way through.

My friend Sally Zigmond has her own book review blog which I do always read. Our tastes are so similar that I know that if she likes a book then I probably will too: in fact, her opinion is so reliable that I might just as well send her the keys to my Amazon account, and ask her to sort out my reading list in the future.

Tania Hershman, who has featured in my Trios series, runs The Short Review which showcases short story collections.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is huge fun, and the reviews are rock-solid; Random Jottings is always worth a look; I know a lot of people who like The Bookbag (but it's not a site I've spent much time on, I'll admit); and Juxtabook is just great.

There are a few book reviews on this blog, too: most are writing-related.

And here, thanks to Editor Unleashed, is a wonderful post which lists all sorts of wonderful book review blogs, as well as some great tips on how to best behave if you want to get your book reviewed. Brilliant.

There are plenty more book review sites: but which are your favourites? Post links, and your reason for liking them, and with any luck we'll end up with a useful list.