Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Books read in 2014: No. 58 -- Storyteller Tools

by M. Harold Page

Started: Nov. 9
Finished: Nov. 11

Notes: I've been trying to stray from books about writing of late as I've found I've read so many that they often seem to say the same things over and over again, maybe with a tip or two here and there but nothing else really new to say. But then I came upon one of Page's Black Gate posts about writing and NaNoWriMo (no, I'm not specifically taking part though I am writing). To be blunt, I was blown away by some of the things he came up with, and while I recognized everything he had to say, I had never quite thought of it in his terms. So, that post lead me to wanting to read his book about writing. If this book is a tenth as helpful as that post was, then it's well worth my reading time.

Mini review: This one was worth reading for me. I'm not quite sure it's appropriate for the rookie writer, as they need to learn some basics before getting deeper into subjects like plot development and story structure, but for those who have those basics down and are ready to begin building their worlds and stories, this book could be a boon. It could also be appropriate for more experienced writers, giving them a different way to look at structure and the like. Without giving too much away here, the author focuses upon not only story construction, but also that of scenes and individual chapters. He also gives a look into paragraph and sentence building, especially in showing how a character relates to and expresses his or her surrounding environment. For all of this, the text here is not verbose or pendatic; the reader isn't likely to feel overwhelmed by literary terms because the writing is quite down to earth. However, keep in mind this is one author's approach, and he admits that, so take what works for you then come up with your own writing strategies.

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