The Best Word
Written: Feb 20 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Extremely thorough and from several veiwpoints
Cons: Some of the info is outdated.
The Bottom Line: If you want to write romance novels, this is the best book going. If you want to write novels, this is one of the top 10.
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| Darkmistress's Full Review: Writing Romances: A Handbook by the Romance Writer... |
I had seen this book on the shelf at my store when it first came out many moons ago, but by the time I wanted it, it had vanished and I couldn’t remember enough of the title to find it in the computer to order. Really, have you ever tried to do a keyword search using the words "writing" and "romance" especially when those happen to be the names of two subject headings? Holy kamoly! Even in a limited search I came up with a dozen titles and I didn’t want to order them all to figure out which on I wanted. My luck just isn’t that good. So I did without and tried to figure things out on my own, which I didn’t do too, too badly on, but if I had had this book, say 7 years go when I was looking for it I’d have been where I am now, then. At least. In fact, I might have been where I will be in two years now. But that might be a slight exaggeration.
What we have here is essentially 24 short books on specific aspects of writing. They are grouped together under broader headings so you can just read what you’re looking for, but my advice would be to read the book cover to cover and then start again at the beginning. Personally, I started with chapter 11, "How Selling a Book Changes Your Life" by Christina Dodd. I’ve never read any Christina Dodd, but after reading this chapter I mean to rectify that at the next opportunity. The writing was sharp, clever and funny and the advice jibs perfectly with everything I’ve figured out on my own the hard way with a couple things I hadn’t figured out yet. Much thanks to Ms Dodd for saving me a few bruises in the future. My husband had a hard time prying the book out of my hands while I read that first essay so I decided to go through it cover to cover even though I have been planning on reading only the chapters of specific interest. I even read the chapter on writing with a partner even though I don’t plan on working with anyone else, oh, ever? So if you think you can skip the chapter on point of view because you’ve pretty much got that locked up, you might want to give it a skim just in case. There’s gems in these pages.
Normally, you pick up a book on writing and it has been written by one person. That one person, be it Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, or Elizabeth George, has written down what they do, step by set in most instances, and whether they mean for you to or not, you end up taking every word as gospel. After all what Stephen King doesn’t know about writing could probably be written on the head of a pin in calligraphy, right? (If you don’t happen to like Stephen King insert the name of your favorite blockbuster author instead.) That kind of thinking is a trap. You see, as obvious as this might seem, you are not Stephen King. What works like magic for him may not work at all for you. Really, what works like magic for him today might not work for him tomorrow. But that kind of thing is hard to remember when you’re reading a whole book on writing by one author. When you’re reading a book written by 24 authors it becomes a lot easier.
Another thing that sets this apart from every other writing book I have ever encountered is the variety and quality of the authors. Sure you’ve got Jude Deveraux on creating a bestseller and Diana Gabaldon on the paranormal romance, but you’ve also got agent Richard Curtis on why you need an agent and editor Kate Duffy on what really happens in the editorial office. There’s also a fabulous article from the co-founder of Romance Writers of America on the demographics of romance readers.
Of course there has to be a drawback. This book was originally published in 1991. In 1991 the Internet was still a pretty novel thing and that comes up a lot. Since this book’s publication supernatural romances have gone out of fashion and come back in again thanks to Christine Feehan and Laurel K Hamilton. The demographics have shifted (but not all that much from my observations). Certain aspects of publicity and distribution are a little different. You know, times changed, but since it was set in type, the book couldn’t. Does this make the book useless? No. Most of the chapters could be moved to a new edition completely untouched. Some would need some updates, but are otherwise perfectly ok as they are. The research chapter? Ok, that one has to go. The Internet has completely altered they way research is done now. If you want to know about World War 1 military training, a simple Google search will produce diaries, letters, and probably some official paperwork on the subject.
Sadly, one of the worst drawbacks is that the narrow focus makes this all but useless to the greater population. It will only be really worth while if you plan to write romances. If you want to write anything else there are about 7 chapters you might find interesting, but everything is refracted through the lens of romance so you will have to read more carefully for the gems that apply to you.
It’s still a wonderful and enlightening book. If you do want to write romance novels you should have a copy of this on your shelf for ready referral. Just keep in mind that the info is quite old. And good luck!
Recommended:
Yes
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Darkmistress
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