Written and compiled by award-winning novelist Mary Deal, Write it Right – Tips for Authors is a major source of information for breathing life into your prose. Learn how to polish your writing with tips and examples, and make your prose leap off the page.
Writing your opus, you may have encountered myriad questions about imperfect areas that you stumble across in the composition. The thoroughly explained tips offered in Write it Right – Tips for Authors clarify these worrisome issues, instead of simply taking a chance they’ll be acceptable.
These thorough and often humorous tips were written in response to author queries for articles that explain various problematic aspects, including: Grammar and punctuation Narration Character development and dialogue Preparing your manuscript for submission Your public image
If your writing hasn’t been perfectly smooth, you’ll find answers to your questions in Write it Right – Tips for Authors.
5-Star Review by Sherry Rentschler
Tips and tricks, succinct and complete!
I’ll preface this by saying I know Ms. Deal’s work very well, but not every author is capable of “teaching” others how to be better at the writing craft. Few authors are willing to outline how to do a query letter much less have the patience to discuss do’s and don’ts of self-publishing. Tell secrets of better writing? Forbidden!
Well, not here. In Write It Right, you get a truly complete package, without anyone offering to sell you anything, promote anything or pushing something. Whether you are a budding novelist or an experienced author there is something of intrinsic value within these pages for everyone.
Begin with the beginning, gathering notes, building a library, reading voraciously. Without lectures, Deal explains the simple reasons for each step, without overburdening the reader with long-winded treatises. She explains all the parts of a book, how to choose a title, what makes good characters, choosing your point of view. Each phase of writing is examined — the good beginning, what should be in the middle, and crafting the end. Parts within like subplots are examined too. Even using the right language or slang and some do’s and don’t’s there too.
Write It Right examines style,too, like using humor or foreshadowing. The guides are very thorough. There are grammar reminders and tips, editing advice, and what to do when you are in revision. There are examples of dialogue (show don’t tell), character arcs and development, and even script-writing!
What I enjoyed is how Mary doesn’t leave the young writer hanging, but moves on to what to do after that novel is done. The “now what” is examined with query letters, how to talk and write to agents and editors.
But that’s not all. If you are a short story or non-fiction writer, this is for you too. As well as the article writer or even how to craft the funeral eulogy. This is as thorough and as concise as it gets, folks!
Finally, Mary covers the publishing aspects including book cover design, self-publishing vs traditional publishing, writing that dreaded synopsis, dealing with rejection and working your media and publicity.
In short, this book is long on great information. The writing is taut and there are no wasted pages. It is all in one good book, even if you are a seasoned vet, you will find good reminders, and maybe unlearn some bad habits.
I will refer to this book again and again, because it is current but within it are timeless, valuable parcels of information.
I will add that there are a great many “composite” books out there. Most of them are verbose and complicated and it makes writing seem like a daunting challenge. Writing is challenge enough without the self-help books making you feel like you need a translator. So this book is priceless. Get this. You will NOT be disappointed. I’m sharing it with my local Writers’ Group and giving it as gifts.
Amazon: http://mybook.to/writeitright
