Advanced Writing: Fiction and Film

Rating:
Summary: A Roadmap for Writers
Review: Advanced Writing:Fiction and Film, by Wells Earl Draughon, is a virtual roadmap for conceptualizing and formulating a successful novel or screenplay. It would be an excellent choice for classroom use as a textbook for college-level writing courses. It is a detailed instruction manual for the advanced student, and serves also as an indispensable guideline for critiquing rough drafts and works in progress. The author has obviously made an exhaustive study of hundreds of novels and films. He uses his expertise to make countless comparisons of good vs. bad and strong vs. weak novels and screenplays, in order to help the writer avoid the kind of mistakes and pitfalls which can keep a story from achieving its full potential as a popular and financial success. Film producers would do well to study this book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in creating a well-crafted novel or screenplay.

Rating:
Summary: the most useful book on novel writing
Review: As a lot of writers know by now, this is the best book on novel writing to come out in years! And the most original. Any novelist who hasn't studied this book will simply be left out. Unlike most writing books, this one does not oversimplify the problems. It explores all the tradeoffs that a writer has to make to meet the many conflicting goals and requirements of a good novel. One of the central ideas is appeal: commercial fiction uses only one or two kinds of appeal. Quality fiction can have up to ten kinds. In general, the more kinds of appeal a novel has and the stronger each appeal, the better the novel or film. And the more successful. I'm urging all the members of my writing group to get this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have for all writers!
Review: There are so many HOW TO books out there, and sadly, most of them are subpar. Mostly they are hacks of hacks. A few are useful. A few might be insightful. If you want to learn the basics, you can find those books in any search on screenwriting or fiction writing.

Now, this book doesn't waste your time with the basics. Instead, the author analyzes all the ingredients of great writing/great film. Dynamics of Hope, Threat, and Need to Know are explored. Characters and character appeal, reader and audience appeal are also explored. Honestly, I can tell you that if you want to raise your story telling to a professional level, this IS the book. This author is analytical and insightful in ways that all the others are not. Any hack moron can tell you that you need a plot or a three act structure or those basics. But this writer goes far beyond that, exploring what makes a story more compelling and engrossing. I bought this book two weeks ago and have been reading it very slowly because there is just so much wonderful stuff to absorb.

Here is a chapter breakdown:
Introduction
Reader and Audience Appeal
Global Constraints
Large-scale Desiderata
Dynamics: Threat
Dynamics: Hope
Dynamics: Need to Know
Consummation Scenes
Characters
Character Appeal
Relationships
Architecture and Design
Sequential Structuring
The Set-up or Problem Situation
Beginnings
Endings
Scenes and Embodiment
Voice
The Line Level
Description and Setting
A Note on Comedy
Developing and Testing a Theory of Writing
Endnotes

As you can see, the author delves into all of it, giving the reader opportunity after opportunity to analyze their story and see where it fits in, how they can improve it, what it might be missing if it's not selling, etc.

There's a sort of common sense approach about this book, but it's the sort of common sense writers tend lose when they have a story in mind, and they are so passionate about it that they overlook some of the key ingredients any well written work needs. But DO NOT mistake this for some sort of cookbook to churn out script after script or novel after novel. It's simply a study of techniques - all the things that make a good story a great story or even a bad story a good one.

The insight this book will give you is worth it's weight in platinum. This book should be the one all writers read after they've got down the 'basics' of their craft. It definitely is advanced and it will help advance any writer's story to the top of the pile.

Rating:
Summary: The Book on Writing a story
Review: What is the 1st commandment for every story writer? Keep the reader turning the pages. That's it! All other advice is architectual gingerbread. This book gives you many techniques to help keep readers reading your story. If that isn't enough information to make you realize this is the key book that will help you become a better story writer, then give it up now.