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Rating: 
Summary: More for the fantasy/horror writer than the SF writer
Review: Science fiction gets the short shrift in this treatment, and the essays that do address science fiction in particular are too superficial. The tone of the other essays I read before returning the book is more self-congratulatory than helpful.
Rating:
Summary: More for the fantasy/horror writer than the SF writer
Review: Science fiction gets the short shrift in this treatment, and the essays that do address science fiction in particular are too superficial. The tone of the other essays I read before returning the book is more self-congratulatory than helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of general...
Review: The book is the edited work of 26 writers, teachers and editors. The chapters are small, the details slim, the subjects bounce all over the place, and many of the rules and advice could be used by mystery or military writers. It was just too weak, telling me nothing that I couldn't guess at. If you want a solid piece of work about sci-fi/fantasy get the how-to-write books by Orson Scott Card. If you want just fantasy there are world building books by Gary Gygax. And if you want to learn about horror go to Stephen King. Go with the books that have the vision of one author, from the first page to the last.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellant
Review: THE book on genre writing. Filled with pertinent and insightful information. Features writing advice from the likes of Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Marion Zimmerman Bradley and Charles L. Grant. Buy it with Mort Castle's "Writing Horror" and Stanley Wiater's "Dark Thoughts On Writing". An inspirational book. Buy it you won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: The best how-to book ever written
Review: This is the best how-to book ever written. I got this book for Christmas back in 1989. I've read the chapter on how to write sword and sorcery fantasy many times. I highly recommend it to all aspiring authors. I want to tell those who are just starting out not to give up. However, if you're still unpublished ten years after you should have been, then consider it.
Rating: 
Summary: The parts that are good are excellent
Review: This wonderful book is easily the most helpful thing I've ever read for the horror author. In essence, it is a collection of essays from various writers about writing speculative fiction and dark fantasy, with chapters by the likes of Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch and Charles Grant. Much of the lessons do apply to Sci-Fi/Fantasy as well, although if that's your concentration I would recommend Orson Scott Card's "How to Write Science Fiction" before this.The book is a brisk read right up until the chapter on the psychology of horror fiction which, frankly, reads like it was written by a psychologist. It was boring, tedious and felt very out of place among so many good essays. The only other problem is the chapter at the end that supposedly helps you get published. While I'm sure it was quite helpful at the time it was written (in the mid-1980s), many of the publications it lists are now defunct and many of the practices have changed. It's not a bad section, it is simply past its time. Regardless, for those who want to learn how to write horror from those who have done it, this book is well worth reading.
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