100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good look at writing
Review: "100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know" is one of those books that the title alone causes you to set your expectations low. Not being the thickest tome doesn't help the cause.

But what a surprise this pleasant little book is!

In a sea of writers' helps, this one carves a niche by not only being surprisingly comprehensive in the breadth of topics it addresses, but also densely packed with useful tips. And did I mention that it is also breezily written, so it is not a chore to wade through? Kudos to Scott Edelstein for writing such a fine book to help writers, while also simultaneously proving that it is possible to know the writing profession inside and out and STILL actually write well!

This book contains plenty of the typical writer's advice like getting through writer's block, fostering creativity, and such, but also discusses the spiritual aspects of writing, common myths of the profession, and even technical advice. Each of the one hundred tips of the trade runs little more than a couple pages (with major exceptions being a few of the glossary tips), so this is a book that can digested in spurts. Read a bit, put it down for a while, and then read some more later.

What makes this book, though, is Edelstein's welcoming writing style. Within a few pages, you feel like you know him and vice versa. He's the mentor all of us need.

Much more than expected. A worthy addition to your writing library.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good look at writing
Review: "100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know" is one of those books that the title alone causes you to set your expectations low. Not being the thickest tome doesn't help the cause.

But what a surprise this pleasant little book is!

In a sea of writers' helps, this one carves a niche by not only being surprisingly comprehensive in the breadth of topics it addresses, but also densely packed with useful tips. And did I mention that it is also breezily written, so it is not a chore to wade through? Kudos to Scott Edelstein for writing such a fine book to help writers, while also simultaneously proving that it is possible to know the writing profession inside and out and STILL actually write well!

This book contains plenty of the typical writer's advice like getting through writer's block, fostering creativity, and such, but also discusses the spiritual aspects of writing, common myths of the profession, and even technical advice. Each of the one hundred tips of the trade runs little more than a couple pages (with major exceptions being a few of the glossary tips), so this is a book that can digested in spurts. Read a bit, put it down for a while, and then read some more later.

What makes this book, though, is Edelstein's welcoming writing style. Within a few pages, you feel like you know him and vice versa. He's the mentor all of us need.

Much more than expected. A worthy addition to your writing library.

Rating:
Summary: an essential source of information for aspiring writers
Review: I am an aspiring writer and find this book very informative. Edelstein has a direct, no nonsense style of writing which should appeal to writers of all genres. A useful guide which I highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: An invaluable reference
Review: I checked this out of the library, renewed it-and now I am going to actually buy it-it really is that good. Scott Edelstein covers every aspect of the writing life and publishing game that you'd want to know about, and he does it in a clear and witty fashion. No patronizing here: he treats the reader as an equal( a refreshing quality)and as a confidant, turning a sometimes harsh light on many aspects of working as an author while also offering many nuggets of help and support. I don't think you could be better armed to write and publish than to read this book-unless you already have a number of professional authors as friends.

Rating:
Summary: I love how this book is set up!
Review: I love the short concise chapters--so zen. He gets to the point and doesn't let the reader forget why she started writing--for joy! For fun! He encourages; he makes us laugh. When I'm having a down day either writing new projects, or promoting my novel, "Forever Retro Blues," I love to pick this book up and just flip to a page. Inevitability, there is some priceless gem of advice that bolsters me.

Rating:
Summary: I love how this book is set up!
Review: I love the short concise chapters--so zen. He gets to the point and doesn't let the reader forget why she started writing--for joy! For fun! He encourages; he makes us laugh. When I'm having a down day either writing new projects, or promoting my novel, "Forever Retro Blues," I love to pick this book up and just flip to a page. Inevitability, there is some priceless gem of advice that bolsters me.

Rating:
Summary: 100 Things I Love About This Book
Review: I love this book because the author breaks with the ideas we were taught when we were learning how to write in grade school. Each chapter is short and easy to read, great for those of us that have just a little time to read and then go back to work. The author also assumes that every writer is different, which is true. After all we all come from different backgrounds and we each have our own style. I would recommend this book to anyone that is starting a career in writing, or someone that wants to know what it would be like, and someone that wants to know what to watch for when you are out there. I have to admit that I felt for one of the scams decribed by the author. It really opened my eyes.

Rating:
Summary: A Goldmine of Information...
Review: I've had this book for a while now, and have discovered it again among my many tomes. Definitely the book for beginner writers or those who wish to know a bit more about their passion. Edelstein writes very comfortable prose allowing for pleasurable reading, without having to unnecessarily strain one's cognitive matter. The information is mostly common sense, but as we humans are not known to have a lot of it (at least this member of the race) I find it positive that Edelstein has gotten it all in such a well-organized book. The prospective buyer will be pleased to find 100 short but concise "chapters" concerning, among other things:

- how to get an idea when starting or during difficult times while writing a piece. The "myth" of "writer's block" is also dealt with at length.

- how to organize your writing time, and a good deal on writing cycles one can naturally fall into. This includes what methods are useful in planning or mapping out a piece.

- how to make a living as a writer, and what options are open to us. The use and necessity (or not) of agents, professional critics, and publishers is also carefully dissected.

- what those many strange words (such as "novel", "novella" and "novelette") used in the writing business actually mean. This section also includes a brief description of words used to describe poetry. Quite useful as a quick reference, in my eyes.

Most of the advice concerns every type of writing, from poetry, (film/play) scripts and non-fiction. The above is of course only a partial list; I have only attempted to show some of the main points of Edelstein's wonderful work.

Of course, this book alone does not (and physically cannot) cover the topics presented extensively, but should rather be used as an index or overview of the writing craft. To delve deeper into such subjects as synopsis writing or how to structure one's novel, you should turn to such works as "Your Novel Proposal" by Blythe Camenson and the "How to write a damn good novel..." series from James N. Frey. As mentioned above this book is very commendable for the beginner writer and is the perfect stepping-stone. We all have to start somewhere, now don't we?

Rating:
Summary: My favorite writing book
Review: If I had to pick ONE THING in this whole book that I found was of value, it would be Chapter 10 beginning on page 16: "You Can Safely Ignore Most of the 'Have-To's' You've Been Taught About Writing."

He lists nearly every 'have to' in every writing book (and MOST of them have 'em):
You must write by hand.
You must write a certain amount of time/words/pages every day.
You must have a special place to write.
You must have a set writing schedule.
You must know how the piece will end before you start.
And so on.

I nearly stopped writing altogether trying to follow some of those "have-to's" in other books! It's great that some combination of those things work for *some* people, but Edelstein is the only author I've seen who truly recognizes that everyone's writing process is unique and that a large part of writing is discovering what works for YOU.

Definitely worth the money!

Rating:
Summary: My favorite writing book
Review: If I had to pick ONE THING in this whole book that I found was of value, it would be Chapter 10 beginning on page 16: "You Can Safely Ignore Most of the 'Have-To's' You've Been Taught About Writing."

He lists nearly every 'have to' in every writing book (and MOST of them have 'em):
You must write by hand.
You must write a certain amount of time/words/pages every day.
You must have a special place to write.
You must have a set writing schedule.
You must know how the piece will end before you start.
And so on.

I nearly stopped writing altogether trying to follow some of those "have-to's" in other books! It's great that some combination of those things work for *some* people, but Edelstein is the only author I've seen who truly recognizes that everyone's writing process is unique and that a large part of writing is discovering what works for YOU.

Definitely worth the money!