Immediate Fiction : A Complete Writing Course

Rating:
Summary: A requisite for any aspiring writer
Review: A little over a year ago, I had a strange epiphany, if you will. I had this fantastical notion that I would be a writer - or TRY to be a writer - and that it would be the most cathartic, invigorating thing ever to happen to me. So what did I do, start writing? No, not quite. First of all, I renewed my interest in reading. (I read before this too, but not nearly as much as I knew I'd need to if I seriously wanted to write.) I read a lot, thinking that to be a good writer, the first and foremost thing one needed to do was be a good reader. (This was a great carefree period, in which I could keep deferring the inevitable process of actually SITTING DOWN TO WRITE for as long as I pleased; surprising how easy it is.) After about ten months of heavy-duty reading, I started getting these sudden unexpercted urges to write. I'd just be lying in bed late at night, a book facedown on my lap, and it would just strike me: I've got to write! I'd rush to my computer with all the alacrity of a six year old about to dive into a playpen, and then... absolutely nothing. I'd stare at the screen. I'd type a few paragraphs of whatever was in my head at the moment, then get stuck. I didn't understand what was wrong. How can a young guy like me who hasn't even begun writing be blocked? I decided I needed some guidance. I went on Amazon to see what kind of fiction-writing books were out there.

Luckily, I found a great one.

The points in Jerry Cleaver's Immediate Fiction are so clear and inspiring, it's hard to get dejected once you've read them. He gives the novice writer hope, saying that in the beginning it's inevitable that your writing will be bad, that you just need to chin up and move forward. The criteria he gives, as well as a checklist once you complete your stories and are rewriting (does it fulfill want, obstacle, action, etc.?) are so unbelievably helpful; I would never have guessed how encouraging it could be just to see the elemental precepts written so simply. I realized that my problem at the outset was that I lacked a fundamental knowledge of craft; that I was so preoccupied with the way my prose looked, I forgot the cardinal function of fiction: to tell an engaging story; that no matter how ornamental your prose is, you've got nothing without a strong story.

Inasmuch as this is the first and only FICTION composition book I've read, I can't compare and contrast it with others; however I find it hard to believe that other books of this nature could be much better. If you're entertaining hopes of one day becoming a serious writer, you owe it to yourself to read a fiction-writing book that isn't going to quell your aspirations, or tell you you're no good, and that you won't be good for a long time. You deserve this excellent, simplified gem, one which I will keep with me forever (along with Strunk and White's Elements of Style), and continually refer to.
Thank you Jerry Cleaver, for renewing my faith in myself, and showing me the basics with which to get started.

Rating:
Summary: On The Precipice Of Surrender
Review: And by that I mean I was really ready to throw in the towel--not only on writing but I think perhaps on everything. That's right, the whole kit and caboodle. No, come on I'm not saying I was suicidal and this book saved my life! However, I fear it's something close to that, and I'll tell you why. All the other writers writing about writing make it seem like such a mystery. So elusive and impossible I was sure I'd never get there, because I couldn't read the sign-posts (oh, I hope I'm not being overly metaphorical). But read this book and try to tell me I'm wrong: this is not vague and mysterious, but on the contrary--straightforward, and yes, to the point! I mean we'll see what happens, but at least for now--well, at least for now I have some hope. (Wish me luck, and God bless you, Jerry Cleaver!)

Rating:
Summary: Okay, So I'm Excited!
Review: Better than anything I've ever read before in the endless arena of how-to-write-a-book-books. Generally speaking I don't like to advocate violence, but most of the people who write these types of books should be, if not shot, then at least beaten. But not this guy, at least not in my opinion. Very helpful, and concise and I think I'd even like to go so far as to use the word groundbreaking. Read it for yourself, I'm not kidding. If you want to write, first read this!

Rating:
Summary: NO STOPPING ME NOW!
Review: For about eight years I have had a fabulous idea for a novel (which I shall not reveal here!) but I had no idea where to go from there. Really, no idea whatsoever. But now, yes now that I have read Jerry Cleaver's book IMMEDIATE FICTION, well, I'm sorry if I sound ridiculous, but there's simply no stopping me now. I mean as you can see I'm far from the greatest writer in the world, but as Mr. Cleaver says--who cares?! I'm going to be okay. And you too should make yourself familiar with such terms as want, obstacle, action, and sadistic license, etc. Please, give yourself at least a snowball's chance in, how shall I say this, H-E-double toothpicks. Sure you might write better than I do, but I bet you could still use some help.

Rating:
Summary: read noah lukeman's books instead
Review: Hey, look: Another book on writing with nothing new to say!

Get Lukeman's two books and, if you've got a spiritual streak in you, Brenda Ueland's 'If You Want to Write' as well.

Rating:
Summary: You Don't Nedd to Read This One
Review: I hate to buy those books in wich the autor starts with something like: "don't please yourself, please the readers." So I always read the Introductions before buying. This one passed that little test, it ellude me.

When I got it, I read it in two days. Is very funny, yes, that's why it got two stars on my review. But that's it... The book is just a very big motivation panphlet. It tells you how great you can be, the majestic writer you can become. It does not show you techniques or anything... Well, yes, it keeps saying "CONFLICT, CONFLICT." He thinks that a book full of conflict is a thriump. Points of view...? Plot...? Characters...? Scenes...? He says a little, but allways keeping it on "CONFLICT, RAISE THE CONFLICT." He says this damn thing in 20 or 30 different ways. At the end, you discover that writing is not all about conflict, and you will find great books like those of John Gardner that say: "maybe you can't be a writer if you don't know this or that..." It is hard on you, but is reality. I prefer that to someone saying: "if you can create enough conflict, you will be a great writer soon." That's the reason for all other reviews being so positive.

This is a book for the very very beginners at writing and at reading writing books. If it's your first, it will motivate you and that's it. If you have already read other books on the subject, skip this one, it will bring nothing new.

Rating:
Summary: THANK YOU JERRY CLEAVER
Review: I have been trying to write a murder mystery in the hopes of taking my mind off the fact that the president of my country is a war-profiteering retard, but I had no idea how hard it is to write well. I thought, hey, if all I wanna do is write another murder mystery and not some great, insightful literary novel, well how hard could that be, right? But I couldn't have been more wrong. Turns out that it's hard, hard, hard to write any good at all. But this particular author makes it a whole lot easier--by getting rid of the irrelevant advice often spewed out, and replacing it with solid, common sense wisdom. I could probably rave on for hours, but I'm dying to get back to the writing of my murder mystery (the writing of which Mr. Cleaver has managed to magically de-mystify).

Rating:
Summary: Take what you need and leave the rest
Review: I started this book, then I started working on a book of my own and read various others, now I'm back to finishing this one. With what I've learned since I first started it, I find it less impressive.

IMHO, he has some good ideas. The one I like the best is that of spending at least a tiny bit of time on what you are working on each day, to keep it fresh in your mind. The creative process tends to work well when it is given a problem and allowed to chew on it.

Other items seem more suspect to me. For example, he talks about spending just a bit of time writing each week, saying that is enough to produce about 300 pages, the length of a novel, in a year. Later he says that each novel takes about 5 rewrites. At that rate, it would take 5 years to produce a novel. Donald Mass, in _The Career Novelist_ says that to make a career as a novelist, one needs to publish often enough to have a new book come out while the previous one is still in print (and so available for sale) - 5 years is really too long between books. Using Cleaver's technique, a writer will probably not be able to make a career of writing novels. This is no problem if it isn't something you want, of course.

In the chapter on converting a short story into a novel, he suggests just adding more characters - the difference between a novel and a short story, he says, is more characters. Personally, I think the difference is more plot. My office has some 200 people that have some interation. That's a lot of characters, but hardly a novel!

He also suggests that new writers start with mysteries, rather than with what he calls an "internal" novel. His advice to avoid the internal novel to start may be well put, for those who desire publishing, but I can think of several other genres without strain.

He keeps making suggestions for things to write about - I'm afraid my thought is that if a person doesn't have any idea what they want to write about, why are they writing? Another suggestion for a place to look for ideas is the newspaper, it's full of stories that could be taken someplace.

On the plus side, he discusses the essence of storywriting - desire + obstacle = conflict - which is worth the focus.
He is selling a writing coach service, so his goal is to get people to write and to continue. I do believe that continuing is essential to success, but I don't recommend using this as the only source of ideas on how to write. It's worth reading and taking what works, but I would not use it as the only reference.

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT! EXCELLENT!
Review: I usually don't write reviews because of time issues, but I had to take the time to review this book. Not only is this book the best you can buy on the subject of fiction writing (I've read them all) but I believe it will become a classic in years to come. Mr. Cleaver makes writing so pleasureable and fun. He takes all of the fears and inhibitions you may have out of the art of writing. He makes you feel as though you REALLY CAN DO THIS! I've read so many books, only to feel discouraged after finishing them. What I like about Mr. Cleaver's teachings is he breaks it down into a few simple terms that are very easy to understand and follow. Simple and Easy. I highly recommend this book. I personally will never be without a copy. He teaches in a fun and interesting way, where you will not want to put the book down. He also has a workshop online that I highly recommend. MR. CLEAVER IS THE BEST IN HIS FIELD!!!

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book first!
Review: I've been writing seriously for about six years now and I'm married to a bestselling author. I've read countless writing books and most of them just reinforced what I already knew. They were helpful, but something was missing. Immediate Fiction fills in all the gaps and questions. I wish I had read this book first! Once you learn the tools Mr. Cleaver presents you'll stop wasting time and start writing. Now I'm excited about writing again. Pick up this book if you want to be a writer, you won't regret it.