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Basic Plot Guide
Out of Print
184 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2014
60 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 22, 2023
Not worth the time or money.
Read as: The Writer’s Guide to Characters, Plots, & Scenes 2022 Second Edition by S. A. Soule
Read for 'free' as a Kindle Unlimited title (and glad of it, I would be pissed if I'd paid money directly for it)
Not a particularly useful book. Major editing fails (eg. word-for-word repeated sentences and even paragraphs, often in the same section), which are particularly grating when the author *repeatedly* mentions she gives her books 10+ drafts and you should always have a critique partner (doesn't just apply to your fiction honey) and you should always hire an editior. No, your disclaimer and begging for tolerance at the beginning doesn't help things.
There was a lot of repeating the same advice in only minorly differently phrased ways. And not only for different sections in a chapter, but some chapters boiled down to the same advice as the previous one. Seriously, this thing could probably lose *at least* a third of the page count through proper editing and general tightening of thoughts and still get across everything here.
I know writing-help books like these are often (to an extent) an ad for the writer's other books and sometimes their additional writing-adjacent activities, but usually there's an attempt at a polite fiction that this isn't the case and/or this book is decently self-contained and complete. This one however has extremely blatant self-advertising for editing help right in the middle, complete with rates per hour and everything (which, you failed at editing this book pretty badly, why would I trust you with my manuscript?). Yeah fiction is different, but this is a long form ad for your skills and ... they're not looking so great.
The few examples from her own work used here were repeats from her other writer-help books, and didn't exactly highlight what she was trying to show here.
Some of her other writer-help books are ok (still simplistic and sometimes feeling more like an ad for her fiction, but at least the ratio of advice to page count is reasonable) but this one has little new to say and takes a lot of pages to say it. Not worth paying money for.
Read as: The Writer’s Guide to Characters, Plots, & Scenes 2022 Second Edition by S. A. Soule
Read for 'free' as a Kindle Unlimited title (and glad of it, I would be pissed if I'd paid money directly for it)
Not a particularly useful book. Major editing fails (eg. word-for-word repeated sentences and even paragraphs, often in the same section), which are particularly grating when the author *repeatedly* mentions she gives her books 10+ drafts and you should always have a critique partner (doesn't just apply to your fiction honey) and you should always hire an editior. No, your disclaimer and begging for tolerance at the beginning doesn't help things.
There was a lot of repeating the same advice in only minorly differently phrased ways. And not only for different sections in a chapter, but some chapters boiled down to the same advice as the previous one. Seriously, this thing could probably lose *at least* a third of the page count through proper editing and general tightening of thoughts and still get across everything here.
I know writing-help books like these are often (to an extent) an ad for the writer's other books and sometimes their additional writing-adjacent activities, but usually there's an attempt at a polite fiction that this isn't the case and/or this book is decently self-contained and complete. This one however has extremely blatant self-advertising for editing help right in the middle, complete with rates per hour and everything (which, you failed at editing this book pretty badly, why would I trust you with my manuscript?). Yeah fiction is different, but this is a long form ad for your skills and ... they're not looking so great.
The few examples from her own work used here were repeats from her other writer-help books, and didn't exactly highlight what she was trying to show here.
Some of her other writer-help books are ok (still simplistic and sometimes feeling more like an ad for her fiction, but at least the ratio of advice to page count is reasonable) but this one has little new to say and takes a lot of pages to say it. Not worth paying money for.
April 7, 2021
You want to know!
This book is full of useful information that you must apply to your writing. You must use the tips to better your crafts. Plotting your novel is essential to having complete story. You may have everything else in order, but plotting insures a good read. Plus she has great tips on editing, which makes your novel sell but is the hardest part of writing. A must have along with her other writing books.
This book is full of useful information that you must apply to your writing. You must use the tips to better your crafts. Plotting your novel is essential to having complete story. You may have everything else in order, but plotting insures a good read. Plus she has great tips on editing, which makes your novel sell but is the hardest part of writing. A must have along with her other writing books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews