Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print

by Lawrence Block

For years, readers have turned to Lawrence Block's novels for mesmerizing entertainment. And for years, writers have turns to Block's "Writing the Novel" for candid, conversational, practical advice on how to put a publishable novel on paper.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, How To, Language, Audiobook, Art

197 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Lawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess (oh, wretched excess!) of 100 books, and no end of short stories.

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.

His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.

LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.

Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.

LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.

Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.

LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)

LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.

He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel is a book about writing by the legendary Lawrence Block.

Lawrence Block sent me this in an email a couple weeks ago, asking me if I was interested in reviewing his upcoming book about writing. Once I changed into pants that weren't as soaked in my urine, I eagerly agreed to read and review it before getting stuck in the holiday quagmire.

I've often said that reading a book about writing is like asking a psychic for lottery numbers. If they can already predict the winning numbers, why are they offering them to me? However, Lawrence Block clearly has had the winning lottery numbers in his pocket for years and his books on writing are the only ones I take seriously.

This particular volume, WTNFPTPTP, is a revised, expanded, and cybernetic version of his writing book from yesteryear, Writing the Novel from Plot to Print. Instead of taking the lazy route and changing references to typewriters and the library to computers and the internet, present day Block tacks his thoughts on the end of his past-self's chapters. After all, the man has learned a thing or two in the decades that have passed since writing the original version of this book.

In addition to old reliable topics like developing plots and characters, rewriting, developing your style, and breaking into the business, Block also addresses the increasingly important topics of self-publishing and all the pros and cons that go with it.

If you're looking for a new book on writing, this is it. The odds are good that none of us are going to be the next Stephen King but Lawrence Block gives you enough tips to at least get a book written, if not published. The man is responsible for the Matthew Scudder series and once wrote a porno novel over a weekend so clearly knows his stuff. Four out of five stars.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in 1978, Lawrence Block released a book detailing his advice for prospective novelists. Now, nearly forty years later, while much of the material is still relevant, Block decided to add and expand the text with the digital world in mind. Now dubbed, “Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print to Pixel”, Block’s gives important information for both amateur and professional authors alike by offering guidance in moving through the fields of writing and publication.

I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This marks only the second book I’ve read to date about writing - the first being Stephen King’s On Writing - and just like King’s, Block’s tips mirror those of several other authors whose advice I’ve taken in: you have to write for yourself first and most importantly, there’s no ONE way to approach the craft.

Applying the lessons within Writing the Novel isn’t like picking up a cookbook and producing a perfect meal, but rather taking what’s offered and using it to form your own routine, your own method of attack when it comes to forming a story. When it comes to the sections on both seeking publication as well as approaching self-publishing, the direction offered is invaluable. Block knows both worlds well and it shows in the details he offers up regarding the pros and cons of each option.

Being a prospective writer myself, I found this book informative and would recommend it to anyone looking to venture into the literary world. It’s given me renewed interest and has me eager to apply what I’ve learned.

[Ayz · Rating 5 out of 5]

maybe the only writing book you’ll ever need to get started on your novel.

updated in 2015 by lawrence block.

[ياسمين Thabet · Rating 3 out of 5]

كاتب هذا الكتاب هو لورانس بلوك...ومترجمه صبري محمد حسن
من المضحك ان تجد المؤلف في سطور في اخر الكتاب لتجد معلومات عن المترجم وليس المؤلف!

هو امر استغربته كثيرا في الكتاب


هذا الكتاب ليس مفيدا للكاتب من الناحية التقنية...لكنه يشبه كاتب اكثر خبرة يجلس معك في مكان ما ويعطيك من وقته ساعة او اثنتان لتساله كل ما يجول بخاطرك ككاتب في بداية مشوارك

في بداية الكتاب مقدمة من حوالي 34 صفحة بقلم المترجم نفسه وهي من اسخف المقدمات التي قراتها يفضل للقارئ ان يتجاوزها حتى لا يمل قبل ان يبدا الكتاب


يقسم لورانس الكتاب الى 15 عشر فصل كل فصل يجيب فيه الكاتب على سؤال مهم قد يجول بذهن الكاتب

اعجبني جدا تقسيم الفصول وترتيبها ...

يبدا الكاتب من لماذا نكتب الرواية يتحدث فيه عن الفرق بين كتابة الرواية والقصص القصيرة
الفصل الثاني يتحدث عن اختيار نوعية الرواية...وهل بالضرورة النوع الذي تقراه هو النوع الذي يجب ان تكتب فيه
الفصل الثالث يتحدث عن قراءة الكاتب لبعض الاعمال الروائية وتفكيكها ومحاولة فهم كيف كتبت
الرابع يتحدث عن الحبكة وكيف تنمو في ذهن الكاتب وكيف يتم صياغتها والوصول اليها
في الفصل الخامس يتحدث عن الشخصيا
والسادس عن عمل مخطط للرواية قبل البدء فيها وهل هذا شرط لكتابة عمل جيد
الفصل السابع هو كيفية استعمال خبرات الكاتب في حياته في كتبه
والثامن يتحدث عن بداية الرواية وكيف يفتتح الكاتب روايته
الفصل التاسع عن كتابة الرواية نفسها وكيف ان لكل كاتب طريقته والانتظام في الكتابة
الفصل العاشر يتحدث عن العقبات في الرواية التي قد توقف الكاتب او حتى العقبات الذهنية التي تحبط الكاتب
الحادي عشر يتحدث عن اسلوب الكتابة والاساليب المتعددة في الكتابة وكيف يعيش الكاتب طوال حياته يكتشف الطريقة المناسبة او الاسلوب المناسب له للكتابة اي ان كل كاتب له اسلوبه
الفصل الثاني عشر يتحدث عن طول او قصر الرواية وتأثيرها على النشر
الفصل الثالث عشر يتحدث عن تعديلات الرواية واعادة صياغة بعض الصفحات
الرابع عشر يتحدث عن النشر ومشاكله وهو فصل بعيد قليلا عن طرق النشر في الوطن العربي
الفصل الاخير عن بدء رواية جديدة


نعم عنواين الفصول وموضوعاتها هي كل ما يجول في ذهن الكاتب تقريبا ولكن فليحذر الكاتب فليس هناك اجابة شافية على هذه الاسئلة في الفصول...يتجلس الكاتب في كل فصل ليحكي لك ماذا حدث مع هذا وذاك ويصل بك في معظم الاحيان الى الاجابة النموذجية ان كل كاتب وله طريقة تناسبه....لا يفرض عليك قانون ولا يعطيك سوى اجابة واحدة اكتشف ما يصلح لك كشخصية وما يصلح لروايتك


هو كتاب لا بأس به لا اعتبر انه افادني بقدر ما اشعرني بوجود شخص يؤازرني ويشجعني ويؤكد على افكاري

لكنه لم يعطني الجديد

[زكرياء · Rating 5 out of 5]

"لا أريد الهرب من أشياء تستحق القراءة"
إنها الجملة الختامية لهذا الكتاب

النوع: كتاب غير روائي/ كتابة إبداعية / تجربة شخصية /نصائح

الجميل في هذا الكتاب أنه ليس أكاديميًا ولكن يغلب عليه طابع المذكرات مما يخفف من شعوري بالوحدة. لأن الكاتب يعبر عن أشياء أحس بها وتجعلني قلبي يشعر بالدفء في الوقت الذي أكتب فيه وحيدًا وحزينًا محاولًا أن أشعر بالثقة الكافية وأن أمنح لنفسي الإعتراف الأدبي الذي أستحقه وأن أنسى الكثير من الأشياء المحبطة في محيطي الاجتماعي
إنه محق حينما يقول أن فكرة الكتابة تستحوذ علينا وأنه في البداية لا نعرف بالضرورة ماذا نريد أن نكتب ولكن نريد فقط أن نكتب. إنه محق. أشعر أنه يجب أن أكتب أكثر وأن أحكي قصصي بطريقتي
الكتاب غني بالمعلومات المهمة والنصائح الكثير من كاتب روائي ناجح ومشهور كتب أكثر من مائة رواية وأرشحه لجميع الكتاب المبتدئين... أمنحه 5 نجوم وأتمنى أن أعيد قراءته مستقبلًا وأن أقرأ روايات هذا الكاتب وبكل تأكيد على كتابه خصوصًا أنني شعرت بالرغبة الصادقة في تقديم المساعدة بطرق مختلفة فهو لا يتوقف عن عمل أمثلة وشروحات وحوارات وحتى اقتراحات ويقدم لك آراءه بكل صدق وتجربته الشخصية كيفما كانت مختلفة عن تجربة الآخرين

المهم في هذا الكتاب أنه غير معقد ولا يغرق في المصطلحات الأكاديمية كما أن فكرة الكاتب الرئيسية أن لكل كاتب طريقته في كتابة الرواية لأن الأمر خاص بالتجربة الذاتية لكل شخص.. بالتالي الصواب والخطأ لهما معنى نسبي في الكتابة الإبداعية وهذا يعني أن ما يصلح لك قد لا يصلح لي والعكس صحيح...وبكلمات أخرى: يمكنك أن تطبق القوانين ولكن جرب أشياء مختلفة حتى تجد صوتك ولغتك وأسلوبك الخاص.. أهم شيء أن تستمتع وأن تكون نفسك

لا يمكنني أن أذكر النصائح والمعلومات الموجودة في الكتاب لأنها كثيرة جدا ولهذا أشجعك على قراءة الكتاب
إنه مهم جدا
وعملي
ومفيد

[J.F. Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic to read tips from a writer who has worked so long in the business. I have pages of notes

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm in a strange place regarding writing manuals right now because I've read an obscene amount of them, gained good knowledge of their basics and yet it got me nowhere. There is a lot of material that Lawrence Block goes over that I was already familiar with, but he did teach me a couple things: novels are naturally looser than short stories stylistically, beginning and ending a novel properly is key to its "sellability" and first and foremost, I am not alone in the struggle. Several others face the same roadblocks as me.

WRITING THE NOVEL reads as much as a manual as it reads like a literary memoir. It is also a book that any writer can pick and relate to, really as it discusses the writing process from its most conceptual stage to publication. Much more conceptual than your run-of-the-mill writing manual, lot more pleasant to read too. Of course it has its limitations as no writing manual will ever write a novel for you and you eventually need to write the damn book, but it's an option I would recommend if you're looking for guidance.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm interested in reading therefore it only makes sense to me that I should be interested in writing too. Not that I have any plans on writing but I believe knowing some more about the craft of writing while deepen my appreciation for what I read. This book was very informative about the process as it was in the late 1970s, while tastes and tech have changed the basic process of creative writing remains the same. Brain dreams up great idea, record the idea into a novel.
For me the most interesting chapter was Chapter 3 Read Study Anyalyze, it tells ways in which to break up an existing novel into its parts through an outline.

If you're interested in becoming a novelist you could get advice from worse authors then Block who's had a long career as a novelist.

[Marne - Reader By the Water · Rating 3 out of 5]

Block is a prolific author and his book of writing advice speaks to his years of experience (and hundreds of published books). Once you got past the fact that he was typing everything...on paper...all the other guidance was timeless. His examples and metaphors were awesome and his insights were helpful. It was very much written in the "I don't know what's going to work for you, but this worked for me. Have at it." tone.

Written in 1979 (!) I was struck by this insight in particular. "Openings are important. In a more leisurely world - a couple of centuries ago, say - the novelist had things pretty much to himself. There was no competition from radio and television, nor were there many other novelists around. The form was new. Furthermore, life as a whole moved at a gentler pace. There were no cars, let alone moon rockets. One took one's time and one expected others to take their time - in life and in print. Accordingly, a novel could move off sedately ... Things are different now. Novels, crowded together like subway riders at rush hour, stand on tiptoe shouting 'Read me! Read me!' ... the reader expects a book to catch his interest right away; if it doesn't, it's the easiest thing in the world for him to reach for another."

He hits the nail right on the head, doesn't he? So often I pass a book by because the Kindle sample didn't grab me. When we read books from "a more leisurely world" (I'm looking at you, Tolstoy), we find ourselves flummoxed by all the characters and loooooong descriptions.

We've been spoiled by a plethora of good books. #GoodProblemToHave

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but I think Telling Lies for Fun & Profit is better and would recommend reading that instead.

[Demetri Papadimitropoulos · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Writing the Novel” is the sort of book that seems, at first glance, almost too modest to be as consequential as it is. Lawrence Block does not arrive with a manifesto. He does not offer a single governing system with a proprietary name. He does not promise that you will “unlock your authentic voice” or “discover your story’s true purpose” in ten electrifying steps. Instead, he sits down, clears his throat, and talks to you like a working writer who has spent a long time doing the work and has no patience left for superstition. The tone is plain, friendly, faintly skeptical of melodrama. It is also, for certain kinds of writers, exactly the tone that makes a craft book feel less like instruction and more like permission.

Block’s great advantage is that he does not confuse the novel with an altar. He treats it like a job. Not a soulless job, not a cynical job, but a job in the adult sense: you show up, you do what must be done, you find ways to keep going when you would rather not, and you accept that the work has days when it feels effortless and days when it feels like moving furniture alone. He does not scold the reader for wanting the work to feel magical. He simply refuses to build his advice on magic. That refusal becomes, gradually, a kind of moral stance. It says: you are not defective because your confidence wobbles, because your middle sags, because your first chapter embarrasses you, because you rewrite the same scene three times and still don’t know if it’s right. You are a writer because those are the conditions in which writing actually happens.

What makes “Writing the Novel” quietly persuasive is that its rhetoric is inseparable from its method. The book reads the way it instructs: direct, economical, attentive to forward motion. Block’s sentences are not trying to be pretty. They are trying to be useful. That usefulness, when sustained over an entire book, becomes a kind of style in itself. Many writing manuals ask you to embrace clarity while their own prose swirls with abstractions. Block shows you what clarity looks like when it is not merely an aspiration but a habit. He does not romanticize the reader’s confusion. He does not fetishize opacity. He aims to be understood, and because he aims so consistently, the reader begins to feel a steadier kind of confidence: not the confidence of genius, but the confidence of steps that can be taken.

The architecture of the book is also a kind of argument. Block proceeds in a sequence that mirrors the lived experience of writing a novel, rather than the fantasy of it. He begins with motive and temperament, not with plot diagrams. He asks why one would write a novel at all, then how one chooses which novel to write, then how one learns by reading, then how one develops plot and character, then how one approaches outlining, then how one starts, continues, gets stuck, revises, and finally faces the separate, indifferent world of publication. By the time he reaches the end, the book has done something more substantial than teach techniques. It has demythologized the process. It has made the project feel less like a single heroic leap and more like a series of decisions you can keep making.

Block is particularly good at identifying the places where writers mistake emotion for information. The fear that rises in the middle of a draft is not proof that the draft is doomed. The boredom that arrives after the first rush is not proof that the idea was bad. The urge to tinker with the first page for two weeks is not proof that you are “committed to excellence.” These feelings are real, and Block does not deny them, but he treats them as weather, not prophecy. The cure he offers is rarely grand. It is usually practical. Narrow the focus. Write today’s page. Solve the immediate problem instead of imagining the final judgment.

One of the most bracing aspects of “Writing the Novel” is its refusal to flatter the writer’s self-image. Block is not interested in the writer as a tortured saint, nor as an endlessly misunderstood visionary. He is interested in the writer as someone who either writes or does not. This can sound harsh until you notice the tenderness beneath it. By stripping away the mythology, Block lowers the stakes in the right way. If writing is a sacred performance, then every wobble feels like blasphemy. If writing is work, then difficulties are not personal indictments. They are part of the job, and jobs can be learned.

The early chapters contain a quiet corrective to a common misconception: that the short story is the only legitimate apprenticeship for the novel. Block does not dismiss short fiction, but he does not fetishize it either. He observes, with a working writer’s sobriety, that the novel is not merely longer. It is a different endurance test, and one that many writers postpone because they assume they must earn the right to attempt it. Block’s emphasis is not on rightness but on practicality. If you want to write novels, you must write one. If you want the skills a novel demands, you must subject yourself to the process that develops them. That insistence feels almost old-fashioned, and perhaps it is, but it also feels like one of the book’s hidden strengths: it treats craft as something you acquire by doing, not by announcing.

When Block turns to the question of what kind of novel to write, his advice is both pragmatic and psychologically shrewd. He encourages a form of self-recognition that is rarer than it should be. Instead of urging the reader to chase prestige, he urges the reader to notice what they actually read, what they actually love, what they return to when they are not trying to impress anyone. He is especially alert to the way writers can sabotage themselves by choosing material that flatters their imagined identity rather than their real appetites. There is a steadiness in this counsel. It suggests that success is less about discovering a grand, original premise than about finding an arena in which your interest can sustain itself long enough to finish a draft.

His chapter on reading as study is, in its own understated way, one of the book’s sharpest. Block insists that a writer’s education is not primarily theoretical. It is anatomical. You learn by taking books apart. You outline them. You track the timing of scenes. You notice how information is withheld, how tension is refreshed, how a chapter ends so you keep going. This is not glamorous advice, and that is partly why it works. It treats the novel as a made thing, not a holy thing. It makes craft visible, which means it makes craft possible.

Block’s approach to plot and character follows from this same demystifying impulse. He does not hand you a formula and call it structure. He talks about consequences. He talks about pressure. He talks about how a story gains momentum when characters want things, make choices, and pay for those choices. The character chapter, in particular, resists the current temptation to turn human beings into spreadsheets. Block is suspicious of elaborate backstory that exists mostly to make the writer feel industrious. He is more interested in what a character does, what they refuse, what they cannot quite admit, and how those limits create story. This is an approach that aligns with a certain tradition of American narrative craft, where the novel is built less from philosophical statement than from accumulated action. It may frustrate writers who want a more overtly aesthetic or experimental framework, but it is consistent, and it is honest about its priorities.

The chapter on outlining is where Block’s temperament becomes especially clear. He refuses to treat outlines as moral decisions. He knows that some writers are energized by maps and others are suffocated by them. His key point is not that you must outline, but that you must have some method of avoiding the most common catastrophe: writing yourself into a dead end and abandoning the book out of despair. He allows for looseness. He allows for discovery. He allows for changing your mind. The outline, in his view, is not a prison but a flashlight. If it helps you see, use it. If it blinds you, put it down.

The middle chapters, on starting and continuing, offer the kind of counsel that is easy to nod at and harder to live. Block is not the first writer to say that the first sentence doesn’t need to be perfect. What distinguishes him is the way he ties that point to a larger ethic. If you treat the beginning as a sacred performance, you will never get past it. If you accept that beginnings can be rewritten, that you can write into the book, that the true opening may only reveal itself once the draft exists, then you give yourself a fighting chance at momentum. Momentum is Block’s recurring value. Not speed, not haste, but forward motion. He treats it as the writer’s most precious resource, because momentum is what carries you through the inevitable periods when inspiration evaporates.

“Getting It Written” may be the book’s most quietly necessary chapter. It is, in essence, an argument that discipline is not a personality trait but a practice. Block does not fetishize suffering, but he does not pretend the work will always feel good. He encourages modest daily goals. He emphasizes returning to the desk. He is not offering a productivity hack. He is offering a way of thinking that reduces drama and increases the likelihood of completion. This is the kind of advice that can feel unromantic until you realize how many novels are abandoned not for lack of talent, but for lack of a method of returning when the initial thrill disappears.

When the book reaches “Snags, Dead Ends and False Trails,” Block’s experience is palpable. He understands the specific panic of the stalled draft, the moment when you feel the story has gone dull and you begin to suspect you are not, in fact, a writer. His response is diagnostic. Not everything is a catastrophe. Some problems are small and local. Others require backtracking. Still others require admitting that a clever detour is draining the book of its power. Block’s insistence on naming the problem before reacting to it is one of the most practically valuable elements of the book. It encourages the writer to treat difficulty as information, not shame.

“Matters of Style” is the chapter where Block’s aesthetic commitments are most visible, and therefore most debatable. He privileges clarity. He privileges prose that disappears. He distrusts showiness. He is not against beauty, but he is suspicious of sentences that draw attention away from story. In a literary moment that often rewards surface flourish, this can feel almost contrarian. Yet Block is not arguing for blandness. He is arguing for frictionless storytelling. The reader should not be stopped by the prose unless stopping is the point. This is a philosophy that will appeal to writers who care about narrative immersion, and it may frustrate writers who want language to be the main event. Still, it is coherent, and it is grounded in the reader’s experience rather than the writer’s vanity.

The chapters on length and rewriting continue this ethic of proportion and utility. Block warns against treating length as significance, against padding, against mistaking sheer volume for seriousness. Rewriting, for him, is where the book becomes deliberate. He urges the writer to solve structural problems before polishing sentences, to cut what doesn’t serve, to resist endless tinkering that sandpapers the life out of the draft. His emphasis is not on perfection but on readiness. At some point, the book must be allowed to exist with its flaws, because the alternative is a kind of paralysis disguised as devotion.

The publishing chapter is where the book’s age becomes most apparent, though its emotional insights remain sturdy. Block draws a bright line between writing and publishing, and he refuses to treat publication as a moral verdict. He understands rejection as routine, often impersonal, and sometimes simply unlucky. His stance is neither bitter nor naive. It is, again, adult. Publishing is business. Writing is art. Confusing the two leads to misery. This chapter may require a modern reader to translate certain specifics, but the underlying lesson remains: if you allow external outcomes to determine whether you continue, you are building your writing life on an unstable foundation.

The final chapter, “Doing It Again,” closes the book with a kind of quiet challenge. Block does not promise that the next book will be easier. He suggests it may be hard in a different way. What changes, ideally, is your relationship to the difficulty. You learn that fear is not proof. You learn that confusion is survivable. You learn that finishing is a skill. The novelist, in Block’s view, is not the person who writes a novel once. It is the person who returns to the desk and begins again.

So what is “Writing the Novel,” finally? It is not a dazzling book. It is not a radical book. It is not, in the fashionable sense, a book of disruption. It is a steady book, and steadiness is an undervalued virtue. Block’s counsel is conservative in the best meaning of the word: it conserves the writer’s energy, protects the writer from self-inflicted sabotage, and emphasizes practices that can sustain a long career rather than a single burst of ambition.

Its limitations follow from those same virtues. Writers seeking a craft book that celebrates formal rupture, linguistic risk, or the novel as a laboratory of style may find Block’s approach too anchored in story, clarity, and readerly momentum. He is a pragmatist. He assumes, often rightly, that the biggest obstacle is not that the writer lacks genius but that the writer cannot finish. His book is designed to address that obstacle. If your obstacle is different, you may want another companion.

But for the writer who wants to work, to finish, to learn the habits that make finishing possible, “Writing the Novel” offers something rare: authority without swagger, encouragement without sentimentality, technique without fetish. It reads like a conversation with someone who has done the job long enough to know where the traps are, and kind enough to point them out without turning your struggle into theater. Taken on those terms, “Writing the Novel” earns a single, considered assessment of 82 out of 100.

[Jen Appell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took this book out of the library to prep my writing for nanowrimo '12, but unfortunately this book wasn't that helpful. It wasn't written as a guide like the title suggests. It's just straight text with no exercises and the tips were usually obvious. Also, a lot of his ideas were biased and often discredited other opinions. It wasn't really helpful, more like an autobiography of how he wrote his books.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

"... it's my contention that the beginner at fiction ought to focus his attention on the novel not sooner or later but right away. The novel, I submit, is not merely the ultimate goal. It is also the place to start."

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was one of the better books on novel writing. It gives a lot of emphasis on how to dissect other writers works and shows the building blocks of good fiction.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of outdated advice (acknowledged by block in an afterward), simply due to the nature of the changing world (PCs vs typerwriters etc), but there's still a decent amount of good stuff in here.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff.

[Craig Childs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Lawrence Block's original book about the craft of writing, which has been in print continually since 1979. At just under 200 pages, it is full of nuts-and-bolts straight-to-the-point advice on all sorts of questions novice authors deal with: Should I write novels or short stories? How do I outline? Should I write multiple drafts or revise as I go? Should I write in first person or third person? When should I hire an agent?

Block is always practical and draws from over twenty years of experience.

Even though I do not currently have aspirations to write my own novel, this book is still full of fascinating anecdotes from Block's career. He talks about how he created his most popular characters--Evan Tanner, Matt Scudder, Bernie Rhodenbarr--and the challenges they presented. He discusses his early career writing sex novels under pseudonyms.

The truth is Block is such a good conversationalist (at least in print), it probably does not matter the subject. I'd listen to him expound on just about any subject.

While most of the content is timeless, a few chapters do show their age. I had to google many of the authors used in his examples: Harry Crews? Brian Garfield? Dorothy Daniels? (I knew John Updike, John O'Hara, John Cheever, and Evan Hunter, but only because I am 44 years old. I bet most 30 year olds would have never heard of them.)

Chapter 13 on rewriting is very interesting--all the different approaches available--but some of the recommendations are dated because they are rooted in typewriter technology (it's crazy to think of having to retype entire pages just to move a paragraph or scene).

The chapter on publishing is hopelessly out of date. I am sure this was the primary reason Block wrote a second edition in 2015 to cover self-publishing and e-books.

The best thing about this book is that it was such a bestseller it convinced Writer's Digest to keep Block on as a monthly columnist for 14 years. Every topic in this book is eventually expanded upon in those columns, which have also been collected in four volumes.

[Dr. Block · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was written in a conversational style, as though you were grabbing a coffee with Mr. Block (no relation to me, by the way) and he was dispensing his wisdom to you.

The thing about most writing advice books is that they all generally contain good advice, but unless you've written several books already, you aren't sure which bits will work for you and, thus, what you are reading can be overwhelming. As someone who has now written a good many books, I am able to find those useful bits or at least wonder if certain bits might actually work for me. I am also able to recognize the bits which will absolutely NOT work for me since I've either tried it before or know my writing process well enough to understand System X just ain't for me. For example, my favorite chapter was the chapter about rewriting because of Block's thoughts about rewriting; basically, do as little of it as possible.

The best thing about WRITING THE NOVEL is that it was published in 1979, before the computer and word processing revolution, before all the digital writing tools and courses and etc. Why is this good? Because the book is strictly about the process of imagining and then writing a novel. Block doesn't need to waste any time talking about this computer program, or that writing tool. His advice is all very general but with specific examples from his career and the careers of other writers.

This book has absolutely nothing in it about self-publishing, because self-publishing wasn't an option in 1979.

Who should read this book? Anyone with designs on becoming a novelist should read it. (There are some good anecdotes about Block's life as a noob writer.) Anyone who has written a few novels, regardless of whether they have been published. Any self-published authors who are seeking to "up their game" or move into the traditional publishing world. (There are a couple of chapters about old school trad pub that are interesting.)

[Hamelin Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently Lawrence Block has written around four books about writing—and actually, two of those (Telling Lies For Fun and Profit and Spider, Spin Me a Web) are collections of his monthly Writer’s Digest columns. This was his first, though, from 1979, when only the first three Matthew Scudder novels had been published.

This is probably one of the best books on novel writing I have read. Even being as old as it is, it touches on things either other books don’t, or I just don’t remember them touching on—like research and writing faraway settings, and the extent to which they are or are not based in reality. This book gets pretty nuts-and-bolts, which I like, and touches on the more “mystical” aspects of writing (like the role of the subconscious) with a good degree of sanity. He goes into Outlines. He talks about Character Development in a pretty cool way, even citing Spinner Jablon from Time to Murder and Create.

I could go on and on with examples, but here’s the facts: Block is an experienced novelist, he’s successful (which qualifies him for somebody I’d want to hear speak about novel writing in the first place), and he goes through this book citing his own background and experience, as well as his own works. He has his opinions, but something I love about Block’s approach to teaching writing is his appeal that there is no right way to do it—or, more specifically, there is no wrong way. There are only ways that work for you and ways that don’t. It’s personal.

All the same, I like hearing what Larry Block has to say about it.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't really a how to book on write novels. It's more like Lawrence Block chatting about how he wrote novels. Which is okay because it felt like an experienced person talking to me, giving me a little background on his oldest pulp novels he had to bang out every two weeks to make a living, up through his more respectable work.

Here's the thing, though, why it may not help you, although he is a friendly guide. This was written before home computers, before the internet, before editors and agents did all their work online. There is a lot of advice on typing and mailing, and sending letters to agents. Just isn't going to happen any more.

I bought this as a used book for a buck, and it's an okay book for a dollar. But, if you want up-to-date information on writing and selling, this isn't the one for you.

[Chris Norbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid writing book, albeit dated (1979). Good general advice about writing a novel, but the marketing and publishing chapters are no longer relevant in today's world, other than the agent-to-publisher route is still what most writers aspire to even though it only works the "old-fashioned way" for the top tier of bestselling authors.

Block writes engagingly, with numerous anecdotes and illustrations of his points using his own work and a few works of other authors. Worth a read for the historical perspective of how the writing biz has changed in 46 years.

[Lee Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've got several of Block’s books on writing, because I love his Keller and Bernie series and trust a man who has written as many books as he has to have something useful to say to the aspiring novelist. This newer book has much to say that is relevant to me, and I found it definitely worth my time reading and re-reading his essays on length and outlining. I've used various ideas and tips I've found in this and his other books to great effect.

[Julian Grant]

LB continues to shine

One of the best writers of mystery/ crime fiction and a helluva teacher and guru. What’s great about LB is he knows he isn’t curing cancer - but he is making a huge difference when it comes to providing the inspiration and the stories all writers can benefit from. As a longtime reader and now fledgling author, I can say this book is a classic and essential for all the right reasons. Thank you.

[Nutsa Khamkhadze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of what was written here I already knew from writing advice videos and Sanderson's lectures and even though I found this book a bit too overwritten in some aspects, there were some really good nuggets that I'm gonna try to incorporate in my own writing routine, like trying to keep a steady pace instead of overworking myself for a couple of days and having to deal with the burnt-out for the next week.

[chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

really impressed with this. had some amazing insight from a very well known author, even updated (2015) to include not only the writing part of storytelling but also the publishing and self-publishing part. I'd recommend this book to writers and aspiring writers way more than the Stephen King "On Writing" (not a huge hit for me) that some people are so enamored with.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most of contents talked about his books and his own opinion, and how the writer worked. Some skills of concepts are useful for the beginning only including how to learn from other's fiction, and keep writing if you are fancy to be a fiction writer, and so on. Only a few chapters are really talking about the writing skills. Plus, some information are really old.

[Stiltzkin Vanserine · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a career that spans 6 decades, Lawrence Block provides useful information and advice in this book, not just on the craft writing (e.g., choosing PoVs, creating outlines, and building one's style) but also on the business side of getting published. It is a great companion to Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and Sol Stein's Stein on Writing.

[Canuck Mom of Three · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was some good advice in this book, but no major revelations. All writing guide books start to sound the same after a while, and this one is among the mass of indistinguishable how-tos that all rehash the same advice. Save your money.

[ياسمين خليفة · Rating 3 out of 5]

ترجمة الكتاب ليست جيدة والمعلومات الواردة فيه مكررة بالنسبة لي
لكن هناك معلومات وتقنيات اخرى استفدت منها
هناك كتاب آخر لنفس المؤلف قرأته من سنوات عديدة عن كتابة الرواية وبلا شك هو أفضل من هذا الكتاب

[Kirti Vyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little something for every part of the author’s journey!

Some of it is dated, as the author has had the foresight to caution the reader, and some amazing nuggets of wisdom in the last few chapters.