The Fiction Writer's Toolkit

by Bob Mayer

From the first, original idea you have for your novel, through writing your manuscript, to the book on the shelf in the bookstore and making a career out of writing novels, the Fiction Writer's Toolkit takes the reader on the entire creative journey in a very practical manner. This book was written over the course of ten years as the author went from newly published to multiple best-selling novelist under several pen names. Topics covered range from idea into story, point of view, where to start the novel, characters, submissions and queries, getting an agent, staying alive in the publishing business and dozens of others, all approached in a straight-forward and usable manner. This book lays out all the tools available to the writer and discusses their advantages and disadvantages so that the reader can master the craft of novel writing in his or her own unique way.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Besides my own interests, I read whatever my wife tells me to read-- she's a voracious reader and has wide-ranging tastes as my reviews show (she also always has the TV remote and she's always right about what to watch). I read a lot of nonfiction, mostly for research. Some of my favorite books are Lonesome Dove, Mystic River, LOTR, and an array of science fiction classics including the Foundation series. Our house is covered with books, although I finally broke down and started reading eBooks, strangely enough on my iPhone. Since I carry it pretty much everywhere, it means I always have an entire library of books with me.

I'm a West Point graduate, former Green Beret and a New York Times Bestselling Author. I've sold over five million books. My newest series begins with New York Minute, a thriller set in New York City in 1977.

I love using history and science in my books. My Area 51 series pretty much had me rewriting our entire history of civilization.

Reviews

[Ayesha Fayyaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

He advertises his book 'Write it forward' more and guides less reagarding writing novels. Kinda deceiving audience by writing this book. I wrote its revised edition. He told some really good tips; but very few!

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some good advice, but most of it is recycled and bravado. He spends fourteen hours per day on writing or tasks related to it?

[Shannon Donnelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of this I've had from other books, but a refresher course is always good. For a writer just starting out, this is a very good guide.

[Eduardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

“If you desire to write a novel because you want to have a bestseller and make a bundle of money, my advice for you is to play the lottery; it will take much less time and your odds will be about the same, if not better, and I can guarantee that the work involved will be much less.”
—

You would not expect, from that cover, that the author writes military novels and science-fiction.

This is an odd sort of writing advice book. For starters, it was published in 2001, meaning that while the advice includes some tips about the Internet (and some surprisingly accurate predictions about personal computers, devices, and Amazon’s self-publishing), some of it doesn’t feel quite modern. There are very specific instructions on how to print out manuscripts to share and submit, though from what I can tell, a lot of that is done online.

Still, it does have a lot of good advice, though it feels oddly formatted. The author admitted that he wrote this over the course of several years and added wherever he thought he needed to. Mayer makes a point that you don’t have to follow strict rules on everything, and that ‘always’ and ‘never’ are not words to be used lightly. Still, he backs up his claims with his own experience and those of other writers he knows, making him come across as pretty credible when he says something is or isn’t likely to work.

Also! He doesn’t disparage genre fiction. At least, not intentionally. He does seem to think “literary” fiction, when done well, is better, but that most people trying to write it aren’t that good. And he acknowledges that genre fiction has plenty of quality, character-driven stories that can be genuinely moving and meaningful.

And it’s pretty funny at a couple of points. Mayer doesn’t lose his sense of humor in conveying his ideas, which is cool in a book covering such seriousness as the soul-crushing struggle of making a living on writing.

[Goran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost gave up on it several times. Few good tips everything else is average at best. The last few chapters are worth reading.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little outdated but a great practical guide for writers