Out now

Here’s a book that looks kind of neat —

“Show, don’t tell.” “Murder your darlings.” “Write every day.”

Certain pieces of advice are widespread in the writing community — but what do they really mean? And are they nuggets of universal wisdom, or do they only apply to some writers in some circumstances? Award-winning author Marie Brennan tackles these old saws, dissecting each one to see what purpose it might serve . . . and when you should toss it aside.

As you know, I think all writing advice sits somewhere on the spectrum from harmful to useless. I will reluctantly concede that occasionally, in specific circumstances, if you feel like it, you might want to consider taking some random bit of advice seriously.

I will much more willingly grant that you should take specific feedback from a gifted editor, copy editor, or fact checker. I mean feedback such as, “Those verys are creeping back like cockroaches, maybe you should stomp on some of them.” (Barely paraphrasing.)

Here’s the ToC

A Prefatory WarningPROCESS“Real Writers Write Every Day”“Your First Million Words Are Crap”“Write Short Stories First”“Write What You Know”“Write What You Want to Read”/”Write For Yourself”“Don’t Revise as You Go”“Feedback Should Hurt”CRAFT“Show, Don’t Tell”“Murder Your Darlings”“Eliminate Adjectives and Adverbs”“Start With Action/Start in Medias Res”The One True Universal Rule

Those all seem rules that need a stake driven into their hearts. Or rather, they might be okay in extreme moderation, if the author applies common sense and doesn’t take the rule very seriously. Good for Marie, breaking the topics neatly into process / craft rather than jumbling them up. I was just snarling about posts where the author can’t tell they’ve switched from grammar issues to storytelling issues. And, I haven’t read any part of this book, but I know what I think The One True Universal Rule is.

You can’t succeed as an author unless you finish at least some of what you start.

That’s it, in my opinion. I’m tempted to pick up this book just to see if Marie Brennan agrees.

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