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You can write a novel
Gives practical advice about plot, characterization, exposition, description, dialogue, action, and style, and tells how to get started as a writer
- GenresWriting
Paperback
Published January 1, 1983
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May 25, 2013
Yes, this book was published way back in the mists of time in 1983. (Or to put it another way, when I was a senior in high school. Ahem.) So, certain elements of this book are not at all relevant to the writing and publishing of a novel in 2013. As in, discussions about correction tape, making sure all your typewriters are using a pica rather than an elite font, and also making sure you're using heavy bond paper when you submit your manuscript to a publisher. Or, I suppose, also the author's curious declaration that anyone wearing headphones listening to music while out in public could never be an author.
But, please don't be put off by any of that. The bulk of this book is full of sensible advice regarding both the nuts and bolts of writing and the architecture of a plot. Bocca's advice on how to end a chapter, what to name your characters, and on things like the use of humor is some of the best I've ever read. And I don't see how anyone could go wrong following it. And also a great deal more.
The one issue I have with the book is also paradoxically probably one of its greatest strengths. Namely, to reference the title, Bocca does NOT suggest any sort of systematic approach to writing a novel. He does not reject using such an approach, either, but simply notes many authors who use outlines, do not use outlines, rewrite extensively, and barely edit their manuscripts after finishing them. Thus, I suppose, we're very much getting some "truth in advertising" in the title, in the sense that this work is a discussion that, "Yes, You can Write a Novel," and NOT "This is How to Write a Novel." Why I should have assumed that the latter would be prominent within the book is doubtless a false assumption on my part, but I suspect I would not be the only one to fall into that trap.
Still, recommended.
But, please don't be put off by any of that. The bulk of this book is full of sensible advice regarding both the nuts and bolts of writing and the architecture of a plot. Bocca's advice on how to end a chapter, what to name your characters, and on things like the use of humor is some of the best I've ever read. And I don't see how anyone could go wrong following it. And also a great deal more.
The one issue I have with the book is also paradoxically probably one of its greatest strengths. Namely, to reference the title, Bocca does NOT suggest any sort of systematic approach to writing a novel. He does not reject using such an approach, either, but simply notes many authors who use outlines, do not use outlines, rewrite extensively, and barely edit their manuscripts after finishing them. Thus, I suppose, we're very much getting some "truth in advertising" in the title, in the sense that this work is a discussion that, "Yes, You can Write a Novel," and NOT "This is How to Write a Novel." Why I should have assumed that the latter would be prominent within the book is doubtless a false assumption on my part, but I suspect I would not be the only one to fall into that trap.
Still, recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review