Welcome to Hell

by Tom Piccirilli

This working guide for the beginner writer is full of extremely useful suggestions. Piccirilli lets you know from the start that writing is serious business, but at the same time, the book is full of his offbeat, scathing humor. "...if anybody tells you that all you need is a lucky break, then tell them to shove off. Luck is about the worst thing that can happen in this biz, and it's no substitute for knowledge, experience, and skill." -Tom Piccirilli, from Welcome to Hell

Genres: Writing, Horror

72 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2000

About the author

Thomas Piccirilli (May 27, 1965 – July 11, 2015) was an American novelist and short story writer.

Piccirilli sold over 150 stories in the mystery, thriller, horror, erotica, and science fiction fields. He was a two-time winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for "Best Paperback Original" (2008, 2010). He was a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award. He was also a finalist for the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award given by the Mystery Writers of America, a final nominee for the Fantasy Award, and the winner of the first Bram Stoker Award given in the category of "Best Poetry Collection".

Reviews

[Armand Rosamilia]

Even as dated as this book is, there is still a lot of value as far as writing is concerned. There's a lot to like even if you're not a beginning writer, too. It's like a refresher course for those who've been doing this a long time. My only complaint would be it's too short. I would've loved to have had more wisdom from this great author, gone too soon.

[William Cook]

5.0 out of 5 stars
Brief but brilliant, November 13, 2012
Verified Purchase.
This review is from: Welcome to Hell : A Working Guide for the Beginning Writer (Paperback)

What a brilliant little book from Mr Piccirilli. No bullshit - just plain and to the point, filled with interesting anecdotes and poignant advice, this is a must for writers who want/need some inspiration. Highly recommended.

[Robert Lewis]

You might be inclined to think that "inspiring" is a strange word to describe a book entitled "Welcome to Hell," but that's what it is. This is a book that's almost guaranteed to get the beginning writer past some of the inevitable hurdles and back to putting words on the page. As brief as it is, this book captures the essence of the writer's life as told by one of the industry's great practitioners.

Don't be fooled. This is not a how-to book. Nowhere does the author tell you how to properly format a manuscript or how to negotiate the minefield of the publishing industry, though he does offer a couple brief tips on networking. This is certainly not a book of grammar rules or a style guide. Aside from a couple brief words on such matters as word repetition and passive verbs, the author assumes you already have a pretty good idea of how to craft a sentence and how to structure a story. As for the business side of things, I think the author was wise to avoid endless discussion on a constantly-changing industry. If you're looking for a twelve-step program that will lead you to greatness, you won't find it here.

What you will find is a collection of frank nuggets of advice from an experienced author to a beginning one. If you've been writing (especially professionally but also even merely as a hobby) for any length of time, a lot of the advice will be familiar to you. You'll find yourself nodding your head as you read entertaining descriptions of experiences you've had many times before. If you're a member of the real target audience for this book--that is, if you're a beginning writer--however, you're in for a treat. Piccirilli may not give step by step advice for literary success, but if you read carefully, you'll find in these pages an APPROACH to writing which you'll be able to make work for you. The details of your process will probably be different than Piccirilli's, but at the end of the day, he'll give you the shot of encouragement you need to put your words on the page and persevere through the inevitable rejections until you, hopefully, find some success of your own.

Highly recommended.

[J.W. Donley]

A wonderful little book on the realities of being a writer (of any genre).

[Jilles]

A small and sweet book full of basic truth about writing. It's like ;istening to a good friend.

[Michael Griffin]

This is a quick, easy-to-read overview of (as should be obvious from the subtitle) all kinds of things the new, aspiring writer ought to do. It covers a wide diversity of aspects of the process of moving forward as a writer, from the importance of reading as "food" for the budding writing, to the necessity of self-editing. There's a section on elements of writing technique such as narrative voice and conflict, and some mention of things peripherally related to writing, such as networking online and rubbing elbows at conventions.

The tone of the book is casual and conversational, but there's no nonsense, and no shying away from the central truth that for a writer to move even the first step past "beginner" status requires a thick skin, tons of hard work and inexhaustible persistence. Piccirilli himself is a writer of horror and thriller fiction, and most of the points he makes are backed up by examples from genre fiction, but the lessons here are applicable to any writer of fiction, genre or mainstream, short stories or novels.

I know I'm not the only fiction writer who compulsively picks up just about any book about our favorite subject, but I should point out this book really is geared specifically toward beginners. Even a writer slightly advanced beyond that (say, skilled enough to have been published at least once, even if they're still struggling to get published regularly) may find much of this advice already second nature. For what it's intended to be, which is a primer for the writer truly just getting started, it's full of good advice in an easy-to-digest form. In fact, it's a very quick read, just over 50 printed pages with fairly big type. You could easily re-read the book several times until it all sinks in.

[John Bruni]

This is a phenomenal book about writing. Piccirilli's been through it all, and he lays it all out nice and simple and quickly. I wish I'd learned something from it. I've been around a bit myself, and I've learned just about everything in here from various sources over the years. But if I was just starting out, this would be an eye opener. There are some authors who have been around just as long as me making some of the mistakes Piccirilli points out. The one that gets me the most is the passive usage of the word "was." Every time I see it, I die a little bit. I wish we could make it a law that all beginning writers should be issued a copy of this book before they even begin sending out submissions. The only thing that's disappointing is the book is slightly outdated. It refers to the old fashioned snail mail submissions rather than the email submissions that are used today. Even The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, who held onto snail mail only policy longer than any sane publisher should have, caved in and accepts email submissions. But that's hardly a problem. This book is almost two decades old. Of course something is going to be outdated. But the one thing that never gets outdated is the desire to write. And that is why this book will always be timeless.

[Douglas Castagna]

If brevity is the soul of wit, then this book proves Piccirilli to be one witty mo-fo. The book manages to cut through rhetoric and hone in on some important facts and tidbits that should be helpful to a new writer, even a not so new one. Piccirilli draws from his experience across many genres to distill what he had learned the hard way. The reader gets to benefit from his sweat stained pages and his wit. Another great piece of writing from a very talented writer gone too soon.

[Chuck Rios]

Holy crap! I'm actually living most of the content in this book! Welcome to Hell was a good, swift kick in my ass. Tom's depiction of the writer’s life got me back on track and helped me decide where I need to be heading.
Thanks Tom!
This book and Richard Laymons A WRITERS TALE should be enough fuel to fire any writer up!

[B.C.]

A quick read at just under 70 pages, but packed full of useful information for the beginning writer. The advice here is honest and direct, making this little guide refreshing. I'll be reading it again.

[D. Rae]

Very short, only 50 pages, but filled with the right amount of advice for beginning writers without all the cr... oops, I mean, without all the filler junk other writers use to fill up a book.

Well worth reading and keeping for reviewing.

[Russ Dumanovsky]

Quick, great read for aspiring writers! Probably will re-read this every now and again too.

[Jonathan Cosgrove]

Just what I needed to read. If only it was longer though.