Write Your Novel From The Middle was brought to my attention a handful of times before I actually read it. I used to see it advertised on the pages of the Writer's Digest website. And I've heard it referred to many times in connection to NaNoWriMo. But I always assumed it was one of those canned advice books that basically regurgitates things from earlier masters, and puts some hokey twist on it to get attention.
See, all writers fall somewhere on the spectrum from Pantser to Plotter. A Pantser flies by the seat of their pants; they leap into their novel before they look. A Plotter draws up careful outlines and character sketches before ever writing a word. A writer can be any combination of the two, but everyone falls somewhere on that spectrum.
I always assumed this "write your novel from the middle" junk was for Pantsers. And I'm sorry to say it (and I'll probably hurt some feelings here), but I just don't like Pantsers. If you can't be bothered to think critically about your work before you start--if you can't take the time to make some kind of plan--I just don't think you're taking this shit seriously. To me, Pantsers are the people who erroneously believe they were just born with everything they need to be a great writer. I think to be a Pantser, you have to believe somewhere deep down that you just shit excellence.
Let me stop myself before I go any further. I tend to rant sometimes.
Anyway, I was asked to read this book for a freelance job, and I'll admit I walked in a skeptic. I assumed this book was for lazy Pantsers. I WAS WRONG!
I'm an opinionated guy, and I don't reach my conclusions arbitrarily. You have to be smart to convince me of something I don't already believe. And I'm damn stubborn--ask my wife. With Write Your Novel From The Middle, James Scott Bell won me over. No easy task.
No matter where you fall on the Pantser-Plotter spectrum, this book will change the way you look at story structure. Once you read it, you'll be pulling up the little progress bar every time you watch a movie on Netflix, trying to figure out when you hit the middle scene. Because as Bell convinced me, the middle scene in a properly structured story will tell you everything about the story itself.
But that's far from all Bell offers in this refreshingly brief book. His outline of story structure is the most complete (yet concise) treatment of the subject I have ever encountered. I learned more about story structure from this book's 90-odd pages than I did from the thousands that precede it in the Writing Bible. And with all the plotting resources Bell provides, I know everything I write after reading this will be that much better.
Even if you aren't a writer, you should read this book. It will rock your world. Flip to the middle of you favorite novel, and try to tell me Bell isn't dead-on. Fast forward to the middle of your favorite movie and tell be this dude isn't a genius. This book makes me wish there were more prerequisites for becoming a writer, because if everyone wrote like this, there would be more good books.
This concludes Pete's Writing Bible. These six books have changed me more than any I have read in my life, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment