Book Log 11/2014 - Donald Maass: Writing the Breakout Novel

[jacey]

A great insight into what makes a novel rise above the competition to 'break out'. Donald Maass is the head of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, so he knows what he's talking about. (I'll say right now that one of his younger agents, Amy Boggs, is my literary agent, but I don't know Mr Maass personally.)

This book contains some great practical advice divided into chapters on such things as: Premise; Characters; Stakes; Plots and Advanced Plot Structures, and such hard-to-pin-down elements as Theme. Well worth reading for any novellist striving to improve (and that's most of us!)

I read this and the Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook in the wriong order, but having finished this I'm now hankering to go back and take another look at the Workbook.

Comments

time to revisit

[deborah walker (from livejournal.com)]

Thanks! I read this a few years ago. And you've reminded me it's time to look again. I find that you can absorb different things at different stages of your writing life.