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Where's the Bread?

Revisado: 07-02-23

"Ask questions and then try to find the answers yourself. Don’t be a jerk who wastes other people’s time because you aren’t willing to do the work yourself and you want it handed to you. No one owes you anything.” This quote comes from the Unsolicited Advice section of this book and sums up what seems to be this authors approach to this title.


“Writers are beggars that tell other writers where to find bread.” is another accurate description of this book. Though the author claims in the description that “I wrote this book because my readers said that no one else writes books like me, and I thought… well, I bet I can teach some people how…” she does not actually “teach” you anything. There is not enough actionable process information given here. I suspect that this is because as the author notes in chapter 6, “As an author who’s mostly absorbed story structure via osmosis through reading great books…“In other words, she has an internal knowledge of story structure but can’t articulate the process. Not common but also not unusual. There are A-list authors who also work this way and hit the NYT’s list regularly. I suspect they’d have difficulty writing a process focused craft book, too.


Meghan March’s Musings on Writing would be a far better title for this book as she spends her time sharing her thoughts on various aspects of storytelling. She tells you what you should do because this worked for her. She even tells you why. But she doesn’t tell you HOW. Instead, she often refers to really great writing books that will actually give you actionable information, which is nice, but she could list all of that on her website for free.


Take, for example, in chapter 12 where she talks about cliffhangers. She says they should be a gut-wrenching, but you shouldn’t go too far. Does she insert an example of what “too far” might be? Nope. She talks about how she bounces her ideas off of her “honest-to-God alpha male” husband. Love that for her, but it doesn’t help explore the subject in an actionable way. Here was a great opportunity to use one of her own 39 books and discuss an idea that went too far and was thus rejected for something else.


She also refers to a great cliff-hanger in a book by Aleatha Romig. She thought it was so incredible that she “taught” herself how to create cliff-hangers like that.  She doesn’t tell us the details of the cliff-hanger (Ok, you don’t want to spoil the book), but she also doesn’t name the book the cliff-hanger is in (Romig has 115 titles per her Amazon page.) nor does she explain what she learned in terms creating these amazing cliff-hangers. (Did her editor not point all this out?) Taking examples from her own work to show the reader what she means and how her suggestions can be applied would really make the book a more useful tool. Show don’t just tell.


To be clear, I wasn’t expecting a manual on how to write just like the author. In the description she says “I wrote this book for the old me…I wanted to make it easier for her to get to where I am now by sharing what I learned along the way. I wanted her to be able to leap over the pitfalls where I stumbled, avoid the challenges that held me back…”. This is code for here’s a book with the things you should focus on and a list of books you should read that will be useful. Go forth and figure out the rest for yourself. That’s what your old self would have wanted? That’s fine, I suppose, but then don’t indicate in the description that in this book you are going to teach people how to write books like you because that’s not what this is.


What I was expecting was information that was detailed and actionable. Not here are my thoughts. Here’s why I think this, now go off and prosper.


Now, I do think the author does a good job of being encouraging and supportive about writing. She’s honest about the hard work but really stresses the importance of believing in yourself and putting in the work. I think that for someone who needs that kind of reassurance, it can be found in this book. And as others have noted in other reviews, there are nuggets of information that can be useful.


I can see how this book could have been really good had the author focused on creating a book that would give useful information that was informative and actionable. Really share what she knows as a writer who sold 10 million books as opposed to offering nuggets. Organize the book in a more cohesive linear way. A co-author with editorial experience could really have helped flesh this book out and make it a must-have for budding writers. Instead, I think there are much better books, certainly more useful ones, that would be a better use of your time.


That said, if after all I’ve noted you still feel a pull to this book, go for it. It may be useful for you as a guide of some things to dig into. But I can’t recommend this book in good faith.


Below is the list of some of her recommended books, and in my opinion, they are all must-reads for any aspiring writer. All are available on Amazon except for Passionate Ink, which seems to only be available as a used paperback.


GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict by Debra Dixon

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain

On Writing by Stephen King

Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell

How to Write Dazzling Dialogue by James Scott Bell

Super Structure by James Scott Bell

Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Passionate Ink by Angela Knight

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Very good listen

Revisado: 05-24-19

Really excellent narration and a very good story. I'm looking forward to the next one.

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