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How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling |  | Author: James N. Frey
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy Used: $6.95
as of 3/19/2010 02:17 MDT details
You Save: $15.00 (68%)
New (27) Used (40) from $6.95
Seller: evan_banks
Rating:  106 reviews
Sales Rank: 14825
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1
ISBN: 0312010443
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.3
EAN: 9780312010447
ASIN: 0312010443
Publication Date: December 15, 1987
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780312010447 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
Written in a clear, crisp, accessible style, this book is perfect for beginners as well as professional writers who need a crash course in the down-to-earth basics of storytelling. Talent and inspiration can't be taught, but Frey does provide scores of helpful suggestions and sensible rules and principles.
An international bestseller, How to Write a Damn Good Novel will enable all writers to face that intimidating first page, keep them on track when they falter, and help them recognize, analyze, and correct the problems in their own work.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 106
 This is what made me write February 12, 2010
H. Lim (Carlingford, NSW Australia)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In 2008 I finished a novel I had begun in 2000. And this completion I owe principally to James Frey's "How to Write A Damn Good Novel."
There are so many incompetent books out there purporting to tell you how to write. Frey's book entirely lacks fluff, but tells you in clear terms with examples exactly what the minimum conditions for a successful dramatic novel are. These include having a premise, the importance of having your characters filled with desire for something, the use of dramatic dialogue in conflict and the need for a storyline worth telling.
Above all, Frey emphasises the extremely artificial nature of an art form that only SEEMS to tell a atory that grows naturally. The rules of dramatic prose, honed by centuries of novel writing, may seem arbitrary and unnecessary, but Frey pounds his fist and lets you know EXACTLY why these seemingly strange rules exist at all.
Frey also emphasises the need for humility when writing dramatic prose fiction, which is surely the most difficult form of writing in existence. He emphasises the pitfalls that young writers will fall into EVEN AFTER READING HIS BOOK AND ABSORBING THE LESSONS - the pitfalls of refusing to listen to advice, of authorial "blindness" to mistakes and of empty "symbolism" and other artsy decorations being used to mask lack of dramatic substance.
I also like the abundance of examples that Frey provides for each contention, using examples from dramatic novels of the past such as Madame Bovary by Flaubert, Stephen King's Carrie and Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Frey himself also invents examples for the sake of this book, and they are witty and make their point very well.
 Helpful book December 21, 2009
Raymond Francis (Albany, NY)
Provides the tips I was looking for to get started writing a novel. Even if I don't ever write a novel and/or write one that doesn't get published, it was a good read.
Duplicate December 15, 2009
Lew T. Breshears (Seattle, Washington, US)
This purchase from Amazon was a very good experience.The book is helpful to the fledgling writer, although not as helpful as I had hoped. The book needs more "here is a secret to writing a novel and here is what it did to me'. The writing is a tad stiff. But there are not many texts concerning this subject. 4 out of 5 stars is about write (sorry for the pun).
How to Write a Damn Good Novel is a damn good book December 5, 2009
Arthur M Mills Jr (APO, AP United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
How to Write a Damn Good Novel is a damn good book. Since the late 1990s, I attempted to write a novel but to no prevail. I had a great idea but I had no idea how to write a novel. In December 2008, I bought How to Write a Damn Good Novel and read the first page to the last page trying to soak up every word. I studied the book like a textbook. Months later, I bought Mr. Frey's follow-on book How to Write a Damn Good Novel II. I also studied this book like a textbook. My manuscript titled The Empty Lot Next Door is now making its rounds at the publishers so only time will tell if it is successful. However, Mr. Frey's inspiration and instruction made me finally stop thinking about writing and finally start writing. Thank you Mr. Frey!
Arthur M Mills Jr
Author: The Empty Lot Next Door
anyone can write a damn good novel October 29, 2009
audrey o riordan
this book delivers what it promises; how to write a damn good novel. it gives loads of hints and tips which are easy to incorporate in to your own writing style
Showing reviews 1-5 of 106
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