Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Rate this book!
Write a review?
I don't have time to gush about the incredible-ness of this book. It's a great big ode to creativity. Every creative writing instructor should put this on the syllabus.
An eclectic array of artwork to inspire creativity, unusual writing prompts, advice from myriad successful authors, and the usual info typically found in writing guides. As an added bonus, Wonderbook is an unexpected treasure trove of reading recommendations.
A wonderful, imaginative exploration of creative writing!After hearing many recommendations of this book, I recently caved in and treated myself (it didn't take much persuasion). The rave reviews proved to be very well deserved. The book is loosely organised into sections, covering key aspects of creative writing, such as structure, characterisation and so forth. However, it's so much more than a 'how-to' guide; it actively seeks to fire up the imagination and force writers to question their tec...
I must admit I bought the book because of the pictures. Of course I had read several books by the author and was excited to read any advice he’d have on writing and he delivered. I have the feeling this book will be with me for a long time. I’ll be reading it again and again, highlighting, scribbling and taking notes. It’s a great book with sound advices.What stole my heart however was the artwork. The artwork and outlay of the book is outstanding. My almost four year old likes to sit down with
This is a beautiful book. I was very excited when I found it, and upon first flipping through it, I though it was just the book on writing I have always been looking for. Now that I have finished it, I have to say that while it is well done, it also doesn't contain a lot of meat. I see some reviewers really liked the sidebar articles by various writers, for the most part I found them superfluous, not really adding to the overall structure of the book, and more like glossed up articles for Writer...
This is like a writers' workshop in a book, and much of the allure is the visual elements — this is one of those books that just wouldn't work as an ebook, you need the physical copy. (For such a heavy book on high quality paper, printed in full color, I was rather surprised at the relatively low price.)It's hard the summarize the contents without referring to the visuals. Vandermeer and his contributors (who include a veritable Who's Who of modern SF and fantasy authors - Catherynne Valente, Ge...
One of the prettiest books I've ever seen. Couldn't resist. Addendum: Couldn't get into the writing. Still very pretty. Grade: 2.5 stars for prettiness.
Wonderbook is a comprehensive examination of the writing process from inspiration to revision, written by award-winning writer, editor, and teacher Jeff Vandermeer. There are many good books on writing, but high-quality books aimed more specifically at writers of genre fiction are much rarer. Vandermeer does not suggest a single “correct” strategy or style, but describes a variety of alternatives and their advantages and pitfalls. He clearly knows his history and theory but is in no way pedantic...
I've only read one other book on writing besides this one, which was one I liked called On Writing by Stephen King. This book was very different from it in both style and emphasis, with the Wonderbook being an illustrated guide to writing.Since many creative people are visual learners, this beautiful book with its impressive artwork may help aspiring writers better retain some of the guidelines that the author presented. Personally, I liked the illustrations, but sometimes, I found them to be ei...
Generally, I am not a fan of non-fiction, but I read this for the Reddit r/fantasy 2017 Bingo and I wasn't disappointed. I assumed I would struggle getting through this book, as I usually do with non-fiction, but I actually found this interesting and fun to read at times. I'll admit, the lovely ilustrations helped a lot. So did all the in-between essays and interviews of authors we all know and love such as George RR Martin, Ursula K Le Guin and Neil Gaiman.
Really great and inspiring in a ton of different imaginative ways. I'll be coming back to this one a lot.
Amazing! Yes, there are some nuts & bolts writing how-tos such as POV, sentence structure, hooks, etc. However, where this book shines is in its presentation. The artwork is simply stunning. See, it's not so much a writing reference book as it is an experience. It's goal is to not only spark the imagination, but to keep the flames smoldering and burning. The essays on creative process by the various contributors are entertaining as well as informative. I haven't checked out the companion website...
A difficult book to rate. Parts were great. Parts were average. Parts were confusing. The art was kooky - some people love it so obviously the cliched phrase "art is in the eye of the beholder" still holds true. What I liked and thought was valuable was the insight from the other authors. Great stuff there.
Wonderbook, at first glance, looks like a nice coffee table volume about fantasy and science-fiction, heavily illustrated with weird and nightmarish pictures. It is in fact a rather thorough handbook on creative writing, essentially aimed at would-be fantasy or SF writers. Jeff VanderMeer, who is an award-winning novelist in these genres and a creative writing teacher, covers quite a few topics, such as: inspiration, descriptions, dialogues, voice, POV, plot and structure, beginnings, middles an...
Absolutely wonderful, dear Wonderbook! Every writer should own this. It's also clever in design and has some gorgeous artwork. A Keeper. Always on my writing desk. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.Reread comments. I just reread this, well it took me a month of serious reading to do it. Making notes, etc.1) Writing is so organic, think of your book as a living organism that is constantly evolving.2) You gotta learn techniques. No way around this one. You can't master something if you don't even know what it is...
The title says it so I don’t have to: Wonderbook is about how to write fiction – specifically aimed at writers of ‘imaginative’ fiction, e.g. fantasy, science fiction, new weird, surreal, horror… ‘genre’ fiction. VanderMeer gives you chapters on the basics: beginnings, endings, plot, structure, narrative design, characterization, worldbuilding, etc.VanderMeer’s chapters read more like essays or discussions on these parts and how they fit together, or points to think about, rather than a step-by-...
Writing is something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I’m sure every bookworm in the world has considered it at some point. I won’t dwell on why it hasn’t happened yet; there are plenty of reasons, both good and bad. What matters is that I have decided that procrastinating on such a long-held dream has gone on long enough, and that I need to give myself the tools to turn the ideas I have been accumulating for ages into the book (or books!) I always wanted them to be.Enter Jeff
By far the most imaginative and entertaining book on the craft of writing that I've ever read. I agree with other reviewers that much of the advice in Wonderbook isn't new. (Once you've read a lot of advice on characterization, plot and structure, etc., it starts to sound the same.) But the presentation of that information is what makes Wonderbook a true delight. The graphics, charts, and illustrations are vibrant, thought-provoking, and (in many cases) hilarious. Seriously. I lost track of the
I am not sure anymore why I got this book, but I suspect that I saw some of the illustrations somewhere and liked them. I do not plan to write imaginative fiction any time soon. But this has the potential to improve understanding for what I read and it would probably be a great resource for those who do want to improve their writing.“This all-new definitive guide to writing imaginative fiction takes a completely novel approach and fully exploits the visual nature of fantasy through original draw...
Many writers I know praised this book greatly when it came out last fall. I asked for it as a Christmas gift.It's a beautifully designed book, though very heavy and unwieldy; I wish it had been bound in spiral to make it easier to hold and to withstand its own weight. The back pages are already feeling weak like they could come loose. The content is well-organized and very friendly. This would be an ideal textbook for a creative writing class--it's certainly a hundred times better than the dull