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I felt a little guilty when I was notified that I had been granted an advance reader copy of Charlie Jane Ander’s essay collection, Never Say You Can’t Survive. I am not a writer and I have no aspirations to be a writer. I have no qualifications for judging this book. However, I have never let a lack of qualifications get in my way of judging things. The short version is, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to any creative person.I have always enjoyed listening to people talk about their c...
One of the (many) issues with writing books is that almost all of the ones I've read by anyone with any apparent writing credentials, that is to say, from authors with actual novels that you could actually find in a bookstore, are from authors whose fiction I really have no interest in.For me, that group includes Stephen King, so, you know, there's no real reason anybody should be insulted to be stuck in that group. I do own one of Charlie Jane Anders' novels, but it's one of those cases where I...
Never Say You Can't Survive is a lot more than a manual about writing and life – it is solid gold sprinkled with fairy dust.I am a bestselling published author in three genres, and a totally story structure geek, and I can honestly say that this is the first book that I have read in a long time that made me stop in my tracks, think hard about the writing process, and come out the other side inspired and motivated.I took five pages of detailed notes on everything from characterisation and the psy...
A great combo of a pep talk and a craft book full of good writing advice. The writing section is a bit jack of all trades, so a nice pick for getting a big overview of how to write better. There were some sections (using anger as a way to write other emotions) that I wanted to be longer.
Don't make the mistake I did when I started reading this book in a public place - because for the first time in my life, a book on writing made me cry, and it happened in public! The introduction is just so powerful and resonant as it addresses the question of how and why we can manage to write through global fear and stress and personal overwhelm. I loved the whole book, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to writers at every stage of their career. The actual craft tips (which will be very usef...
I have actually not read any of the author’s books before, maybe just a few short stories. But I love her podcast with Annalee called Our Opinions are Correct and when I saw the idea of this book, I was very intrigued. I don’t even know if I’m the right audience, because other than writing reviews, I have no other writing background or aspirations. I’m also not much of a creative or imaginative person - so I feel no way eligible to judge this book for it’s content, specifically all the wonderful...
A must read for writers! I adored this book and dogeared many pages that I’ll be going back to. The book features several exercises and I plan to go back and do them. This is by far the best book on writing from an author in recent years. To me it ranks up there with On Writing by Stephen King and Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury.
This wonderful writing book includes five sections which cover getting started, what to write about, what constitutes a story, feelings, and writerly tricks. Some of the individual topics include imposter syndrome, uncertainty, creating characters, voice, ideas, endings, emotion, revision, plotting, common story problems, character change, world building, weirdness, writing about other experiences, and relationships.The book is a compilation of writing essays written for Tordotcom to share advic...
This was the most fun book on writing I've read, and I've read a lot of books on writing. Charlie Jane Anders avoids saying the same-ol-same-ol that so many how-to-write books say. Where most books tell the reader to finish something, absolutely finish stuff, she'll compare unfinished work to blind dates where the chemistry didn't click. In other words, Anders doesn't make the reader feel guilty for all the pages that never went anywhere.Even when giving advice the reader has heard before, she m...
While the tone of this book was too chatty for my own personal taste, it did a good job of demystifying writing processes and it definitely made me itch to take up creative writing again.
A fun and uplifting book about writing in a world turned to toxic sludge, packed with advice, anecdotes and encouragement.
