I like specific examples to understand what's being illustrated and this book does a good job in that manner. This will be a book that I'll refer to often as I develop my characters. I didn't realize it was written in '87 but the blueprint of great writing is timeless.

Par ko varētu piekasīties konkrētajam izdevumam latviešu valodā - sasodīti daudz interpunkcijas un ortogrāfijas kļūdu!

No idea whether this was an issue in the book as a whole or just in the Latvian translation, but the narration was very lackluster. For a book that has "damn" in its title I would've expected way more. Most of what was written here was nothing new and could be found on the Internet by simply searching "novel writing tips" and opening any result on the first page. That being said, the chapter on having a premise was useful to me and something I hadn't seen before. Not many unique perspectives, and the author fails to see that his way may not be the only one to write a good novel.

Ik pa laikam ir derīgi palasīt autoru grāmatas, kas stāsta par rakstīšanas principiem, pašlaik, strādājot pie pirmajiem stāstiem, tas man ir svarīgi, bet visu tāpat nosaka spēja universiālo formulu vietā, atrast uz atrašanas mirkli, premisu, kas ir pilnīgi bezjēdzīga, vai it kā pilnīgi nepierādāma. Bet grāmata uzrakstīta saistoši, tiem, kas pirmo reiz meklē info, kā sākt rakstīt, par ļaunu nenāks, ja palasīsiet arī Bereļa ''Rakstīt''.

An easy read, but full of gold nuggets

There were so many practical tips in here. It's an older book, so some of the examples in the language are dated, but you can tell the guy knew his stuff because the advice still applies..

I’m cautious about any how-to book that bills itself as being “no-nonsense,” implying that comparable books are full of the opposite. In fact this book has quite a bit of nonsense, some due to the author’s strained sense of humor, and some attributable to the fact that it was written in 1987 (“Keep a thesaurus by your typewriter”). Nevertheless, it covers the basics of storytelling and its breezy style makes it an easy read, appropriate for beginners. I see an updated edition is available now. I'm sure it's better in its details, but unless it's a top-to-bottom rewrite, I'd still be cautious.

Frey’s writing method is derived from Aristotle’s Poetics, probably the main source for most writing methods, so you can’t go too far wrong with that. Frey emphasizes building well-motivated characters who encounter and deal with conflict, leading to a climax. If you didn’t know that’s how it’s done, then this is the book for you.

His discussion of a story’s premise (what he calls the “moral” or point of the story) was helpful, but I often disagreed with his analysis of his examples. “…Lolita proves that ‘great love leads to death.’” Really? That’s not how I read it. In fact, that seems a million miles off base to me. Several examples like that made me question the veracity of the rest of the book.

There isn’t much discussion of the nuts and bolts of writing craft, such as choosing the narrator’s point of view (which Frey annoyingly calls the “viewpoint”). The chapter on writing good dialog made a useful distinction between direct and indirect dialog, but the examples of indirect were nothing more than smart-alec tough-guy talk from a cheesy detective novel, not at all helpful. The section on rewriting and edition was noticeably weak.

If you are a raw beginner, this book won't hurt you. Otherwise, even though this is an international bestseller, I’d say look elsewhere.

The one you need to read

If you read only one book on how to write a novel, this is it. WIsh I had read this one first 10 years ago. Good news: You don't have to be a genius or a "natural" to succeed at writing fiction. In fact, they are at a disadvantage. (Take that, you fiends..) What a great, well-thought-out system. My characters are all waving their arms wildly, yelling "Thank you!" My plot is emerging as if by magic.

Instagram Review: http://www.instagram.com/p/CCqsII5ALMt/

I’m of the opinion that fiction instruction texts all seem to be about the same, and if they’re good they offer an aspect or element that’s memorable enough to stand out in the memory and elevate them above the others. That happens to be the case with Frey’s Damn Good Novel, which introduced me to the notion of “premise.”

In the book, Frey suggests that the concepts of “premise” and “theme” are interchangeable, but I disagree. On page 54, Frey defines the premise of a story as “a statement of what happens to the characters as a result of the core conflict in the story.” By way of example, he offers Dickens, who shows us in “A Christmas Carol,…a miserly old man who is confronted…by the spirits of Christmas, and who is transformed into a kind of Santa Claus. The premise: ‘forced self-examination leads to generosity.’” Each narrative arc (or plot) can have only one premise; think of it as only being able to prove one thing at a time. Your story can absolutely contain more than one narrative arc or plot; they can be called parallel arcs or plots or sub arcs or plots; in this way, a story might contain more than one premise, but only if the individuals plot conflicts resolve individually.

Themes work different than all this; they are much simpler in concept and application. Generally speaking, theme is just a topic or subject; not that you can’t use it to excellent effect.

Premise is a fascinating subject that Frey discusses throughout the entire text in How to Write a Damn Good Novel. I can see how understanding it will greatly strengthen both the organization and the internal logic of all my fiction going forward. Knowing about premise is also going to save me time because that basic organizational soundness will exist in the story from the first draft; that means fewer rewrites. I think this book has real value and I recommend my fellow fiction writers to grab a copy.

In fact, I’ll admit it. I went ahead and got How to Write a Damn Good Novel, II: Advanced Techniques for Dramatic Storytelling. I'll let you know if it's useful.

Everything about this book is on point! It gives the essentials on how to write your first book and warns you about the mistakes you might make along the way. I especially liked the author's sarcasm and couldn't help but LOL here and there!

Šī gramata jau gadiem ilgi stāvēja manā grāmatu plauktā (pat nezinu, kur es to dabūju), bet tikai tagad to beidzot izlasīju. Droši vien, ka būtu vajadzējis to lasīt, pirms es sāku mēģināt pats uzrakstīt kādu romānu, bet, kā saka - labāk vēlāk nekā nekad. Samērā labi pastāstīti visādi knifi, kas jāņem vērā romānu rakstniekiem, lai viņu darbi iznāktu lasītājam interesanti. Šis un tas no tā jau bija dzirdēts daudz kur citur, bet šis un tas bija arī jauns. Kopumā samērā interesanti un noderīgi topošajiem rakstniekiem.

Laba grāmata cilvēkiem, kuriem tas tiešām interesē. Arī es tur sameklēju labas lietas. Nedaudz kaitināja autora nepārtrauktā atsaukšanās uz citiem autoriem, un man šķiet, ka tagad nemaz nevajag lasīt Kinga "Keriju" - piemēru no šīs grāmatas te bija pietiekami daudz. No manis 3,5 zvaigznes.

Senaryo, oyun, roman, öykü yazmak, yazarlık, yaratıcı kişilerin üretme ritüeller üzerine kuramsal kitapları olabildiğince topluyor, okuyorum. Bu vesileyle az sayıda iyi kitapa denk geldiğim gibi çok sayıda kötülerine denk geldim. Ne yazık ki kişisel gelişim çılgınlığı gibi her kitaba yaklaşmamak, almamak lazım. Bu endişelerle başladığım kitap oldukça iyi sonlandı. Henüz hiç yazmamış, üretimi yayınlanmamışlara öneriyorum. Hali hazırda yazıyorsanız, dirsek çürütmüşlüğünüz varsa yaklaşmayın. Arada ama akıcı diliyle iyi bir kitap. Bu arada özel not; yazmak istiyorsanız sadece eser vermek istediğiniz türü okumayın, genelde de iyi bir okuyucu olmalısınız ve muhakkak (muhakkak!) kuramsal okumalara da yer açmalısınız.

Fun book, fairly helpful - but some of the examples the author used in 1987 REALLY didn't age well :)