Donald Maass - Reviews

The Fire in Fiction

Donald Maass
Writer's Digest Books
Nonfiction, Writing
****

Description

What is it that lifts some stories above others, both in the bestseller lists and the slush piles? How can a thriller fail to thrill while the tale of an average housewife keeps us riveted? Theme, structure, story arcs... those technical tools make for a competent manuscript, but something else is needed to make it more than the sum of its parts, to make agents or readers sit up and take notice. That something is you, the fire you bring to your stories - a fire that's too often missing. In this book, noted agent Donald Maass explains how to turn flat prose into something dynamic, and possibly turn the next form-letter rejection into an acceptance.

Review

TAs the title and description indicate, this book is aimed at intermediate writers, those who know the basics of storytelling and plot structure but need some help polishing their prose, adding the sizzle to attract agents and/or readers. From how to create interesting characters to developing dynamic worlds, from fixing the often-flabby "muddle in the middle" to the secrets of truly amusing humor, Maass offers examples from many genres, ending each chapter with exercises for the reader to try with their own stories. Since my current monstrosity-in-editing is a short story, I couldn't quite find an exercise that fit (likely a failing on my part), but they looked interesting and potentially helpful. On the whole, it's a good read, even if it made me terribly mindful of just how far I am from producing anything like a salable story.

Writing the Breakout Novel

Donald Maass
Writer's Digest Books
Nonfiction, Writing
****

Description

It's one thing to write a novel, but something else entirely to write a breakout - a story that suddenly surges ahead of sales expectations, that raises the stakes for established writers and launches unknowns into household-name status. So, what makes a breakout novel happen? Is it promotion? Cover art? Following a proven formula? Pure luck?
It's the story itself. Through careful craftsmanship, any author can raise the odds of their next novel being their own breakout.
Donald Maass, a longtime agent with many successful clients, has studied the industry and the common factors of breakout novels for some time, and offers advice to authors new and old here.

Review

As a would-be fantasy writer, I admit I approached this book with my tablespoon of salt in hand, expecting to see mainstream fiction glamorized and genre writing belittled (as seems to be the general attitude in many circles.) Fortunately, Maass treats most any fiction equally; the stuff of a breakout transcends genre classification, and his advice applies to romantic tearjerkers as much as hard-boiled detective thrillers or sprawling fantasy epics. Most of what he said (or wrote, rather) seemed sound and sensible, and if his writing grew a bit tangled now and again, helpfully clear checklists at the end of each chapter reiterated the high points. Now to see if I can't apply a few of those points to my most recent monstrosity...