Book Review
THE WRITER'S LITTLE HELPER
James V. Smith, Jr.
246 pages
ISBN 1582974225
Writer's Digest Books
The Writer's Little Helper is as delightful as a box of Godiva chocolates: rich, smooth morsels of useful writing advice in bite size portions. The book is slightly larger than a traditional paperback novel and you might be tempted to toss it in your purse or briefcase until you feel the weight of it. This pretty package has the heft of a college text, but it's a far more interesting read. The only drawback is that it is not spiral bound.
What makes this book unique is that the author has chosen to provide writing help from the point of view of what the reader wants. Smith explains that his book will “tell you how to analyze the needs of readers and how best-selling writers meet those needs.” He lists 21 key traits of best-selling fiction, and explains the elements of a “blockbuster.” He discusses why the first 1,000 words of your novel are so important, and how to evaluate them.
Smith offers more than the standard advice found in books on the writing craft. For instance, while most of those books tell you to vary words, sentences and paragraph to manage the pace of your story, Smith shows you how to actually measure the pace of a scene. He shows you how to use scene cards, how to define the purpose of each scene, and how to organize your novel using ten easy scenes. Then he offers you a tool – the ACIIIDS Test – to evaluate your scenes.
Smith insists that creating memorable characters is the single most important trait of best-selling authors. He provides tips on everything from selecting character names to how to keep track of each character’s attributes throughout your novel. He gives you a 40-item checklist of the minimum character elements necessary for any story. He says that every major character should have a chance at redemption, and he explains what that means and how to accomplish it.
The book also covers how to avoid amateur mistakes such as author intrusion, and how to determine the reading ease of your novel. Other topics include plotting, dialogue, point of view, and editing techniques.
Page edges are color-coded for each topic, but the organization is not the typical "chapter" arrangement. Rather the author delivers tools, checklists, quick exercises, and sage advice on the topics randomly through the book. You can read straight through from cover to cover if you prefer, but the delight in this book is discovering new ways to write, revise and review your writing. Open the book to any page and you'll find a practical tip that you can actually use at that moment.
© 2007
Jeanne Vincent All Rights Reserved
