Note: I've been told this book will be on a Kindle Countdown deal starting today. Assuming my information is good, now would be a good time to click on one of the buy links if you're interested.
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Genre:
Non-Fiction
Approximate
word count: 14-15,000
words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
“Stefanie
Spangler Buswell has a bachelor of arts from Western Illinois
University, and she tried out a few other careers before settling
down to read books for a living. Books and reading have always been
her passion. So she's excited to be a part of creating great books.
Stefanie
lives in central Illinois with her husband and daughter. She is
currently the executive publisher assistant and a line editor at Red
Adept Publishing. When she's not editing, she enjoys gardening,
knitting, and forcing others to read her favorite books.”
Description:
“A
no-nonsense guide for authors interested in taking their writing to
the next level, Get to the Point offers clear, simple tips for
tightening your sentences, improving your story’s pacing,
increasing tension, and generating a more entertaining voice. Its
techniques will aid you in strengthening awareness of unwanted
habits, gaining clearer understanding of unnecessary description, and
informing solid strategies for concise, powerful prose.”
Appraisal:
Get
to the Point is one of
three short books in a series written by members of the editing team
at Red Adept Publishing. It is also the one in the series covering
subjects that are pertinent to everyone who writes. Much of the
discussion applies to the office worker drafting emails to their boss
and co-workers along with the storyteller spinning what they hope is
the next bestseller. (Even lowly book reviewers can use this stuff.)
The
subjects covered are the things everyone who writes struggles with to
tighten their prose. Two of my pet peeves as a reader and reviewer
are redundancy and telling the reader things they don't need to know.
Both these get coverage along with the use of metaphors, avoidance of
headhopping, and several others.
There
are three positive aspects of the book that especially stood out. The
use of examples, both before and after, so the reader can compare and
see how the suggestions strengthen the writing. An understanding that
in writing there are few concrete rules, only rules of thumb. The
author discusses possible exceptions and when breaking the “rule”
might make sense. Last, a quiz to self assess how well the lessons
have stuck. For those who are curious, I scored my results a grade of
B-(--). After some practice and a re-read (or ten) I'm sure I can
raise my grade to a solid B. Maybe better.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No
significant issues.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
1 comment:
Thanks for the review, Big Al!
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