Book Review: Structuring Your Novel

posted in: Blog, Reviews, Writing/Authorship | 1

Both of these books were part of a free set of books on writing. I’m glad I took the time to read them (over half the list still sits untouched). Don’t let my star rating deter you – these books are an excellent resource. I’ve just had so many great fiction novels lately that my appetite for nonfiction is incredibly low. If you’re a writer, you’ll definitely want to check these out (along with Randy Ingermanson’s How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method).

Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding StoryStructuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story by K.M. Weiland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Structuring Your Novel is a fantastic book of information, and the accompanying workbook is great at teaching the reader about story structure. There’s examples to help you understand, and it’s very thorough. I imagine I’ll be using this info to help strengthen my future stories and I’m excited to get started.

So why three stars? I had a hard time connecting with the content. The first time I read it, I got about halfway through and quit. I read mostly fiction, and tend to disconnect with non-fiction content. And to be perfectly honest, after reading Randy Ingermanson’s How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method (Advanced Fiction Writing Book 1), trying to read a novel on structuring fiction that was so textbook was kind of difficult.

Ms. Weiland is incredibly adept and helpful, and I would totally recommend this book, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped to. Also, what’s up with all the weird terms (climax, pinch points, denouement)?

Structuring Your Novel Workbook: Hands-On Help for Building Strong and Successful StoriesStructuring Your Novel Workbook: Hands-On Help for Building Strong and Successful Stories by K.M. Weiland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Structuring Your Novel Workbook would make a great electronic fillable form. As it stands, I got the kindle version, which is fine, but lacks that satisfying, fill-it-in aspect. The paperback would be nice, but I’d likely need to buy one for every story. :) I do love all the directions and questions in it. It’s like getting the anatomy of your story laid out in an easy to digest format. I feel the need to rearrange some of the items, though. I think this book blends really well with Randy Ingermanson’s How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method (Advanced Fiction Writing Book 1) – Start with the general idea, find the big plot points, then start filling in pinch points and hooks and foreshadowing and such. Might have to make my own electronic version of the workbook to help me set up plots. Excited to see what this does for my writing.

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