Other Books On Writing

Question

"I'm thinking of buying your Ultimate Guide. I'm also considering getting a load of books on writing instead. Tell me - why should I buy your guide instead of a bunch of books on writing novels from Amazon?"

- Brian, New Jersey

Answer

Hi Brian,

The thing you have to realize is that teaching people how to write a novel isn't straightforward. There are a lot of techniques and "rules" to explain - which is why my Ultimate Guide to Novel Writing is over 500 pages long!

Now, buying a stack of creative writing guides online or from the stores has some potential downsides...

There are some great books for writers out there and some not so great ones - and the only way to find out which is which is to read them and see if they make sense to you. That's what I've spent the last 25 years doing. If you read a lot of books, you find that advice in one contradicts some in another. Which version is right?

You will also come across a lot of misleading or plain wrong advice. Will you be able to tell the good from the bad from the ugly?

If you need to read a lot of writing books to get the "big picture" (and you do), there is an obvious cost issue, too. Even buying books secondhand from Amazon, the price can soon mount up once you've added on shipping.

Even when a writing guide is excellent (and there are many of them out there), they might not explain a subject in sufficient depth. Or they might leave out a vital area. (This is another reason why you need to buy a lot of books on how to write novels - you need to make sure you have all the bases covered.)

The whole point of my own guide to writing a novel is that it cuts out the need to purchase and read a load of creative writing guides. You see, I've been studying all of the published guides all my life, and the Ultimate Guide is the result. It doesn't contain misleading or bad advice. It covers every subject in depth. And it's all presented in an easy-to-understand way.

I've actually read hundreds of books on how to write fiction (including loads of out of print ones you'd find difficult to track down nowadays), and my eBook is a kind of distillation of them all (though in my own words, of course!) And when you compare the cost of Ultimate Guide to Novel Writing to the cost of hundreds of books on writing, mine works out a lot, lot cheaper!

I hope that helps to convince you, Brian.

Best of luck with the writing, whatever you decide.

Harvey