Barnaby Conrad (1922–2013)

A guide for authors, divided into a lot of sections which each tackle a particular topic. Rather an old book now (1990), but the general sections on e.g. character development, endings, themes, description, how to deal with writer's block and rejection, how short stories differ from novels etc are still applicable, it's just the material on the publishing industry which is now out of date and that is a relatively small part of the book.

The book uses a lot of examples, with some quotes, and also advice from a lot of different writers, either classic ones such as Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald etc, or those who were very popular at the time of publication. Some, who were apparently best sellers, I've never heard of, but a lot are familiar names even if I've never read their books, e.g. Sidney Sheldon. Quite a few extracts come from the various addresses given at the Santa Barbara Writers' Conference which I think was held annually and is still running.

The main 'bias' is that the book is overwhelmingly American, unsurprisingly in view of its genesis at the Santa Barbara Writers' Conference, and references to 'this country' etc are obviously the USA, although authors like Chekhov are discussed. There's some good advice here for beginner writers; for me, it's reinforcement although I found the examples interesting and I wish I'd read this years ago when I was given bad advice about writer's block, because the advice in this book is what I discovered the hard way - don't wait for a great idea, instead just write any old thing and eventually the creative spirit will return.… (más)

Snoopy writes the same story over and over, without seeming to realize it, just like me and so many other writers. He receives the most outrageous rejections in the business, sometimes days before he's finished, let alone submitted, his manuscripts. Snoopy's "brother" Monte, son of Charles Schulz, has provided the ultimate fantasy writing guide: a collection of strips featuring Snoopy as auteur and brief essays from writers that are part fan letter, part heartfelt advice for the struggling rooftop typist. Comfort and reassurance--and bracing, hard recommendations--are all wrapped up in the star of Happiness Is a Warm Puppy.… (más)

This book is exactly what it purports to be: "a romp" through literature and Hollywood, a culling from the herd of 101 of the best scenes ever written. Mr. Conrad, a best-selling author who also used to professionally wave capes at riled-up bulls (until forced by a "bad goring" to retire from the sport), makes good on his promise. Scene after scene flits by without any but the barest verbal stitching on Conrad's part. The author's picture shows Conrad scowling scholarly at the camera, standing next to an easel and canvas, holding paints in his hands, the canvas's pretty woman's visage resembling something like what I imagine Joan and Jackie Collins's librarian sister to look like.

And so I was prepared for Mr. Conrad to maybe use the book's occasion to trot out some of his own writing. Nonetheless, I still cringed when Mr. Conrad, with a bit of hemming and erming, introduced one of his own scenes. But I'll be damned if it wasn't one of the best scenes in the entire book. Seriously.

The downside of this book is that it is chockablock with spoilers. The book's basically nothing but spoilers. It is just one spoiler after the other. Little Women? Jo dies. Tale of Two Cities? Whathisname dies in place of his friend. Animal Farm? Animals dominate other animals; the humans step back in the picture at the end. Also, Mr. Conrad is a tad too impressed with Hollywood's whole system of self-congratulation. I lost count of how many times he describes this or that famous scene, and then says: "This scene is so good that when Actor X and Actress Y played the parts on the big screen, they both won Oscars." As if winning an Oscar settled forever some kind of artistic question. But if it, how then to explain Cuba Gooding Jr. Robin Williams. James Cameron.

But that is not to say that Mr. Conrad fails to instruct. He does a great job. Nor does he fail to charm. He's a real charmer. He is likable. He chucks the reader's chin, and gives him candy on the sly. He picks the reader up from home at dusk, drives him a little distance, and then parks the car. "Shhhh!" he says. "Watch!" He points to the sky. First one, then another, and then too many too count: fireworks explode in the sky.

Oooh. Aaaah.… (más)