Sol Stein (1926–2019)

I tried and made it through the first one-third of this book before giving up. It’s not a bad book. In fact, Stein had numerous tips that writers can use to improve their work. But it’s information dense and not particularly interesting to read.

Stein’s stated goal of this book was to provide techniques for solving editorial problems. He certainly does that, but the tips and techniques follow one after the other in an information dense format. He provides examples which are of some use, but I doubt anyone can make effective use of the countless suggestions he provides.

An eBook version of this book with a list of all the tips linked to their discussion in the book might be somewhat more useful than this print version. Even better would be to use this as a sourcebook in college writing classes. Students having access to an instructor who can evaluate efforts to incorporate the suggestions into their writing would benefit. However, I do not recommend it for sit-at-home readers.… (más)

Definitely one of my top 10 writing guides. Comprehensive and detailed with a plethora of examples. Two techniques, which I haven't seen described in this useful and epiphanic way in any other book, stand out:

Particularity
We hear about avoiding clichés and generalities, but here Stein puts forward a positive admonition.

"To characterize, particularity is used to show how an individual looks dresses, or speaks without resort to cliches or generalizations."

Triage revising
Instead of going through a page-by-page edit, you should fix the major problems first, much like a developmental editor would. I'll be using this revision process going forward.

"Even some of the most experienced authors are not aware of a better way of revising than repeatedly starting at page one and going through to the end... the writer, having gone through his entire manuscript, is likely to grow "cold" on his manuscript... What follows is a guide to the triage method of revision, which gives priority to those matters that are the principal causes of rejection by editors."

The process is to make sure that you've achieved the following:

1) Humanized your characters.
2) Your villains are morally villainous rather than merely badly behaved.
3) Created a credible conflict between your protagonist and antagonist.
4) All your scenes are important and memorable.
5) All actions are clearly motivated.
6) Your first page is compelling enough for the reader to turn to page two.

His occasional self-aggrandizing salesman voice can be irritating, but don't let that get in the way of learning numerous, solid techniques to improve your craft. A must-read book on the craft of wrting!… (más)