Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne
Like most writers, I have a whole shelf full of books like this. I saw this particular one plugged on a site for indie authors. By “plugged” I mean they basically said they wouldn’t even look at your stuff unless you had read this book. I’ve heard similar fanaticism about other writing books, and generally, I find that the “this is the only acceptable writing book accept no substitutes” kind of exhortations don’t hold up. There are a lot of equally good books about writing out there. Unlike many self-help books, writing guides are almost always written by professional writers. This one in particular not a bad book at all. It’s quite good. In fact, if you were to buy only one book on writing, go ahead and get this one. It’s just as good as anything else you’re likely to find, and better than many. The only thing I thought poorly done about this book were the cartoons. They were tiny, irrelevant, and nearly illegible. I have no idea why they were included in this book. They added nothing except white space.
Unlike some of the writing memoir books, like Stephen King’s “On Writing” or Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird” this has the basics of crafting a work of fiction rather than just generalities of creation. This book purports to be a book on how to edit yourself, but it’s more a book on how to fix something to look like how it would have looked if it had been written well. There’s the usual chapter on “show, don’t tell,” exhortations to avoid said bookisms, and a few good chapters on pacing and focus. A nice feature is the exercises at the end of the chapter, which I haven’t seen much elsewhere and some people may appreciate. (Answers are in the back.)
If any of these things in here are new, you probably haven’t been writing for very long. At the very least, you probably don’t have my compulsion to read anything you can find about how to write better. Not only was it all stuff I had seen before in other locations, two very specific instances I’d seen in very specific locations In the chapter advising you to avoid profanity, they say it has more punch if it’s the only vulgar word “in the whole fucking book,” a line which was used verbatim in Lawrence Block’s “Telling Lies for Fun and Profit.” Also, the anecdote about a good writer who watered down her theme by using it in subsequent novels. (American man and Asian woman have romance that breaks apart due to cross-cultural differences) I had seen this anecdote elsewhere, I believe in a Writer’s Digest article.
Without diligent practice, this book won’t make you a better writer any more than a running book will make you a better runner if you never lace on your shoes and get out there. Nevertheless, I think it’s a good refresher to be reminded of the basics. I like to read a book on writing every year or so, and this has earned a place on the shelf with the rest of them.
