I have mixed feelings about this book. I think it would've been better to call it 70 Common Writing Mistakes as opposed to 70 solutions to these mistakes. It serves well as a list of things to keep in mind, perhaps even as a checklist to go through for your novel. However, it falls very short in the area of how to fix these mistakes.

The solutions range anywhere from not helpful in the least to very generic (almost frustratingly so), a lot of which gave me a "Well, DUH!" reaction. Often times, the solutions are just a more detailed explanation of why something is a mistake, but it doesn't actually offer tips substantial enough to be called a solution.

For example, the common mistake of Not Finishing, the solution is to suck it up and force yourself to sit down and finish it. That and a reminder that we won't get a contract if we don't finish. Wow, really?

Or the mistake of Not Having an Idea that's Different Enough... the solution is to look inside ourselves and find our own passion and creativity and then use that to put our own spin into things.

And here's also the mistake of Not Doing Enough Work Prior to Starting Your Actual Writing, where the solution is to think through what you're going to do before you do it. No kidding?

I don't know what other people are taking away from the solutions, but I found myself rolling my eyes at every other solution I read in this book. Overall, this book contains a solid list of reminders for things writers need to watch out for, but to call it a solutions book is a bit of an overestimation.

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