Good book. ( )

Brief but thorough introduction to Smith's writing style, aka organic or pantsing (or as Smith refers to it, writing into the dark). Quick motiviational collection of essays. ( )

I do believe this short book has stopped me going mad. I do not say this lightly. I also think it is written for people whose brains work in a certain way, those who think in pictures rather than words, like mine. If you can't think in pictures, or concepts, then you might think this book is some form of alchemy, but if you get it, you get it.
It is a quick, easy read that makes sense. There are a few repetitions in it, but I'll excuse them because I related so well to the contents. If you are a pantser, this is your cup of tea and you may already do some if not all of these things. If you are an outliner and fed up of being bored and want to get a bit of fire back into your writing, try some of these techniques and you may be surprised.
I have always been a pantser writing short stories, whether they be 1,500 words or 20,000 words. I sit down, I start, the words come out based on a movie in my head, I edit as I go, I jump about, and I stop when the words end. And I don't do a bad job.
Every so often I get an idea I think would make a good novel length piece of work. Anything I have ever read about writing novels has told me I should prepare some form of outline so I don't get stuck. I HATE outlining. It is boring. I've tried everything, from cue cards to software to try and get through the process, but I stop part way through because my brain is numb from doing such a tedious task.
A few weeks ago, I had an idea and I thought 'stuff it, why can't I write a novel like a story?' It's an action adventure, I want to be taken for a ride, not bogged down in some detail about a character's ex's grandmother who had one eye destroyed in a freak accident in 1972, and that is why she is terrified of blindness.
I then found this book. And this guy writes exactly how I do, even jumping back 500 words if I get stuck to get myself back in the flow. If I come to a point where I need to know something I don't know, such as what portable light source did the police use in England in 1937 because my character has one of these in hand lighting the way down a dim passage, I just jump on the 'net and find out. Two minutes later I am typing 'Wootton lantern'. Easy.
One of the other things the author talks about is outlining as you go, AFTER you've written a scene. I also do this by using the cork board facility in Scrivener, writing a line or two such as, Bob finds body in dim passage and is accosted by the killer. Scrivener is also great because you can easily shift scenes and chapters about.
I especially enjoyed Chapter 10 about the end of a novel. I understand completely. When I get close to the end, it is like a movie plays in super fast forward in my head. I know exactly what needs to come out in words. My brain is planning in pictures, but corresponds roughly to something like Characters meet in chapel, ticking clock (not literally), confrontation, wounded, last chance, saves the day. In contrast, when I see these few words, the movie of a complex interaction will play in my head with the characters racing against time to defeat the antagonist once and for all before the terrible thing I thought up as a consequence happens. For me, it is easier to jump into this movie any time I want with a few key words as a prompt than to try and follow some outline I wrote before I even started writing.
This book was such a breath of fresh air amid a multitude of How to write a novel books that I am more enthused than ever about writing. My faith has been restored. Thank you Dean Wesley Smith. ( )

retty good. Both frightening and freeing. I've always written short stories without knowing where the story was goibg to go. Now, I'm inspired to try something longer the same way. I like his style — helpful, not too prescriptive. ( )

This book is excellent. It just seem like the author was writing into the dark and ran out of things to say. Maybe there's nothing else to say, except keep on writing. ( )