Reviews of Self-Editing and First Five Pages

I do owe some reviews, so here are two on recent writing-help books I’ve read. 

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King

8 out of 10

I think I saw the recommendations, liked the title, yet the title set different expectations in me.  Not the authors’ fault.  It’s a good book.  They give clear examples of each chapter’s topic. 

The kind of book I was looking for was how do I make it easier to find my own mistakes?  When I reread something I wrote I usually know exactly what I meant to say.  I also don’t always see the little errors that like when I repeat words in the same sentence, I sometimes use a similar sounding word, when I know which the right one, or quirky little things that are based on the way I talk.

The First Five Pages, A Writer’s Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman

9 out of 10

All good stuff in here, and I have to say anyone who enjoys Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky too certainly earns five stars from me :^)

What’s this book about?  It’s help to grab the attention of an agent, editor or reader on the first page to get them to turn it to the second, then the third.

And it’s about getting the right attention, not like the student who scribbled ‘don’t fale me’ smiley-face on their test as a note to the teacher.