How to Write a Novella in 24 Hours: And other questionable & possibly insane advice on creativity for writers by Andrew Mayne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I’m in between WIPs, I have a tendency to buy lots of how-to books, in case there’s a magic bullet somewhere that will make book ideas pop into being fully plotted (there isn’t, but I live in hope). I purchased this book on one of those buying sprees.

This book has some nice, to the point, advice. It won’t help you if you don’t already produce decent prose at a reasonable pace, but if you do, there’s some useful tips in here. Nothing you haven’t heard before. I like the no-nonsense presentation.

I say there’s no nonsense, but there is a little bit. The author has clearly not read a romance novel (or a period novel) in a few decades because : “Some genres thrive on meandering plot lines that never really go anywhere. Romance and period books are often really just about spending time inside that world. Readers pick these books up for escapism, not clever plot twists or information. They just want to be somewhere else while they read them. When you write these kinds of stories it’s okay to take all the time you please.”

That bit of silly-buggery aside, it’s a good book. Useful. Well worth the 99p I spent on  it.

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