WRITING A NOVEL

by John Braine ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 20, 1974

Most books which attempt to teach the writing of a novel (or just about any other genre) are predestined to failure since writing is a talent not a trade; but then ""It's absolutely marvelous to write a successful novel"" and success is ""sweet and succulent"" and you can surely earn 2000 pounds a year even if you can't live on it but be sure to put out of your mind ""any notion of experiment"" (It's not successful). With an arriviste naivete far beyond anything we might have expected of Joe Lambert, Braine has a prix fixe technique--""write from experience"" otherwise it's worthless; apply yourself during three two-hourly sessions per week, 350 words each; etc., etc., along with excerpts and illustrations from others who have produced good and/or best-selling books. If ""a writer is a person who counts words,"" one might equally truthfully admit that a reviewer is a person who counts pages when they don't say anything worthwhile.

Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION