Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely perfect guide to creating an absolutely perfect novel!
Comment: If you're even wondering if you should spend some of your hard-earned cash on this book, rest assured that the answer is yes, yes, yes!!
Will Write For Shoes is a valuable addition to your library, and thoroughly covers the details of the chick lit genre. Cathy Yardley defines it, gives a history of it and fills readers in on the new trends. Just when you are ready to get to working on your own manuscript, she fills you in on premise (what is "high concept," anyway?), characters, structure, outline and much more.
Of course, there are many books out there that give the basics of how to create fiction, but Will Write For Shoes is the perfect tool if you long to create the chick lit that you adore. It's not a simple concept, but if you follow this author's advice you'll be well on your way to creating a finished manuscript that avoids the cliches, yet gives publishers the idea that they have a solid winner that will strike a chord with readers.
Don't pass up the opportunity to read and own this book. I promise you will refer to Will Write for Shoes over and over again during your writing career!
Thank you, Cathy Yardley for an entertaining, educational keeper of a book!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Nothing terribly new here.
Comment: Cathy Yardley, Will Write for Shoes: How to Write a Chick Lit Novel (St. Martin's, 2006)
I suppose it was a lost cause to consider that a how-to-write book that focused on chick lit novels would have substantially different information on the actual how-to-write bit than your average how-to-write book. The bulk of it, in that regard, is the same, if lighter and shallower (Yardley does refer aspiring writers to some deeper and more involved tomes, to her credit). Where the chick lit leaning of the book comes in is in providing a pretty good list of chick lit friendly contacts-- agents, editors, presses, that sort of thing. Paradoxically, of course, all of that material will come in handy after you've written your novel and are ready to sell it; perhaps a more comprehensive subtitle would have been appropriate for the book? Certainly not the worst how-to-write tome I've ever read, but I was expecting more nuts-and-bolts type stuff. ***
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not the best resource if you've already started writing your novel...
Comment: Will Write for Shoes is a no-nonsense guide to writing, revising, and selling a chick lit novel. Many of the approaches listed in this book aren't specific to chick lit and can be helpful for any genre. Yardley gives a good description of the chick lit genre as it stands (or stood, since the book was published in 2006), the plot devices that are used and overused, what is generally expected of a novel that plans to call itself "chick lit," and a number of hints and suggestions to make your writing better, more fluid, and more publishable. In general, I liked it. But as someone about 35,000 words into my first novel, I have to say that Will Write for Shoes isn't really the book you want to buy when you've already started writing. This book is an excellent work for the planning stages. Yardley's description and suggestions for plotting, outlining, and writing synopses, agent letters, etc, is all excellent advice, but can only really be implemented at the very early stages or once you've finished your book. For someone who's already 1/3 of the way in, it's sort of "store this information for next time." And in fact, a lot of the comments she has on plotting, characterization, etc, come from other books that I did use as a resource before picking this one up, first and foremost the Weekend Novelist by Robert Ray. I enjoyed this book. I think it's a great resource for writers who want to know where to begin (in terms of outlining and structure) and those who are finished and want suggestions on where to sell their book, how to find an agent, and which publishers to approach. If you're between those two stages, I think you'd find more help elsewhere.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This book pleasantly surprised me!
Comment: I am a writer who has been reviewed only by my friends and professors... not published yet. I was surprised by the quality of the insights and guidance included in this quick-to-read book (-no offense to the author, and I apologize for my preconceived assumptions.) Her advice seems right on. My opinion is this book is worth reading for those who want to improve their own material.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good For Writing Any Genre
Comment: A lot of really great tips for structuring and outlining your novel. Even though chick lit is unfortunately on its deathbed, I will be referencing this book for years to come on my mainstream fiction and even on a fantasy book that I now realize can be revitalized with some basic structural elements.
All this, and yet it's still written in such a pleasant lighthearted style that you don't feel like you're reading a boring instructional manual, or, on the other end of the spectrum, an over the top book that treats writing as some sublime spiritual act. "Will Write for Shoes" actually makes you want to write!
|
|
