Good, solid advice I liked much that this book had to offer for the beginning writer of speculative fiction. I appreciated the sections on building worlds and on writing well. I also gained a lot of practical advice in the last section, about the "nuts and bolts" of being a writer. However, there were times that my mind drifted while reading. The book also leaned towards science fiction and, since I prefer writing fantasy, I found myself longing for more specific info in that arena. All in all, this was a very solid choice in beginning my journey as a fiction writer. I gleaned nuggets that I can use right now in preparations. However, the book was not earth-shattering or life-changing. A good but not great resource.
Writing For Pleasure or Profit Orson S. Card provides a great over view of the writing process while keeping it specifically to speculative fiction. Easy to understand, easy to follow.
Great Book In this book, Orson Scott Card uses his own experiences to illustrate the process of writing. Fans may appreciate his personal stories - I certainly enjoyed hearing about where some of his ideas came from and how they were developed.
Beyond that, however, he gives practical and inspirational advice about how to write that can be applied to any genre (although he focuses on SF and fantasy). Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in writing.
Good, Short, Beginner's Book This book is an excellent resource, summarizing why and how one writes science fiction or fantasy. Other Amazon reviews back up this opinion.
The book is a bit larger (length and width) than a paperback and a bit thin at 140 pages, 3 of which are the index.
The book is a beginner's book, and only a passing familiarity with science fiction and fantasy is needed to understand the occasional name-dropping of books and authors. The language used is at the late middle-shcool/early high-school level. The book is broken into easy-to-digest sections within chapters, and reading the book is a joy rather than a chore.
A second edition of this book has been printed, and I do not know what changes have been made. This edition is $CHEAP$ but worth more than you will pay for it.
An excellent beginning/intermediate writing book Mr. Card has focused on writing science fiction well. However, the book is as much about writing well as it is about writing science fiction. I don't write science fiction, but I enjoyed and learned from this book. Thank you Mr. Card.
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