How to Write a Novel

I think Braine offers helpful suggestions for those who want to writer readable and sellable fiction. His provides insights learned from experience writing and reading. He is careful to emphasize that what he advises is what has worked for him and what he has learned and that it is not gospel. But, he does offer some practical do's and don't's regarding writing, especially when discussing technical things like writing narrative, dialogue, and different points of view. He inserts many poignant examples of good and bad writing that support the points he is making. Like the other writers writing about writing, Braine comes to the point that the bottom line is that writers ignore many things and sacrifice others to write and write--writing is work and takes discipline and suffering. And, Braine is able to offer encouragement and hope that it can be rewarding. I found the audio cassette at the library and recommend it to you.

I have to agree with everything the only other reviewer has said. He has not written anything about this book that I can disagree with. I am an aspiring writer, but I have the misfortune of being overly critical of the suppositions and speculations presented to me as far as HOW to write goes. Over the years I have read many books concerning how to write the great book. Braine's book has been in my library for years. The whole conversation in the first chapter with Sinclair Lewis asking, "Hands up, all those who want to be writers!" and then, "Then why the hell aren't you at home writing?", has been, for me, the most memorable line out of this kind of book. Why the hell not, indeed?This book fits into my collection of "how to write" books very nicely. It is not prescriptive, but highly suggestive. Not all his opinions are gospel, of course, but his ideas are presented as tried and proven. There are no "musts" in Braines world, and no diagrams delineating how the plot line SHOULD run. Braine's presentation is far more organic than the diagramatic and prescriptive methods prevalent in most "self-help" books on writing today.For someone who wants to write original thoughts for publication, Braine's book is helpful in keeping the writer somewhat honest.

The author states in his forward, "This is a practical manual, a conducted tour of my workshop. The workshop is scruffy-I imagine it as a ramshackle wooden hut on the wrong side of town, every piece of machinery makeshift and battered-but somehow or other the work is done there, and done on time. The rules which I write by are rules of thumb, rough guides rather than precise instructions. I didn't formulate them before I wrote my first novel; I stumbled across them in the process of writing." This is a wonderful book, 221 pages in my edition, with the last fifty devoted to extracts of notes from early drafts of his novel, Room at the Top. Braine is an Englishman and the book has a 1974 copyright which may prompt you to wonder about it's relevance. But whether you are English or not, you are a writer and Braine's advice is important. Naturally, his comments about publishing may be of only historical interest. He writes clearly, explicitly with the objective of helping you produce a publishable novel, whether genre or mainstream. The closest he comes to a specific genre, though, is the thriller, with the commentary in his chapter "The Point of Improbability." He also says, "Of course, there are other ways of writing a readable novel than mine. But mine is acceptable to British and American readers. I don't promise you instant success, but neither do I offer theories which are unproved in practice." He has a straightforward style and makes the reader feel as if he's speaking directly to them. He offers encouragement, while being realistic. A random opening of the book finds names like Podhoretz, Rebecca West, Irving Wallace, Frederick Forsythe, John O'Hara, John Dos Passos, Ian Fleming, Graham Greene, Mary McCarthy, Brendan Behan and others, either for simple interjection of apt quotes and examples or for more detailed analysis. You will not necessarily agree with everything he says, and for the more experienced writer, or anyone who has read a dozen "how to write novels" books, you will not find any gems or revelations. Nevertheless, you will find solid advice from a successful author who covers all the territory, and offers it in a enjoyable and readable manner. It is essentially a holistic approach (but not identified as such by the author) and though there are individual chapters devoted to viewpoint , narrative, description and so on, each chapter itself seems integrated, as in a novel. As no novel is written with chapter one, all description, chapter two, only dialogue, chapter three, all characterization, and so forth, the individual chapters of Braine's guide support each other and themselves. This won't be the last writing book you will read, but if it's the first, you've made an excellent choice. In re-reading it for this review, I enjoyed it all over again.