Robert's Rules of Writing: 101 Unconventional Lessons Every Writer Needs to Know

The book is full of a lot of chapters. But those very short chapters taken together present a lot of good advise. I especially enjoyed two --- "Throw Away Your Thesaurus" and "Tell Don't Show." Once in an Expository Class the Instructor told us about the dangers of a thesaurus -- a word with more letters and syllables is often not better than a simpler word. But I always heard about the "Show Don't Tell" advise for good writing but iI enjoyed learning the argument on the other side.

At first glance I liked the book. Short, entertaining chapters that make you re-think your thinking about writing. I actually found I felt comforted by the 'rules' since I seem to be following most of them. With over 50 articles published on the web, greeting card verse sales and several articles in local magazines, my bank account tells me I'm doing something right, but I'm in a constant state of "I could have done better." Rule #69: Grumble and Fuss, made me laugh at myself. With all of Robert's rules, education and experience, he's still a guy who speaks to the uncertain beginning writer in all of us.

This delivers on the 3 Es of teaching: it educates, entertains and enlightens. For anyone thinking of becoming a writer, as well as for anyone already in the writing game.

For an aspiring writer this book was magnificent. When you didn't have the chance for creative writing education this was a plum to have discovered. It provides the prospective, confidence and above all the courage for a novice to strive forward. Above all his message conveys the desire to succeed. I may find a better manual of instruction but before I do I will read this one several times.

For the amateur writer, the "rules" can be the most discouraging thing ever, and I have no doubt that many, such as "Show, don't Tell" have kept a great many people from putting pen to paper or daydreams to keyboard. Enter Robert Masello- every field has one of them, someone who comes along and tells you it's ok to ignore the rules, toss aside the current vogue or "Take the Prozac" (rule #8) and even "Throw out your thesaurus" (#3) in order to get the creativity flowing and your story in the works. I appreciated this book a great deal. Out of all the books I have read on writing, this is the first one that seemed "writer friendly" and understanding of the fear and trepidation a new writer can face, also the sloth and confusion that can be created by trying to adhere to the rules. Far from being a volume on how all the other writing advice is wrong, Masello charts different territory, and rather than more rules, it seems like 101 Permission Slips signed by someone who has honestly walked the path and wants to encourage others to make the most of their writing. Moments of humor, candor, some tantalizing inside stories spice things up and serve to illustrate every rule on "rule" breaking. Some of these genuinely shocked me. "Stop Reading" (#14) in which he advises the writer to avoid "filling" their "head with other people's prose" was surprising but logical. If you are working at being a writer, and have more than two rule books on your shelf, please do yourself a favor and pick this one up as well, you will not be sorry.

Robert Masello is one of those valuable writers who also knows how to write about writing. In his two previous books, "A Friend in the Business" and "Writer Tells All," Masello explained the inner workings of the worlds of television writing and publishing. Both books were sprinkled throughout with generous dollops of his dry wit. Now, in "Robert's Rules of Writing," Masello distills his experience as a writer into 101 lessons that are of value to anyone trying to make a living in the field. "Robert's Rules of Writing" is not a book about grammar or technique, but rather, a charming conversation on how to cope with the daily issues of living as a writer. Personally, what I found most valuable were the rules that contradicted the ones we're been taught before. For example, Rule 56, "Buy the Smoking Jacket," takes issue with the all the writing teachers who challenged their students with the question, "Do you want to write...or do you just want to be a writer?" Masello reminds us that there is nothing wrong with visualizing yourself as a success to inspire you to get your words written. Masello comes off as your favorite uncle, who has been there before you and wants to share what he's learned. In short, this is the perfect book for any writer. Buy one for yourself and one for a friend.