The Art and Craft of Novel Writing

I read Warlock before I got this book. Reading Warlock was a follow on activity to seeing the Henry Fonda movie. When I read extra notes about the movie on IMDB, it mentioned the significance in the literary world of the Oakley Hall book. After that read, I'm more interested in Oakley Hall. And I discover he writes about writing. OK, I'll try that. And I'm glad I did. I understand much more about what I do wrong and what it will take to correct my writing. I primarily write comic strip oriented scenarios. But the points about what brings an audience into that sharing sphere between book and reader are solid gold. Hall gives great examples of how writing must involve the senses and show action vs being explanatory. His examples vary. I was pleased that he obviously greatly admires John D MacDonald. Faulkner, Twain, Zane Gray, Hemingway, Henry James, and many more are quoted and excerpted in great lessons about POV, Dialogue etc. I still mean to go through the index and write notes from the topics as a memory aid. Highly recommended.

For someone taking the very first steps toward writing a first novel, this book addresses the wide array of subjects that need consideration for novel writing. The author's explanations and accompanying examples are very illustrative and helpful. He follows his explanations with examples of "good" and "not-so-good" to make his point. I give it four stars because I've not read any other novel-writing books to compare it to. But, after reading two chapters, I decided I needed to buy my own copy to highlight and notate for future reference. Starting with detailed chapters on Dramatization, Point of View, Characterization and Plotting, the author moves to Style, Dialog, Indirection, Information and Sex. He finishes with brief chapters that encourage the novice: The Germ, Planning, Beginning, Continuing and Finishing. This book is a good jump-start to those considering entering the field of novel writing. I'm glad I picked it up.

This book approaches writing as a mechanical process and gives solid, concrete advice on topics such as characterization, opening scenes, and lots, lots more. The author uses many examples to make his points. Though not a large book, it is rich with non-mystical techniques and tips (I especially liked his advice regarding using small details for characterization instead of knocking a character's personality over the reader's head with lots of narrative, and the advice regarding how to pick a POV to write from). I seriously cannot think of a single other resource (besides a good dictionary) that would be more useful to an aspiring writer -- every single aspect of fiction writing is covered here.For a while, this was one of the featured books in the Writer's Digest Book Club, and for good reason. If you want to improve your fiction, do not pass up this book.

This isn't as awful as everyone says. It's one of the few books I've found that deals exclusively with the demands of novel writing. Many books on fiction writing do not address the demands of writing a novel which separate the craft from that of writing short fiction. (Even some books purportedly about writing a novel slip into this "fiction is fiction" trap.)The sections cover the basic skills needed to write a decent novel and provide excellent examples.

One can be assured the professional novelist will not enjoy this book, but Oakley Hall does not write for such a reader. Instead, this work is an outline for someone who has never written a novel before. Especially helpful are the varied literary examples which are accompanied by clear notes printed in the margins. The format helps the reader see what beginning writers often miss--the elements of effect writing. Individuals who have never attempted a novel before (and even those who have never written before) will gain insight from Hall's advice.