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How to Write a Novel

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How to Write a Novel |

How to Write a Novel

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I address myself to the man or woman of talent—those people who have writing ability, but who need instruction in the manipulation of characters, the formation of plots, and a host of other points with which I shall deal hereafter. Although no school could turn out novelists to order there is yet enough common material in all art-work to be mapped out in a course of lessons. I shall show that the two great requisites of novel-writing are (1) a good story to tell, and (2) ability to tell it effectively. Briefly stated, my position is this: no teaching can produce "good stories to tell," but it can increase the power of "the telling," and change it from crude and ineffective methods to those which reach the apex of developed art.
It was John Simpson, a yard switchman who spoke this taunt to a section hand. A moment more and Michael Flannagan stood on the ground beside him. There was a murderous fire in the Irishman's eyes, and in his hand he held a heavy coupling-pin.

"Tut! tut! Mike. Throw away the iron and play fair. You can wallup him!" cried the rest of the gang.

"He's a coward; he dassn't hit me," came the wasp-like taunt of the switchman. "Let him alone, fellers; his girl's give him the shake, and——"

Those were the last words Simpson spoke. The murderous coupling-pin had descended like a scimitar and crushed his skull.

An awed silence fell upon the little group as they raised the fallen man and saw that he was dead.

"Ye'll be hangin' fur this, Mikey, me bye," whispered one of his horrified companions as the police dragged off the unresisting murderer.

"Oi don't care," came the sullen reply, with a dry sob that belied it. Then, with a look of unutterable hatred, and a nod [20]towards the white, upturned face of his enemy, he added under his breath, "He'll niver git her now."

This is enough to give the beginner an idea of the way in which stories and plots sometimes "occur" to writers of fiction. It is, however, only one of a thousand ways, and my advice to the novice is this: Keep your eyes and ears open; observe and inquire, read and reflect; look at life and the things of life from your own point of view; and just as a financier manipulates events for the sake of money, so ought you to turn all your experiences into the mould of fiction. If, after this, you don't succeed, it is evident you have made a mistake. Be courageous enough to acknowledge the fact, and leave the writing of novels to others.

Anne 03/11/2024
This doesn't get great reviews--yes, it talks about typewriters and other useless details--but it also offers some down-to-earth writing tips from someone who was earning his living at it, so worth considering.

Two stars, and it probably deserves more, for honest, practical advice about dialogue and
Chris 12/25/2017
Written for a different century!
Andrew 05/12/2017
How to write a novel can't tell you how exactly, but it can give you what is obviously a writer's opinion. There are a few nuggets of gold to be found - there is a bit of a world-weariness to the writing, and whilst Braine does dose the advice with reminders that there are always contradictions to t
Jasmine 02/20/2014
I started reading this one, but it was really just an overview of all the same stuff every other writing book talks about without the focus of genre or specific writing issues like some of the other writing books I have. It was also written by a snooty British guy who thinks Americans only write cra
Naumaan 07/21/2013
Not the best one out there (probably b/c it's outdated) but surely helps.
Graeme 08/02/2011
I rated this 4-stars, more because I liked the slight carmudgeonly nature of the author. If you think, I'm gonna write me a book, and I'm going to read me a book about how to write it, this is not your book. It's a lot of suggestion based on the author's highly personal experience of having written

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