Non-Fiction Book Review Archive
Book Review: 'Write Your Book in a Flash,' Dan Janal
"Write Fearlessly" is a concise and comprehensive productivity book for writers that focuses primarily, but not entirely, on overcoming the fears, the resistance, the procrastination, and the critical mind, that cripple our creativity.
Denney breaks the fears down into various categories and offers specific ways to defeat them. Still, it's pretty clear they are all grotesque, distorted faces of the same core insecurity. The author punctuates each point with numerous examples of great writers who overcame or were paralyzed, thwarted, and even destroyed by writing terror.
With encouragement, inspiration, practical exercises, and appropriate warnings, Denney helps authors at all levels navigate the black sea of the subconscious, and produce authentic, imaginative work. Without becoming overtly religious, he references the pleasure and victory we can experience when we acknowledge our creativity as a powerful and transforming gift from our Creator.
Finally, Denney tantalizes writers with the golden fleece, the ecstasy of writing "in the zone," though his companion productivity book "Writing in Overdrive" goes into more detail on that subject. Highly recommended, mostly because this self-help book for writers makes overcoming fear and resistance seem achievable.
I'm a collector of productivity books, especially ones that promise to help me become a faster, better, more prolific author.
Of fiction.
Dan Janal's quick, concise, yet comprehensive "Write Your Book in a Flash" is THE go-to writing productivity book for would-be writers.
Of non-fiction.
It's not just writers of poetry, plays, and stories who have a burning desire to express themselves through the printed--or--digitized word. We've all got something to share. But if you're not a "creative" writer, where do you turn?
Dan Janal's "Write Your Book in a Flash."
Janal promises to give non-authors everything thing they need to write a book in order to ultimately reach their BUSINESS goals, and he delivers. He does so in a straightforward, step-by-step, linear way, without all the mystery and magical thinking fiction writers love so much.
He wants his readers to get the job--a book--done and get back to business. That includes building a book like it's a promotional product, then marketing it as a way of establishing expertise in your field, building credibility, and standing out from amongst a field of competitors. And then incidentally make some extra money, get speaking engagements, and contribute to the community.
First, he establishes his own credibility as the go-to-guy for creating this type of book. Then he breaks it down, including many techniques that will also benefit fiction writers ready to come down from the clouds for a minute and learn about productivity.
It's all here, from getting a macro view of the project, focusing the message, outlining and structure (yes, non-fiction books follow arcs as well), creating the front and back matter, and using stories (there IS a fiction component) to illustrate the points you want to make.
Janal covers several topics that most people--even fiction writers--don't even know they're supposed to think about, like repurposing blog posts, lectures and other content, book design, collaboration, and more.
I suspect that fiction writers tend to be farther ahead in navigating the indie-publishing game than non-fiction writers. If you're primarily a business-person for whom writing a book would be an adjunct activity, not the prime focus, you don't want to get bogged down learning a whole new industry.
"Write Your Book in a Flash" is a paint-by-numbers guidebook for people who don't consider themselves professional authors but have something to say, are looking for the best way to get that message out there, and supercharge their primary business interests.
CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of Dan Janal's "Write Your Book in a Flash" in Kindle (at a really good price) or paperback. Check out his FB page at https://www.facebook.com/tckpublishing/.
"Write Fearlessly" is a concise and comprehensive productivity book for writers that focuses primarily, but not entirely, on overcoming the fears, the resistance, the procrastination, and the critical mind, that cripple our creativity.
Denney breaks the fears down into various categories and offers specific ways to defeat them. Still, it's pretty clear they are all grotesque, distorted faces of the same core insecurity. The author punctuates each point with numerous examples of great writers who overcame or were paralyzed, thwarted, and even destroyed by writing terror.
With encouragement, inspiration, practical exercises, and appropriate warnings, Denney helps authors at all levels navigate the black sea of the subconscious, and produce authentic, imaginative work. Without becoming overtly religious, he references the pleasure and victory we can experience when we acknowledge our creativity as a powerful and transforming gift from our Creator.
Finally, Denney tantalizes writers with the golden fleece, the ecstasy of writing "in the zone," though his companion productivity book "Writing in Overdrive" goes into more detail on that subject. Highly recommended, mostly because this self-help book for writers makes overcoming fear and resistance seem achievable.
Denney breaks the fears down into various categories and offers specific ways to defeat them. Still, it's pretty clear they are all grotesque, distorted faces of the same core insecurity. The author punctuates each point with numerous examples of great writers who overcame or were paralyzed, thwarted, and even destroyed by writing terror.
With encouragement, inspiration, practical exercises, and appropriate warnings, Denney helps authors at all levels navigate the black sea of the subconscious, and produce authentic, imaginative work. Without becoming overtly religious, he references the pleasure and victory we can experience when we acknowledge our creativity as a powerful and transforming gift from our Creator.
Finally, Denney tantalizes writers with the golden fleece, the ecstasy of writing "in the zone," though his companion productivity book "Writing in Overdrive" goes into more detail on that subject. Highly recommended, mostly because this self-help book for writers makes overcoming fear and resistance seem achievable.
I'm a collector of productivity books, especially ones that promise to help me become a faster, better, more prolific author.
Of fiction.
Dan Janal's quick, concise, yet comprehensive "Write Your Book in a Flash" is THE go-to writing productivity book for would-be writers.
Of non-fiction.
It's not just writers of poetry, plays, and stories who have a burning desire to express themselves through the printed--or--digitized word. We've all got something to share. But if you're not a "creative" writer, where do you turn?
Dan Janal's "Write Your Book in a Flash."
Janal promises to give non-authors everything thing they need to write a book in order to ultimately reach their BUSINESS goals, and he delivers. He does so in a straightforward, step-by-step, linear way, without all the mystery and magical thinking fiction writers love so much.
He wants his readers to get the job--a book--done and get back to business. That includes building a book like it's a promotional product, then marketing it as a way of establishing expertise in your field, building credibility, and standing out from amongst a field of competitors. And then incidentally make some extra money, get speaking engagements, and contribute to the community.
First, he establishes his own credibility as the go-to-guy for creating this type of book. Then he breaks it down, including many techniques that will also benefit fiction writers ready to come down from the clouds for a minute and learn about productivity.
It's all here, from getting a macro view of the project, focusing the message, outlining and structure (yes, non-fiction books follow arcs as well), creating the front and back matter, and using stories (there IS a fiction component) to illustrate the points you want to make.
Janal covers several topics that most people--even fiction writers--don't even know they're supposed to think about, like repurposing blog posts, lectures and other content, book design, collaboration, and more.
I suspect that fiction writers tend to be farther ahead in navigating the indie-publishing game than non-fiction writers. If you're primarily a business-person for whom writing a book would be an adjunct activity, not the prime focus, you don't want to get bogged down learning a whole new industry.
"Write Your Book in a Flash" is a paint-by-numbers guidebook for people who don't consider themselves professional authors but have something to say, are looking for the best way to get that message out there, and supercharge their primary business interests.
CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of Dan Janal's "Write Your Book in a Flash" in Kindle (at a really good price) or paperback. Check out his FB page at https://www.facebook.com/tckpublishing/.
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Book Review: 5,000 Words Per Hour, by Chris Fox
5,000 Words Per Hour – Write Faster, Write Smarter, by Chris Fox
5,000 Words Per Hour. Say, what? Five THOUSAND wph? Sounds impossible, but it's NOT. Chris Fox has come up with a training plan for "writing sprints" to gradually build efficiency and productivity. Using his method, I started off in the 4K to 5K wph range in five-minute micro-sprints, and it blew my mind. The book offers a lot more, especially in the areas of tracking your writing, outlining, and the all-important mindset required to produce good work, quickly and consistently. Though the massive word counts apply primarily to writing first drafts, Fox also suggests "editing sprints," which I won't try until I finish my next first draft. Ultimately, Fox is a proponent of dictation over typing, and though I haven't tried that yet, I've seen first hand how effective dictation can be. He even provides a downloadable word tracking spreadsheet, and a free iPhone app! If you are absolutely committed to becoming a prolific author, this and Rachel Aaron's 2K to 10K are the two best resources I've come across so far.
To purchase a copy, CLICK HERE.
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Book Review: Great Moments in the Theatre, by Benedict Nightingale
Great Moments in the Theatre, by Benedict Nightingale
Great Moments in the Theatre. The extraordinary English theatre critic with a remarkable 20-year career in London and New York newspapers has written this "must read" collection of essays describing what he believes are the top 100 or so moments in the history of western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks. I've taught theatre history, dramatic literature and theory and criticism, and I've got to say, for the most part Nightingale's "greatest hits" is fun to read, informative, and occasionally controversial. This book really is required reading for theatre lovers, both stage artists and fans alike. He describes breakthroughs, crowning achievements and even deadly riots related to this art form that has been "dying" for 2,000 years. I get the feeling he could easily write a sequel and give us a hundred more!
To purchase a copy, CLICK HERE.
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Book Review: Steal Like an Artist, by Austin Kleon
Steal Like an Artist, by Austin Kleon
Steal Like an Artist is a cute, easy-to-read little novelty book that is PACKED with encouragement and useful tips. It's not so much a "how-to" book, as a collection of short, pithy meditations on living a productive, fulfilling life as an artist. It's skewed more toward writers but is useful for all artists, especially those just getting started in this noisy, confusing, digital age. The paperback version is an odd shape (six by six inches) and packed with quotes, photos and diagrams. A poet and visual artist, Kleon describes making art as a process of bringing together several ideas, themes, influences, tropes, that affect you on an emotional level. It's not about copying another artist's style or voice but of INTEGRATING several powerful and inspiring sources, then creating something NEW and YOU.
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Side Hustle Blueprint:
How to Make an Extra $1000 in 30 Days Without Leaving Your Day Job! by Lise Cartwright
I didn't want to buy this book. I didn't even want to read this book. I wanted to read the second book in the series: Side Hustle Blueprint: How to Make an Extra $1000 per month Writing eBooks!
After all, that's what I want to learn. I don't need a get-rich-quick "telemarketing from home" or "flipping real estate" type pitch. It's obvious that traditional publishing is collapsing, so if I want to see any of the books I plan to write get published, I'm going to have to go the indie-author, e-book route.
I get it, and frankly, the idea is exhilarating.
But I learned back in college that sometimes when you want to take an advanced or specialized course, you need the "prerequisite" class first.
Even though I'd already purchased the Kindle version of Writing eBooks, and was primed to jump right in, I went back and purchased the first one. The one with the "too good to be true" title.
I'm so glad I did!
Lise Cartwright has a friendly "voice," and makes even the most daunting and terrifying (at least to a creative) tasks required to jump start a side business manageable. For those of us who aren't natural entrepreneurs, but recognize freelancing and consulting are the future, Without Leaving Your Day Job is the place to begin.
At just around 118 pages (and priced accordingly), Without Leaving Your Day Job is quick, concise, non-threatening and actually fun to read. It's not intimidating, and doesn't assume you already know about launching businesses. There are loads of checklists and action plans. The information is summarized at the end of each chapter.
Best of all, Cartwright recognizes that those of us with day jobs need to ease in slowly, continue doing our breadwinning with integrity, but not dink around spinning our wheels and dreaming. The narrative fairly gushes with a spirit of generosity, reassurance, a recognition that more than the tantalizing "thousand a month", what we really want is a shot at freedom and fulfillment, doing what we love.
Cartwright has actually created a hybrid between a feel-good self-help book and an introduction to creating a home business in the Cloud Age.
That's the beauty of the book, along with gobs of links to free resources, and the plethora of checklists.
Cartwright guides prospective Side Hustlers along the path of discerning your best idea for a part time business, finding clients, creating a social media presence, pitches and proposals, interviewing, contracts, managing payments, time management, and more. She recognizes that too much information can be overwhelming, and that getting started on the right foot is more important than learning advanced concepts, practices and strategies. Those will come later, once the side hustle is up and running and begins to grow.
This book is a classic case of showing me that I didn't know what I didn't know, but needed to know.
It's all good. So now I'm ready for Lise Cartwright's primer on writing and publishing ebooks!
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