Rod Raglin
This blog will touch on the experiences I have as a writer (not to be mistaken for my experience as a writer, i.e. how many books I've written, etc); the pleasure and the pain, the joy and the grief, the satisfaction and the frustration, the magic and the reality - have I left anything out, oh yeah, the rejection, rejection and more rejection, the humiliation and the embarrassment, the jealousy and the resentment - that pretty much covers it, except for why I do it which perhaps I'll realize along the way. Are you totally confused? Good, let's begin.
Go big or go home
This latest offering from non-fiction author and literary agent/agency, Donald Maass, basically talks about the melding of literary and genre writing, or beautifully written, character driven novels with page-turning, plot driven novels, to create what he calls literary/commercial fiction.
Maas liberally quotes (about a quarter of the book) from his favorite examples. Another big chunk of pages are taken up by exercises which I found interesting to read, but tedious to undertake.
Other chapters include his thoughts on creating: inner journey, outer journey, standout characters, three levels of story, beautifully written, and elements of awe.
This is not a book for beginners who need the basics like goal, motivation and conflict. Maas assumes you've written a novel, had limited success and want more.
A few good ideas here but the premise is 'go big or go home'. Write big stories about larger than life characters in life altering situations.
Oh, really?
