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Last Updated: May 30th, 2008 - 11:49:13 |
In the same way some ballplayers give back to the community by teaching younger generations the fundamentals of the game, Walter Mosley submits his how-to book, This Year You Write Your Novel, for all aspiring writers on the come up. Mosley boldly promises a stringent but accessible three-month plan for writers of all levels to finish their novels. Running just over 100 pages, the guide balances a motivational voice with instructional content, dedicated to bringing a book idea from a seed in the author’s mind to a written first draft.
Having struggled with the techniques of effective creative writing as a young author himself,
Mosley makes This Year You Write Your Novel as conceptually universal as possible. He avoids grandiose vocabulary and limits his explanations on literary devices (metaphor, dialogue, and character) to a page or less. He even shares a dirty joke about a poor women who cleverly wins a two hundred thousand dollar bet just to illustrate a point about the effectiveness of plot twists. He writes, “The best way to understand this potential strength of surprise in plot is to look at the structure of most jokes. In a joke you are given a great deal of storyline information up front but by the end, that information comes together in an altogether unexpected way."
The pervading message of This Year You Write Your Novel urges aspiring writers to establish a daily routine. Mosley says that he writes three hours each day first thing in the morning. Although he encourages new writers to establish their own routine, he strongly emphasizes writing as early as possible in the day to nurture the subconscious mind. Mosley writes, “While you sleep, mountains are moving deep within your psyche. When you wake up and return to the book, you will be amazed by the realization that you are further along than when you left off yesterday.”
If anything, this book soothes the anxiety that most novices face in front of a blank page. This concise handbook reminds future novelists that veterans experience the same difficulties as rookies during the literary process. The difference in writers lies in who perspires to the end. So read up and don’t let the cursor blink for too long.
<sidik fofana lives in new york city
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