Reviews
★★★★★Amazon CustomerThis book provides an easy-to-follow blueprint for writing your own book. There is just enough explanation to help the reader organized their own thoughts and ideas without overwhelming them. You can read the book in any order you feel is necessary to pull your own book together in the way that your mind works best. Amazing!
5 star Amazon review
★★★★★kuhlJoanna Penn shares so much of her experience while maintaining a tone of positive motivational energy that keeps you focused on pursuing your passion as a writer. I re-read her books often to stay motivated and informed.
5 star Amazon review
★★★★★StacieReally enjoyed this book. I'm currently in the process of writing my first book and I learned plenty of information to help better myself as a writer from this book.
She talks through so much information that works for her and gives links to various writing tools that could help. If you're new to writing, like myself and need help, I highly recommend this book.5 star Amazon review
★★★★★Tiffany MartinJoanna Penn shares her substantial breadth of experience and knowledge to help walk authors through writing a novel, from the approach to the planning to the nitty-gritty of drafting and editing. A practical, straightforward, eminently useful guide.
5 star Goodreads review
★★★★★L.G. CurtisExtraordinarily well put together. Joanna combines a decade+ of real-world indie author experience & all the advice she's heard from speaking with hundreds of other novelists. If your looking to enhance your writing craft look no further, this book's so incredible that I'm going back now to take notes :)
5 star Goodreads review
I voraciously read through this book. There is so much good and applicable information and good solid advice that is doable and broken down. If you are lost on how a novel is supposed to come together, this is an invaluable book. Even after reading it cover to cover, I still reference it as I write my own book. It gets you excited to write!
I've read quite of few in this genre as I've tried to get my first novel finished and this is the best, most complete, and informative of all of them. Add in the plethora of information that she provides on her podcast and you can't go wrong following Joanna Penn wherever she goes!
Really enjoyed this book. I'm currently in the process of writing my first book and I learned plenty of information to help better myself as a writer from this book. She talks through so much information that works for her and gives links to various writing tools that could help. If you're new to writing, like myself and need help, I highly recommend this book.
Fantastic book for those dipping a toe into writing. This is written in an engaging way - self-deprecating and relatable.
A very well written book from a very honest lady. She provided what was necessary . Thanks a lot .
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I voraciously read through this book. There is so much good and applicable information and good solid advice that is doable and broken down. If you are lost on how a novel is supposed to come together, this is an invaluable book. Even after reading it cover to cover, I still reference it as I write my own book. It gets you excited to write!
I've read quite of few in this genre as I've tried to get my first novel finished and this is the best, most complete, and informative of all of them. Add in the plethora of information that she provides on her podcast and you can't go wrong following Joanna Penn wherever she goes!
Really enjoyed this book. I'm currently in the process of writing my first book and I learned plenty of information to help better myself as a writer from this book. She talks through so much information that works for her and gives links to various writing tools that could help. If you're new to writing, like myself and need help, I highly recommend this book.
Fantastic book for those dipping a toe into writing. This is written in an engaging way - self-deprecating and relatable.
A very well written book from a very honest lady. She provided what was necessary . Thanks a lot .
Joanna Penn always organized her book content, so it is easily read and understood. Thanks!
This book will assist you on your creative journey
I’ve read many books on how to write a novel and gleaned lots of good stuff from all of them. But I have a hard time outlining or writing the way many writers teach. Ms. Penn was an excellent alternative. She refers to herself as a “discovery writer” mostly because she’s British, and she does not like the word “pantser” which is distinctly American! Regardless of terminologies, she gave wonderful encouragement in how to write when your creative process is very different from the majority of main stream writers. I found her book encouraging, helpful, insightful, and downright enjoyable to read. She made me want to sit down and write!
Very helpful and full of practical advice, busting with insights, wisdom, and her own personal experience and recommendations. I have never written a book, but now have the tools. Thank you.
Joann Penn writes this book from her own experience. One thing I like about it is she does NOT say what everyone else is saying. For instance, the new fad is “there is no such thing as writer’s block.” YES there is, they just try to call it something else. In this book she goes from your idea to the publishing of your book and everything in between. There are 5 parts: First Principles - Ideas, Research, Plotting, and Discovery Writing - Aspects of a Novel - Writing the First Draft - The Editing Process. She gives you links to all the tools you will need. The advice given to new authors is just keep writing and fix up whatever mess you made during the editing process. I did that YUK! She offers three solutions - one being doing light editing during the writing process, which I am trying the second time around. Love Joanna Penn. Her books are easy to read and full of valuable information. GET THIS BOOK!
Joanna Penn shares so much of her experience while maintaining a tone of positive motivational energy that keeps you focused on pursuing your passion as a writer. I re-read her books often to stay motivated and informed.
So far I am really getting a lot of great information from her book.
If you want to write a novel, learn from the best. Joanna Penn, the author of 18 novels, presenter of the Creative Penn podcast, public speaker and teacher on the topic, shares her knowledge in this comprehensive guide. Whether you are thinking of writing a novel, have started your first draft or are a seasoned story teller, this book is full of practical advice.
Peppered with her personal experiences throughout, Joanne takes you through the mindset required to completing your novel, the elements which make up a successful story, different methods for planning and writing your novel and the selection of your support team - editors, beta readers, proofreaders, and more.
Having read Joanna's book, I discovered that I am more of a discovery writer than I thought. This has freed my imagination to take my characters on a journey while keeping the book's premise intact. Thank you for all your non-fiction books - they are all worth reading.
I loved this book. Plenty of information to be able to get started, without being an overly-long read. There's also a wealth of reading recommendations for further study, and I've added quite a few new books to my reading list.
The chapter on discovery writing was especially helpful. I've got so many folders where I stash odds and ends that might one day add up to a story. This section showed me that this chaotic process is okay. I haven't found that validation in other writing books.
Also, this is the first time I've bought direct from an author in many years. I'm very impressed by how smooth the process was. My previous experiences with other authors were of books that didn't quite work properly in terms of formatting for my Kindle, or of a complicated process for getting the files. Ordering direct from Joanna was a dream, such a smooth and easy experience. I'll definitely be buying direct again.