Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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“Plant a Bomb on the First Page”

The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells by Ben Bova

May 20, 2021 by sabian30 2 Comments

The late, great science fiction novelist, Ben Bova (1932-2019) began his life in aeronautics and his incredible planetary fiction shows it. He didn’t cotton with malarky like wormholes and faster-than-light drives. His use of hard (and practical) science distinguished him from other SF writers, and he shared that with us through his own writing experiences in this book. I’d not read many of his short stories, but he reprints his shorter ones in this book to give new writers solid examples of developing character, plot, […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: Ben Bova, books about writing, Writing Books

sabian30's CBR13 Review No:10 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: Ben Bova, books about writing, Writing Books ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

I’m Wearing Out My Copy

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King

May 1, 2021 by sabian30 Leave a Comment

There are several basic self-help books out there for amateur writers, and I was surprised I hadn’t heard of this one before a fellow writer used this book to point out some of my own misdeeds. Since then, Self-Editing has become my go-to book for basic things like point of view, the mechanics of dialogue, avoiding dreaded exposition, and other building blocks of the writer’s trade. Recently, I was struggling with inner monologue for my characters (I don’t use it a lot and I should), […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: Renni Browne and Dave King, Writing Books

sabian30's CBR13 Review No:9 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: Renni Browne and Dave King, Writing Books ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


Recent Comments

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  • Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
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