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How to Grow a Novel: The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How to Overcome Them

This book provides a comprehensive look into the challenges faced by writers in the novel writing process, offering strategies to avoid and rectify common mistakes. more

Author

Sol Stein
Sol Stein

Sol Stein is a renowned American author, editor, and publisher, born on October 13, 1926. He is known for his unique editing skills and profound understanding of literary creation, having edited works of many notable authors, including James Joyce and Norman Mailer. more

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“I see manuscripts and books that are spoiled for the literary reader because they are one long stream of top-of-the-head writing, a writer telling a story without concern for precision or freshness in the use of language. Some of this storytelling reads as if it were spoken rather than written, stuffed with tired images that pop into the writer's head because they are so familiar. The top of the head is fit for growing hair, but not for generating fine prose.”

IfsWritingLongBookStoriesUseLanguageGrowingWrittenHairFineReaderFitConcernTiredPopsFamiliarStorytellingStreamsProseSpoiledPrecisionManuscriptsFreshnessUse Of Language
Author:Sol Stein
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“Our instinct as human beings is to provide answers, to ease tension. As writers our job is the opposite, to create tension and not dispel it immediately.”

HumansJobsHuman BeingsAnswersOppositesInstinctEaseTension
Book:Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies
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“Personally, I am always more impressed by simplicity, clarity; it is the mark of a writer who knows his subject well and is secure enough not to 'lay it on' in the telling. Aim for complexity of thought, not expression.”

KnowsWellsEnoughSubjectsExpressionMarkAimLaysSimplicityClaritySecureComplexityImpressed
Book:The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
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