Dean Wesley Smith

I do believe this short book has stopped me going mad. I do not say this lightly. I also think it is written for people whose brains work in a certain way, those who think in pictures rather than words, like mine. If you can't think in pictures, or concepts, then you might think this book is some form of alchemy, but if you get it, you get it.
It is a quick, easy read that makes sense. There are a few repetitions in it, but I'll excuse them because I related so well to the contents. If you show more are a pantser, this is your cup of tea and you may already do some if not all of these things. If you are an outliner and fed up of being bored and want to get a bit of fire back into your writing, try some of these techniques and you may be surprised.
I have always been a pantser writing short stories, whether they be 1,500 words or 20,000 words. I sit down, I start, the words come out based on a movie in my head, I edit as I go, I jump about, and I stop when the words end. And I don't do a bad job.
Every so often I get an idea I think would make a good novel length piece of work. Anything I have ever read about writing novels has told me I should prepare some form of outline so I don't get stuck. I HATE outlining. It is boring. I've tried everything, from cue cards to software to try and get through the process, but I stop part way through because my brain is numb from doing such a tedious task.
A few weeks ago, I had an idea and I thought 'stuff it, why can't I write a novel like a story?' It's an action adventure, I want to be taken for a ride, not bogged down in some detail about a character's ex's grandmother who had one eye destroyed in a freak accident in 1972, and that is why she is terrified of blindness.
I then found this book. And this guy writes exactly how I do, even jumping back 500 words if I get stuck to get myself back in the flow. If I come to a point where I need to know something I don't know, such as what portable light source did the police use in England in 1937 because my character has one of these in hand lighting the way down a dim passage, I just jump on the 'net and find out. Two minutes later I am typing 'Wootton lantern'. Easy.
One of the other things the author talks about is outlining as you go, AFTER you've written a scene. I also do this by using the cork board facility in Scrivener, writing a line or two such as, Bob finds body in dim passage and is accosted by the killer. Scrivener is also great because you can easily shift scenes and chapters about.
I especially enjoyed Chapter 10 about the end of a novel. I understand completely. When I get close to the end, it is like a movie plays in super fast forward in my head. I know exactly what needs to come out in words. My brain is planning in pictures, but corresponds roughly to something like Characters meet in chapel, ticking clock (not literally), confrontation, wounded, last chance, saves the day. In contrast, when I see these few words, the movie of a complex interaction will play in my head with the characters racing against time to defeat the antagonist once and for all before the terrible thing I thought up as a consequence happens. For me, it is easier to jump into this movie any time I want with a few key words as a prompt than to try and follow some outline I wrote before I even started writing.
This book was such a breath of fresh air amid a multitude of How to write a novel books that I am more enthused than ever about writing. My faith has been restored. Thank you Dean Wesley Smith. show less

Smith offers advice for those exploring the path of being unburdened by overly prescribed plotting in this short book, but it is important to recognize that he is a rare gem of an author who is capable of something few others are. His advice, therefore, comes with a bit of "survivorship bias", so to speak.

His advice is:
- Write with your creative voice and ignore your critical voice.
- Discover your characters and story as you write, as a reader would.
- Write in blocks, then review what you show more just wrote, revise as needed, then move on. "Cycling".
- Do NOT write a second draft. Your story should be done at the end of your first draft and you should only revise in response to editorial requests.
- If you can't figure out where to end your story, just keep writing and reviewing what you wrote every couple of pages. Eventually, you'll discover you "wrote past your ending". Choose the right line and cut everything after.

Smith began his career in a different time. The "don't write a second draft; only revise on editorial request' ethos worked well for him from his very first publishing, but the 70s were a different time in the publishing and magazine industry. Most people are incapable of "one perfect draft". This advise is a bit like a lottery winner giving you the advice "just buy one ticket on your birthday and you can't lose!".

Even Hemingway stated "the first draft of anything is shit."

There is value in this short book, but as even he admits, you should build the method that works for you. show less

Dean Wesley Smith did a great job with this Smallville entry. Whodunnit is an entry in the second of two series based on the show. The first series was targeted more at middle-school readers, and some of those like Flight are very fun, but Whodunnit comes from the series for older teens and adults who enjoyed the show, and is a bit more meaty.

I see that a few have complained that this one doesn’t have a lot of Clark’s abilities in the spotlight — though his super speed comes into play show more eventually — but to me, that’s what makes this such a great read. As a huge fan of the show, this really excellent story afforded me some nostalgic time with Clark, Lex, Lana, Pete, Lex’s dad and Clark’s dad, Jonathan, and of course Alison Mack’s, Chloe, who is a favorite for me. And it is a really good mystery to boot. We know who Clark is, but here we get to see the human side, the high school side.

One portion of the narrative is a resonating murder mystery, as Clark and the gang stumble upon a marsh with a body in it; it proves to be someone from school they all know, and there is palpable sobering sadness. In a related story — though it takes a bit of time for the Smallville gang to connect the dots — Lex’s father is violently abducted and held for ransom.

Smith does a terrific job of painting the Smallville characters we came to love just as they were. Each personality is easily recognizable and at times smile-inducing for fans of the show. It’s still high school here, so yeah, Pete’s still annoying, and yes, Clark still has a thing for Lana that makes Chloe — and us — roll our eyes. The Wall of Weird is a big deal still, and Chloe’s reporter instincts, which Clark both admires and finds annoying, come into play here in a big way.

Serious at times, sad and reflective of the lost — more bodies drop before they get to the truth — Smith still manages to inject humor and the dynamic of high school friendships into the Smallville gang’s interactions. Lex’s story as he weighs his options about his father’s situation, attempting to figure out who is behind it all — not to mention that fractured relationship between Lex and Lionel — is so well written that despite how much we’re involved in the gang’s attempt to find out who murdered their friend, and what happened to the rural family, we become just as involved in Lex’s story. Eventually of course, the two connect.

Whether Dean Wesley Smith already had this story idea and just adapted it to fit the Smallville universe, or whether he planned it out from scratch doesn’t matter, because it’s a real winner, with some really terrific moments that might surprise you if you didn’t watch this fine series when it was on.

Just a great read that I flew through which was atmospheric and nostalgic, and had a pretty good mystery to boot. I have Hauntings when I’m in the mood, and hope Holder, who can be hit and miss for me when she tackles television series books, brings her A-game to it, because Smith really nailed this entry based on the series. For me at least, this was a fantastic trip down memory lane. show less

Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided in exchange for review by publishers, Galaxy Press, via Library Thing.

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Fans of the science fiction / fantasy genre might as well go ahead and budget every year to purchase the current entry in this compendium, now on the cusp of its fourth decade of presenting the work of talented newcomers in the field. This review will not go into the selection process. Those who are interested will find ample information in the book itself, show more as its producers and presenters are definitely not shy when it comes to self-promotion. But why should they be? They consistently present outstanding work in these collections, and Volume 39 is no exception.

As usual, there are a dozen original works by new and emerging writers and illustrators of science fiction and fantasy, along with a few technical essays and an almost-obligatory reprint of one of Hubbard’s pulp-era tales. The raving completist will devour every word from cover to cover; the more casual reader will skim the garnish and dive right into the 12-course feast.

The winning stories run the gamut from hard-core science fiction to fantasy of all flavors, and include two time-travel tales, a bit of humor, a couple of dystopian stories, and some first-contact accounts.

The illustrators get a chance to shine here, too. The image for each story is presented in full color, and introductory material provides links to the artists’ other works. Science fiction and fantasy, probably more than any other genre, can really get a boost from skillfully-presented artwork. Readers can pretty easily conjure up mental images of a roadside diner or a kindergarten classroom or a Christmas tree, but they may need some help visualizing a shape-shifting carnivore, the living room of a sentient squid, or a ritual cloak from a vanished civilization on Alpha Centauri. The essay on art direction is one of the more interesting nonfiction entries in the volume.

The stories, however, continue to be the centerpiece for most readers, and there is plenty to think about here.

Arthur H. Manners’ “The Withering Sky” gets this reviewer’s vote for the most compelling and most original of the bunch. A truly weird and gripping tale of the exploration of an alien artifact, it grows more frightening and malevolent by the moment.

Samuel Parr gets bonus points for setting “The Last History”, his complex and thoughtful fantasy, in an almost-Imperial-China rather than in an almost-Medieval-Europe. His main character has embarked on a deadly competition for a coveted position in the Imperial government, but she is also playing a dangerous multi-level game in a competition of a very different kind. This is imbued with an other-ness that in no way keeps it from being a beautifully realized tale.

J.R. Johnson’s “Piracy for Beginners” gets Reviewer’s Choice. It’s straight-up space opera with a sense of humor and a kickass heroine. What’s not to like?

The least satisfying of the selections, at least for this reviewer, was Spencer Sekulin’s “The Children of Desperation”. There is a novel’s worth of ideas in this tale of a man compelled to take a morally reprehensible action in order to save someone he loves, but the restrictions inherent in the short story form mean many of them remain undeveloped, and some of the actions leave the reader wondering if a few pages of the manuscript have fallen by the wayside. The Big Reveal near the end has no emotional punch because the very thing it reveals has not been foreshadowed, referred to, or even acknowledged as existing until the moment it happens. It’s as if the writer, two pages before the climax, jumps in and says “Oh, wait! I forgot to tell you! The hero has an invisibility cloak, a twin brother, and a raging allergy to shellfish – all of which are going to be really important in the next page and a half, okay?” Sekulin is probably going to be around for a while, and one hopes he will get the opportunity to give full rein to his complex background next time.

Vampires, dragons, a soul-sucking tax collector, high-tech AIs, a spacefaring civilization looking for a new home, and assorted time-travelers round out the collection, which is well worth the investment of time it takes to absorb and think about the stories. show less