Noah Lukeman

An editor once told me that if you're going to take advice on writing, take it either from name-bestselling writers or gatekeepers such as acquiring editors or agents--not necessarily anyone who writes for Writer's Digest or has taught a writing class. And that's exactly what makes Lukeman's book so valuable. As a literary agent he's one of those gatekeepers, and this book is about what can get you kicked out before you can even cross the threshold--those first five pages. Of course many of show more the lessons learned here can be applied to an entire manuscript--and not just for the purposes of selling--but just plain learning to be a better writer and break bad habits. show less

I did this as an audio book. I don't recommend that. The premise is that most novels are rejected by editors within the first 5 pages, so what are the dealbreakers? It is informative to put onself in ths position and imagine being the editor. There are many good tips, with each section fincluding several examples of bad work. These are egregiously bad and teious to listen to. I'd have skipped over if I had a physical book. Each section ends with exercises, some of which are useful. There is show more nothing especially new in this book that hasn't been said by others, but it is a refreshing perspective to get into the editor's mentality. show less

This book is probably the only resource out there that spells out (using egregious examples) all the bad habits your editor keeps scribbling all over your manuscripts that you look at and go "WHAT? What does this MEAN?"

None of these bad habits are unique to writing how-to books. Every book out there (and I've read a lot) TELLS you to eliminate these bad habits. Eliminate unnecessary adverbs. Show don't tell. Blah blah blah... But this is the only book out there that teaches you to SPOT these show more bad habits in your OWN writing when you know something's a little off, but you can't quite put your finger on it. It's as though a lightbulb goes off in your head. You can then go through your OWN manuscript chapter by chapter and see you've used one 'comparison' too many per page, or know how to reword that clunky spot of dialogue that keeps giving you trouble no matter how many times you rewrite it, or spot when your writing is reading more like a police report rather than prose.

The publishing industry has changed. This may be considered 'writing 101', but if you have ANY bad habits at all, you're going to get rejected because publishers no longer have the resources to have somebody edit your manuscript. You'll just get rejected and never know why. Ranting about the unfairness of it all won't change that fact. Using this book, however, and others like it (Editing for Fiction Writers is another 5-star resource) to self-edit your manuscript before submitting it will increase your competitive edge. show less

This book is unique. A book about punctuation, but it doesn't deal with grammar; this isn't a book about rules, but about creative choices, about how the use of commas, periods and semi-colon builds a narrative, how to use colons, dashes, parenthesis and quotation marks with flair, and why you should use punctuation such the question mark and the exclamation point with caution--a book for the fiction writer, not a grammarian. It even treats such subjects as the paragraph and section break in show more creative writing.

Just before this, I read and reviewed another book on fiction writing. In that other book, a lot of things eroded its credibility: jarring political bias, shameless self-promotion, frequent mistakes. But most of all, it just wasn't all that well-written. In looking to a book to improve writing, you're looking for someone who can speak with authority. In fiction writing it helps if they're either a successful well-known writer or if they're a gatekeeper. Lukeman, a top literary agent, qualifies. But more than that, the authority flows from his style and organization. The blurbs for once are true: Lukeman wrote a book about punctuation that's a page-turner, one written with "wit and insight."

I certainly learned a lot. I'm far too fond of the dash--I know it. But part of that might have been not so much that I used the dash too much, but that I didn't appreciate its close cousins the parenthesis and the colon and how they work differently. Lukeman gives frequent literary examples, for instance how Hemingway used the period differently than Faulkner, how Poe and Melville used the semi-colon, James Joyce the colon, E.M. Forster the dash. Each chapter deals with a punctuation mark or closely related marks, with their use, underuse, overuse, context, what your usage reveals about you and ends with exercises that help bring the lessons home and should be very useful in revision. A short, lucid book, and an essential tool in a fiction writer's kit. show less