Review: ambitious yet informal guide is diverting but not definitive
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 5, 2012
The title's joke drew me in to this guide, which varies wildly in tone. There are some gems here: you will never think of THE WIZARD OF OZ the same way again once you've read Jonathan Maberry's treatise on three-act structure, and Elizabeth Massie teaches a valuable lesson regarding contracts. On the other hand, some advice clearly needs to be taken with a grain of salt. (Editor Scott Nicholson feels that mealtime scenes should occur offstage, and likens them to depictions of characters' bathroom functions. Really? I wonder what everyone from the late, great MFK Fisher to Gabrielle Hamilton would say to that.) Some of the essays betray their blog-post origins too much; the conversational tone can seem too informal when instructing readers about grammar and structure. (I cringed every time I saw advice written in all-caps.) I agree with the reviewers who tell readers to choose specific essays to read as needed; the transitions are occasionally abrupt if you read the book straight through. (Considering the number of writers involved, this is probably understandable.) I'm already a fan of several of these authors (especially MJ Rose, who has written excellent publishing guides of her own), and the essays have piqued my curiosity about the likes of Nicholson and Maberry. WRITE GOOD OR DIE is thought-provoking, but your mileage is likely to vary, so to speak.