Review: One of the better Write in Bursts books,
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2014
I was fully prepared to hate this book.First off let me state that I write on this topic (I have several books published on this topic). In any other industry this would make us competitors.Generally I'm not in favour of the "write in bursts" or the "make a list of topics" schools of writing. I came into writing books from technical writing and training, both of which have a very low tolerance for failure and produce book-length (or longer) materials as a matter of course. Typically these "speed writing" books are written by people who come into the field from the journalism, "I'm creating great art", or "brochure/white paper as book" backgrounds. None of which are particularly risk-free when it comes to writing a book length piece if only because they focus on producing short-pieces which is a completely different task.This is not that type of book and I found I loved this book.Rick provides a rational, workable method for using these techniques to get the most out of your writing. Even if you choose to plan your book using other methods, the series of steps he recommends will help you to increase your writing speed and output. The techniques are simple, easy to use and progressive. You may start out having a problem reaching 250 words (a page) a day but by the end you should be reaching 5,000 words a day.While he doesn't deal with any of the problems holistically, he does focus on the most common issues and provides valid solutions and guidance without suggesting any of the off-topic ideas (such as Writing prompts) that many others seem to delight in. He even provides several mini-courses/exercises that will help you to overcome your resistance and start using his techniques.My only issues with the book are on the level of "250 words (a page) is too large for a single point. When outlining you need to be down around the 100 word or paragraph level". Even I have to admit that's pretty niggledy-piggledy to base a disagreement on.If you are hoping to become a full-time or serious part-time writer, you need to read this book. You need to have a well-thumbed copy of this book on your desk and a copy on your kindle for quick reference. It will help you to improve your writing speed and get your book written.In short ... BUY IT.