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Writing the Breakout Novel |  | Author: Donald Maass
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $5.51
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Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 13879
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.9
ISBN: 158297182X
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.3
UPC: 035313108440
EAN: 9781582971827
ASIN: 158297182X
Publication Date: August 15, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A breakout novel is one that rises out if its category - such as literary fiction, mystery, romance, or thriller - and hits the bestseller charts. Maass explains the elements that all breakout novels share and shows readers how to use these elements to write a novel that has a good chance of succeeding in a crowded marketplace. They'll learn to: - Create a powerful and sweeping sense of time and place - Develop larger-than-life characters - Sustain a high degree of narrative tension from start to finish - Weave sub-plots into the main action - Explore universal themes that will interest a large audience
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 67
 Worth the time and the money, despite some drawbacks December 27, 2004
A reader (wilmington, DE United States)
68 out of 75 found this review helpful
OK, so I will first start with the drawbacks. They're basically what the unsatsified reviewers of this prduct said - Maas likes to talk about himself and isn't shy about using this book to promote himself and his clients. A little annoying but BIG DEAL!
This book was extremely helpful. I've read many books on writing before. All are useful in their own way, but this one was useful through and through. Each chapter offered something important. The major contribution of this book was getting me to think BIGGER. To see the novel as an orchestra and to consider what I wanted the final product to look like and how to achieve it. It was also helpful how he reviewed different book and what it was about them that was successful. Read this book and every now and then look inside and consider whether you're following all the suggestions he offers. Writing a great novel (breakout novel) is more work, true, and with this book he helps you figure out just what work it is that needs to be done.
I can't see a book being bad if it follows all of the criteria.
Writing the Breakout Novel January 16, 2007
CV Rick (Minneapolis, MN, USA)
31 out of 33 found this review helpful
Donald Maass gives a course in how to turn a good story into a breakout novel. He doesn't give advice on how to craft beautiful prose in the mode of Marquez or Naipaul. He's not teaching how to write the next To Kill a Mockingbird. He doesn't even attempt to supplant the craft as taught by the Iowa Writer's Workshop. What he writes about is turning a good story into a commercial success.
Like his advice, it's straightforward and a bit formulaic, but why would you pick this book up with the title, How to Write the Breakout Novel, if you didn't want advice on commercial success? That'd be silly if you ask me.
Maass knows the market as one of the top agents in publishing and as a successful novelist. He's given advice to his clients and it's propelled them to the top of the Bestseller List. Sure he uses personal examples and touts his client list, but it's an impressive client list, believe me. I don't like all the books he uses as examples, but that's personal choice and my choice hasn't impacted sales numbers at all.
I found his advice on Theme to be really good. To be honest, I hadn't considered starting with a theme and working to craft around something which resonates with the reader simply and clearly. I know all great stories integrate theme, but I didn't really understand that it could be a conscious thing on the part of the writer. Maybe that's my own naivety, but that's why I'm reading self-help books. It's completely changed the way I'm writing my next story.
The Checklist style construction makes recollection of what each chapter covered simple.
Want to know what it covers? Here are the contents:
Why Write the Breakout Novel
Premise
Stakes
Time and Place
Characters
Plot
Contemporary Plot Techniques
Multiple Viewpoints, Subplots, Pace, Voice, and Endings
Advanced Plot Structures
Theme
Breaking Out
Read each and every one. I found value throughout the book.
- CV Rick
The Truth, simply put July 14, 2001
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
If I could, I would give this book ten stars. I am in the midst of writing my first novel, (truth be told I've started 1,000), and I am reading this book simultaneously. I read "On Writing" by Stephen King, and that has some great advice, "Don't use adverbs" and "Kill your darlings" to name a few tenets. However, in reading "Writing the Breakout Novel" I found myself questioning the plot I'm working on, questioning my characters, and with about 5 minutes of thought, bringing something to my book that makes it 200,000% better. Even though I feel like I've got an interesting story, Maass's advice helped me to make it matter. I've found myself rooting for my characters, adding dimension, changing some outcome. All in all, I feel like Maass and Stephen King are standing over my shoulders going, "What about this? and that?" King's book inspired me, Maass's book challenges me. Unlike the plots that I've tried before, this one grips me, keeps me writing. If I get stuck, Maass helps me through it. Unlike some instructional writers, Maass injects passages from successful authors and books to illustrate his point. The reader can easily decipher what he means, and see it in a variety of writing styles. Maass is telling the truth, and the truth will revolutionize your writing.
Excellent Resource for Strong Writing December 5, 2001
Vicki Hinze (Florida, USA)
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
Don't be deluded by the title of this book. It's a dynamite resource for strong writing--whether or not you're interested in writing a breakout novel. Mr. Maass's insights and suggestions are excellent, presented in an easy-to-digest manner, and translate easily to your current manuscript-in-progress. While the book deals with novels, the concepts presented are also valuable to short story authors and to nonfiction writers. In my humble opionion, all writers can benefit greatly from this book. There aren't many books on writing I haven't studied, but I recommend very few. This one will be on the Recommended Reading List I distribute at Creative Writing seminars, lectures, and workshops I conduct, and to those writers who are active in my Aids4Writers program.
The one to buy! June 28, 2001
Kathy Hurley (Boise, ID)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
If I had to choose the one book of writing instruction that is a must to own above all others, Writing the Breakout Novel would be it. The techniques presented are filled with insight, based on many years of experience, and explained in such a way that you will benefit from them whether you are a hopeful new writer or a seasoned veteran. Donald Maass makes you think. His book challenges and educates while remaining one of the most entertaining volumes that I've ever read on the subject of writing.More than once I've found myself reading a chapter of this book only to put it down and rush to the computer to put what I've learned into immediate action. This book gives you the tools you need to transform your manuscript and your entire writing career.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 67
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