Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsAn Introduction to Outlining
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2018
An interesting introduction to one method of outlining, but didn’t work well for me in the kindle format – 3 stars
Firstly, I’ll get the negatives I found out of the way: In the main, this was due to the Kindle format just not lending this book to easy reference usage. There are no page numbers, and this led to me using multiple bookmarks. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this a satisfactory way of skipping to various sections to assimilate salient points.
I also have to say that I didn’t find the overall structure of the book particularly helpful. Interspersed throughout were comments from various authors on their approach to outlining, and, while these did offer-up fresh ideas, I felt they interrupted the flow of the main content.
There are plenty of positives though: This book is ideal for anyone looking to get started on novel writing for the first time. The content is presented gradually, in very simple language, and has plenty of examples of how Weiland uses the techniques she discusses in her own books.
It also explained the basic requirements of character arcs, time-frames, the importance of location, and provided some useful hints on how to keep track of and balance content. In addition, it makes suggestions for writing programs that any budding author might find useful.
Overall, this was a book that I wanted to get the most from, and I have since purchased a paperback copy. This I find much more useful as I can make notations in the margins which help me tie-up with other sections/pages. Plus, it’s a lot easier to navigate to a particular section that I might want to review.
