Writing a Book Review

Writing a Book Review

The purpose of a book review is to comment on a particular work and not to summarize the book.

Tips in preparing a meaningful book review:

· Read the complete book carefully. Take careful notes if it helps.

· Mention the name of the author and the book title in the first paragraph of the review. There is nothing more frustrating than reading a review and not knowing the author or the title.

· If the book is part of a series, identify the series.

· Think about whether the book is part of a genre.

· Present the main theme of the book in the beginning of the review.

· List the main points your want to cover before you begin to write the review; use one paragraph for each point.

· Explain how you feel about the book and why, not just what the book is about.

· Provide your judgment of the style, format, contents, and historical value of the book.

· Incorporate biographical information about the author to establish his/her authority.

· Avoid writing in the first person.

· Avoid slang. Reviews are formal papers.

· Avoid contractions.

· Avoid repeating items or facts which the reader can be expected to know.

· It may be necessary to refer to specific portions of the books to illustrate your statements and conclusions, but do not quote extensively from it.

· Proofread your manuscript carefully before submitting it.

Character Development

Developing Characters

What do readers want in book? Most will say “Characters that they will either love or hate… Characters they can relate to.”

Characters are the common denominators of fiction. Without believable, interesting characters, you do not have fiction at all, but names walking through a plot.

Characters influence all other story components.

1. Plot depends on characters. Different people react differently to the same situation — different characters, different plots.

2. Setting depends on characters. A setting shapes characters. Characters often gravitate to settings compatible with their natural personality.

3. Style is influenced by character. Different personalities require different writing styles.

Authors obtain their characters from four sources: themself, real people they know, real people they hear about, and pure imagination. Is one sense, every character an author creates is an extension of themselves. A character’s emotions draws upon the author’s emotions. A main question to consider, whether a character is real or imagined, is if the character is strong enough to sustain a story.

Not all character will matter equally to the story. The protagonist is the star of the story. In longer novels, there may be more than one protagonist. Other characters, known as featured characters, are necessary to a story and are interesting in their own right. Choosing a given character as a protagonist can result in one novel and choosing another character as a protagonist can result in a very different story.

Characters need to be selected with care. After a character is selected, the author needs to determine their core personality and that character’s impact on the story. Will the character remain consistent and firm within the entire story or will he make substantial changes? The changes within a character are called the story’s emotional arc. These changes are either brought about by external changes bringing about internal changes, or internal changes can bring about external changes in the circumstances of the character.

After an author has selected and wisely developed their characters throughout a story, those characters will be able to stir the emotions of your readers. They will be able to develop a vicarious attachment to the characters. That attachment leads to satisfied, contented readers who are eager for the next book by the author.

Writing Opening Paragraphs

Many authors feel that it might be simpler to write a novel without an opening paragraph. Perhaps if they could just start at the bottom of page two and hope no one noticed. Some authors have tried this method and continue writing their story until an attention-getting paragraph pops into their head.

The importance of the opening paragraphs cannot be overstated. The first one or two paragraphs set the tone for the entire book. The story starts in the first paragraphs – not two or three pages down the road. They introduce the main character, point of view, setting, mood, and sometimes the story conflict and generally follow the “W Rule”:

·         Who?

·         What?

·         When?

·         Where?

·         Why?

The primary and often only goal of your opening paragraph is to grab the reader’s attention and make him or her want to keep reading. Fiction often starts in the middle of some action that will immediately grab the reader and make him or her wonder what is going on.

Methods that can ‘hook’ your readers include beginning with a shocking, bold statement or fact, beginning with a rhetorical question, showing the main character with a problem, or setting up a situation that leaves the reader with a question.

Many writers start their hooks way before their story actually begins. However, the most effective openers begin at the highest, most dramatic moment and the story develops from there.

Some authors will spend considerable time on their openings only to find that when they get to the end of the book, the book has changed in such a way that the opening no longer works. Writers should not be afraid to use an opening as a jump-start to their story but they should be equally un­afraid to toss away those first few openings in search of the perfect opening. Many writers go through an evo­lutionary process with their openings, often finding their true opening buried within the existing story.

The cliché “you only have one change to make a first impression” best sums up the importance and impact of the opening paragraphs. It should be both the first thing and the last thing an author considers before submitting a manuscript to an editor.