I rarely recommend books. And even on the rare occasion that I do, the looks of doubt people flash my direction usually keep me from repeating the behavior. But seriously, I don't have sucky taste in books. I promise. In fact, I might say that I'm a bit more discriminating than the average person--except when it comes to classics. I have no appreciation for Little Women and other books of historical brilliance. I like my fiction to stay in the here and now and my nonfiction as ancient as possible.
All that said, I recommended a book to a friend a little over a week ago. It's a screenwriting book called, Save the Cat that completely changed my approach to writing. I've actually recommended the book to many people--so many who never looked twice at it--that I nearly didn't grab it off the shelf and hand it to my fellow writer. I knew she'd love it. She just didn't know it yet.
She hesitated at the $20 price tag, so I didn't push. I understand the desire not to pay $20 for a paperback. Then, yesterday, she came up to me and informed me that she bought the ebook and had been RAVING about it to every writer she's seen since.
YAY! Proof that I am not delusional or a bad friend. :)
It really is a great book for writers, even if you're not looking to write screenplays. After all, we authors are supposed to show, not tell. Screenwriters and directors have to do the same thing--replace dialogue with action to create momentum.
All that said, I recommend Save the Cat to all of you. Hope you love it as much as I do!!!!
I also read and adored Infinite Days because of what you posted about it. It was brilliant!
ReplyDeleteYay! So glad. That book totally surprised me, so I'm glad you loved it, too. Plus, $9.99? Are you kidding? ALL fiction should be under $10 in my world ;)
ReplyDeleteThat was ME!! *I'm* the raving lunatic, lol! I plan on doing a post about this book very soon. It really has changed the way I look at my writing and in particular to the visual, um, ACUITY in what I've written.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a marvelous job at NOT being delusional nor a bad friend. You ROCK!
Hey - Saving the Cat is available on half.com for $12.50 +shipping, just fyi :)
ReplyDeleteSave the Cat - whatev, you know what I meant ;)
ReplyDeleteI'll have to take a look at this one--sounds like a good investment!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just popping over to your blog to say hello and thank you once again for all of your wonderful and insightful advice today at the Authorpalooza in Orem (I'm the one that asked about a billion questions and freaked out when I realized you were THE Sheralynn Pratt)! Thanks to your optimism, I feel a lot better about the next steps I plan to take as I try to get my book published. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Put it on Paper
Great to meet you, Jessica! And always happy to answer questions (and hope that the answers help).
ReplyDeleteThis book rocks. Love it. And I can't wait to read yours :)