by Gabe Berman
I promised a review of Gabe Berman’s new book, The Complete Bullshit-Free and Totally Tested Writing guide: How to Make Publishers, Agents, Editors and Readers Fall In Love With Your work. Here it is, just in time for another fun writing-filled workweek!
For me, the most valuable piece of information was to remember the reader, to help the reader to find ways to care about your characters and the story you’re trying to tell. He wrote:
Life is short. If you’re expecting us to trade our precious time for an opportunity to read your words, it better be an even swap. But if you really care what people think, and you should if you want to be published, you’ll want us to feel like we made out like bandits in the deal. You’ll want to make us feel that we couldn’t imagine spending our time in any other way.
And later:
EVERY WORD WE WRITE AND EVERY SPACE BETWEEN THOSE WORDS MUST MEAN SOMETHING TO THE READER!
One of the first points Berman made was writers should get used to the idea that people don’t give a four-lettered word about them.
That motif is repeated several times throughout the book–and while it seemed abrasive for a moment, the more I thought about it, the more I understood what he meant. This is what I got out of that particular idea:
- Don’t depend on anyone to love your work. You might love it, and you might want to share it, but people are busy. Most of them will always be too busy to read your work, even if they love you.
- Also, they may not be able to believe that someone they know is such a genuinely fantastic writer destined for fame and glory. It just might not fit with their world view.
- Even when people you care about do take the time to give your work a cursory read, don’t take their praise (or their criticism) too seriously. They’re just as wrapped up in their own work and worries as you are in yours, and your work will not be as important to them as it is to you.
- Once you understand that, you become free from the self-consciousness that holds you back. At that point, you’re able to start writing what other people can’t help reading. Either that, or you become more comfortable writing for yourself alone. Either way, you’ll be writing more authentically, and you’ll probably be much happier with where you’re writing is headed.
Of course, my understanding is all wrapped up in my own frame of reference (partially proving Berman’s point here). It reminded me of a time when I had a sit-down talk with an agent.
“Never show your manuscript to your mother or your husband,” she said. “Never show it to anyone in your family.”
I’ve broken that rule every time…and I suspect I’ll keep breaking that rule…but I think I get the idea.
Thanks to Berman for saying (writing) it so clearly.
In chapter four, Berman addresses the idea of writing authentically:
Write from the place in your gut where love dwells.
The idea here is that when you right authentically, readers will pick up on this and connect with you, with your characters and story and they won’t be able to put it down.
There are lots of other great tips in this book–how long paragraphs should be, what kinds of styles sound preachy or pretentious, etc. If you’re a writer, it’s definitely a book worth reading.
As of this posting, it’s listed on Amazon (Kindle version) for $0.99.
Folks who are in love with life (or who want to be) should check out Berman’s other book, Live Like a Fruit Fly, which was endorsed by Deepak Chopra.
He’s already working on a sequel, Revenge of the Fruit Fly. Can’t wait to read it. The name itself just pulls me right in.
Thanks again, Gabe Berman! (Check out his blog here.)
Gabe Berman, author of Live Like a Fruit Fly and The Complete Bullshit-Free and Totally Tested Writing Guide
Gwen Bristol 