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    Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life
    Unavailable
    Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life
    Unavailable
    Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life
    Ebook174 pages2 hours

    Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life

    By Terry Brooks

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Terry Brooks is adamant about dedicating oneself to the craft, while showing awe and humility for the creative process. . . . Every serious writer should refer to this book regularly for inspiration as well as solid crafting advice.”—Elizabeth Engstrom Cratty, Director of Maui Writers Retreat

    In Sometimes the Magic Works, New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks shares his secrets for creating unusual, memorable fiction. Spanning topics from the importance of daydreaming to the necessity of writing an outline, from the fine art of showing instead of merely telling to creating believable characters who make readers care what happens to them, Brooks draws upon his own experiences, hard lessons learned, and delightful discoveries made in creating the beloved Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover series, The Word and The Void trilogy, and the bestselling Star Wars novel The Phantom Menace.

    In addition to being a writing guide, Sometimes the Magic Works is Terry Brooks’s self-portrait of the artist. “If you don’t think there is magic in writing, you probably won’t write anything magical,” says Brooks. This book offers a rare opportunity to peer into the mind of (and learn a trick or two from) one of fantasy fiction’s preeminent magicians.

    Praise for Sometimes the Magic Works

    “A marvelously pragmatic initiation to the art of writing.”—Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina

    “[A] succinct and warmhearted autobiographical meditation on the writing life.”—Publishers Weekly

    “A wise, warm-hearted book—part autobiography, part how-to-do-it manual, with some amazingly candid behind-the-scenes material . . . Fantasy fans, novice writers, and even veteran pros will learn plenty from it.”—Robert Silverberg, award-winning author of the Majipoor Chronicles
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateMar 4, 2003
    ISBN9780345463586
    Unavailable
    Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life

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    Reviews for Sometimes the Magic Works

    4/5

    103 ratings7 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Terry Brooks is one of my favorite fantasy writer, I've read books in all three of his main series and enjoyed them all. I have no hopes of becoming a writer but I love to read books by authors I already enjoy to find out about their writing process. Throughout the book Terry takes us through all 3 of his series and we also learn a little about Lester Del Rey his 1st editor.
    • 3/5
      An engaging, quick read.
    • 3/5
      A few chapters on his approach to writing. Basically, a minimalist version of his how-to guide, but not the real focus of this book. This is primarily a memoir of various highs and lows in his life.

      Light and fluffy, but of interest to any fans of Terry Brooks, in particular, or author's memoirs, in general.
    • 2/5
      Sometimes it is nice to read how other writers write, but doesn't really help much in helping me develop my craft. However, it's really interesting how much luck was involved with his character. Take away I learned from this book: never get involve with writing movie adaptations.
    • 4/5
      A quick read, but a useful one for anyone interested on becoming a better fiction writer. The chapters are deceptively simple, but give you an in-depth look at Brooks' personal take on the classic questions: to outline or not to outline, what exactly does write-what-you-know mean, etc. I enjoyed ur and might give some of his fiction a try.
    • 4/5
      This was a nice, quick read. It's along the lines of Stephen King's "On Writing" only much shorter and a lot lighter on the writing advice. I read it primarily for writing advice, which was good but nothing I've not heard before. I think his stance for outlining is unique among the big names of publishing. Every other big name author out there seems to take it as a point of pride that they have no plan when they sit down to write. Thank you for talking sense about this, Terry Brooks! Most of us just can't make up stuff as we go along and have it all hang together at the end.Read it if you want insight into how Brooks got his start and kept his career going. I think it will be time well spent.
    • 4/5
      Takeaway Messages:Rules of Writing1. WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW2. YOUR CHARACTERS MUST BEHAVE IN A BELIEVABLE FASHION3. A PROTAGONIST MUST BE CHALLEHGED BY A CONFLICT THAT REQUIRES RESOLUTION4. MOVEMENT EQUALS GROWTH; GROWTH EQUALS CHANGE; WITHOUT CHANGE NOTHING HAPPENS5. THE STRENGTH OF THE PROTAGONIST IS MEASURED BY THE THREAT OF THE ANTAGONIST6. SHOW DON'T TELL7. AVOID THE GROCERY-LIST APPROACH TO DESCRIBING CHARACTERS8. CHARACTERS MUST ALWAYS BE IN A STORY FOR A REASON9. NAMES ARE IMPORTANT10. DON'T BORE THE READER