“Science fiction plucks from within us our deepest fears and hopes, then shows them to us in rough disguise.” (p. 109) This quote from W. H. Auden sets the mood for many of the chapters in Gareth L. Powell’s useful About Writing: The Authorized Field Guide for Aspiring Authors (2022). The “field guide” format means Powell invites readers to browse his book in any order they like.
I’ve read over a hundred books on writing. Every time I write, I try to improve my writing. Gareth Powell provides tips from years of writing, some of which might help me…and you.
My favorite chapter in About Writing is “Ten Books That Changed My World.” I’ve read six of the ten. Powell has good taste in books.
What is your writing process? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword 1
How to Use This Book 5
The Artist’s Prayer 7
Part 1 About Getting Started — 9
Getting Organised 11
Getting Started 15
Tools of the Trade 17
Choosing Your Teachers 21
Where Do You Get Your Crazy Ideas? 25
55 Story Ideas 33
When to Write and When to Edit 41
Exercise the Storytelling Muscles 43
Internalise the Identity 45
Don’t Wait for Inspiration 49
Beating the Blank Page: How to Jumpstart Your Story 51
Three Ways to Breathe Life into Your Fiction 53
Balancing Writing with Your Day Job 57
Part 2 About Novels — 63
The Real Secret to Writing a Novel 65
When is a Novel Not a Novel? 69
Understand What Your Novel Is About 73
What Is Plot? 77
Creating Authentic Characters 81
World-Building 85
Part 3 About Genres — 89
A Note on Genre 91
Crime 93
Romance 95
Horror 97
Historical Fiction 99
Young Adult Fiction 101
Mainstream and Literary Fiction 103
Fantasy 105
Science Fiction 107
Part 4 About Writing — 117
How I Write 119
The Essential Qualities of a Novelist 127
Ten Tips for Novelists 131
Daily Productivity Sheet 133
Three Ways of Finding More Time to Write 137
Five Essential Rules for Writing Better Fiction 141
Five Lessons Writers Can Learn from Athletes 145
Three Things to Remember When Writing Action Scenes 149
Find Your Carnegie Hall 155
A Simple Trick to Keep Your Creativity Flowing 157
Saving What You Take Out 161
A Trilogy of Things I Learned While Writing a Trilogy 163
Everybody’s a Geek About Something 169
Dealing with Writer’s Block 173
Beating Writer’s Block with 100 Words 181
How to Keep Being Creative in a Crisis 183
Part 5 About Getting Published — 189
Eight Steps to Becoming a Published Writer 191
Publishing vs Self-Publishing 195
Why Get an Agent, and What to Look For199
Ten Tips for Finding an Agent 201
How to Write a Novel Outline 205
How to Write a Novel Synopsis 211
The Secret Formula for Writing an Effective Elevator Pitch 217
How to Write a Cover Letter 221
How to Be More Confident 225
Dealing with Rejections 229
Imposter Syndrome233
Part 6 About Being Published — 237
Becoming a Full-Time Author 239
What to Look for in a Publisher 243
Advances: How Do They Work? 247
Advances: What to Do with Them 251
Dealing with Editors 253
Being Edited 255
Ten Tips to Deal with an Edit 259
The Knee-Jerk ‘No!’ 263
Covers – The Front Cover, and Cover Copy 267
Publication Day 269
Ten Ways to Maximise Your Publicity and Marketing 271
Ten Top Tips for Selling Books on Social Media 275
Dealing with Reviews 281
Convention Tips 285
Being an Author 291
Part 7 About Gareth L. Powell — 303
My Journey 305
Where I Write313
Ten Books That Changed My World 315
An Open Letter to an Ugly Duckling 325
Part 8 Frequently Asked Questions — 329
Acknowledgements 343
About the Author 345
Credits 347
Well, don’t leave us hanging. What are the ten books that changed his world?
I was a technical writer for the better part of two decades, but I’ve never really tried my hand at fiction. In one of Joan Didion’s essays, she outlines her process for writing fiction, and the way she laid out the “skeleton” of the work and then filled in detail from there was remarkably similar to how I’ve always written technical documentation, so it’s possible there is some cross-over in technique if nothing else.
Deb, Powell’s “Ten Books That Changed My World”:
1. OF TIME AND STARS By Arthur C. Clarke
2. BIGGLES OF THE CAMEL SQUADRON By Captain W. E. Johns
3. THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS By Larry Niven
4. ON THE ROAD By Jack Kerouac
5. BURNING CHROME By William Gibson
6. CONSIDER PHLEBAS By Iain M. Banks
7. GENERATION X By Douglas Coupland
8. NOVA By Samuel R. Delany
9. HOUSE OF SUNS By Alastair Reynolds
10. PLANETFALL By Emma Newman
Deb (of course) beat me to the exact question! Nice job. As for the 10, I’ve read ON THE ROAD and the Clarke. Biggles changed his world? I’m guessing he was a kid at the time.
As for writing, I’ve never tried writing fiction of any kind, as my brain just doesn’t work in that way. For non-fiction, I’ve always done it the same way. I spend however long it takes thinking about what I want to say and organize it in my head. I might make a list – not a real outline – of major points I want to cover, so I don’t forget anything.
I guess Powell has written science fiction.
Jeff, Powell is a noted British SF writer. If I can find a way to copy Powell’s reasons for choosing these books, I’ll paste them here for you and Deb.
Learning to write by reading a How To book is like learning to drive using a How To book!
Bob, I memorized the NY State Driver’s guide before I took my driving test…and passed!
I took my first driver’s test in Hawaii, in Kailua. I was failed in the first test, and then was told that that assessor routinely failed every teen he took on a test…passed on the second test with about the same performance. Ah, petty corruption.
Should I be proud that I’ve read 7 out of ten Books?
Of course all the SF titles but also Jack Kerouak’s.
But it didn’t make me a writer – just an avid reader of US books which helped me a lot in my IT work.
In the 70s, 80s and 90s there were not many Germans who read and spoke English well – so I was the lucky guy who went all over Europe, to Egypt, China, Japan and of course to several very well paid USA business trips, all over the country, from NYC, Washingon DC, San Francisco, Silicon Valle ,San, Jose, Atlanta, Dallas and so on.
The free weekends we spent in Vegas, Yosemite, Death Valley in very nice lodges which I wouldn’t have edto pay for on a holiday, much too expensive for a normal guy …
And even to Boca Raton which was a good base for Florida …
Wolf, yes, you should be proud of reading 7 of the 10 books! I have had HOUSE OF SUNS on my shelf for years. I need to read it in 2025!
Definitely sounds like a win-win, Wolf!