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What our customer's say!

"Good companion", I bought this book while writing my first novel to get some of the 'tricks of the trade'. I dont know what I exactly expected it to be, but it is not 'tricks of the trade', as it were. It's more like a textbook. A very decent one even. It is obviously well written in a clear and concise language and supported by very good examples of the techniques and exercices suggested.

I have read other reviews stating that this book delivers advice on things so basic, that you didn't even thought of them. This, I believe, is rubbish. This book doesn't deliver anything that you probably in some way, shape or form did not already know if you are an aspiring writer. It does, however, organize all this information in a very good way, making it easy to check and re-check your work in progress. Sometimes you will know something, but being human, forget it, and then perhaps find it somewhere in the pages of this book. It serves as a great inspiration/organizer,and is a very good place to look when you get stuck.

Highly recommendable.

"Fresh Air", I've read a lot of books on writing, and I've found that many of them are basically identical. "How to Write A Damn Good Novel", however, is well-written and full of good advice. The writer has a great personality, and really knows how to instruct in a way that works. This book has practical and SPECIFIC information on how to write a Damn Good Novel.

"GET THIS BOOK!", Can you write a proper English sentence? Can you think abstractly enough to invent interesting details, yet analytically enough to form and follow a plan? Would you like to know how to use those skills to write a damn good novel?

My first novel attempt resulted in 50,000 words of useless mush. I knew how many words I needed, had a general idea of who my characters were and what the story was. So I wrote and wrote and wrote until I had that many words and the story was done. It sucked like a black hole. I read it several times, then abandoned my writing ambitions and deleted the files.

Years later, I had a second idea for a novel. From my earlier failure, I knew I needed some guidance first. I checked out 20 library books (from 3 counties). This is the one that helped the most. For what I needed, it was more useful than all the others combined.

I am now in the middle of my second draft. I continue to re-read "How to Write a Damn Good Novel" about once a month. Now that I have a foundation, a comfort level, and some context, I get some benefit from other books. But this book is my bible.

Thank you, James, for putting all the important basics into a readable and practical form!

"It's like taking a writing course", I really want to write a novel, but of course I am not a writer at all. Therefore, I started searching for a book that could provide me with a little orientation on how to start writing a novel, and I decided to purchase this book. It was the BEST decision I could have made. I did not get just a little orientation. This book is like actually being enrolled into a creative writing course. It is very well written and very easy to understand. I actually feel like taking a writing class, and I am sure that my first book will not be as bad as I thought it would be now that I know the basic elements a good novel should have.

"A dramatic introduction to dramatic form...", Anyone who sets out to write scintillating narratives but consistently finds the results flat and uninspiring probably needs this book. Storytelling, dramatic storytelling in particular, contains a high craft element that needs to be learned and mastered. Most mortals can't just sit down with no background whatsoever in dramatic form and spew out spine-tingling prose. A gripping dramatic story goes way beyond a good idea in a brain. It needs evocative characters, rising tension, and a unifying theme, or what this book calls "Character, Conflict, and Premise." Without these a story will remain flat and lifeless. No one's pulse will rise after reading a story about two people who agree about everything and then go off to have tea. But lock a Republican, a Democrat, and a gun in a room, have them argue fervently over politics and life and make the tension gradually rise to breaking point. Kaboom! Drama.

"How to Write a Damn Good Novel" provides an incredible and accessible introduction to dramatic form. As the book's introduction says, "If you wish to write like James Joyce or Virginia Woolf and create experimental, symbolic, philosophical, or psychological novels that eschew the dramatic form, this book is not for you." That said, one must know what something is before eschewing it. If someone wishes to eschew dramatic form, they can learn all about it here first. Then they can confidently eschew to their heart's content. Not only that, dramatic form pervades culture, television, movies, theater, and even sensationalist journalism. Those wanting to simply learn about the mechanics, effects, and influence of this ubiquitous process can also benefit from this effortless read.

The foundations of dramatic storytelling receive more than adequate coverage: creating vivid characters; keeping characters in conflict or in "the crucible;" having a solid premise that helps determine what gold to keep and what dross to cut; how to "begin before the beginning," using a stepsheet to plot and determine a story's events; creating a satisfying climax; which viewpoint to choose; writing great indirect, sensual, and clever dialogue; the painful necessity of rewriting; how to use, or misuse, writer's groups; good habits. Integrating many of these elements, the book defines a story as "a narrative of consequential events involving worthy human characters who change as a result of those events." Throughout, passages and plot lines from classics such as "A Christmas Carol," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and "Madame Bovary" demonstrate the principles as they're introduced. This elevates the book above mere dry theory. Many times a story gets constructed from scratch as an example. The concepts get drilled in, not merely discussed.

A better introduction to this subject is difficult to imagine. This small book remains clear, concise, entertaining, and even moving throughout (there's even a little drama as the author rails against "the Imagists" and calls them "villains"). Thorough readers will gain a solid foundation on dramatic storytelling and may also forge the confidence to break out and write something, or rework something flat. Those hoary ideas that sat there numbly for months or years may start to jig. And even if a "damn good novel" doesn't result from scanning this inspiring text, the book contains enough useful material to make the price and time well worth the investment.

Read this reviews before You buy...

"This is a damn good book!", I have not finished 'How to Write a Damn Good Novel'yet but so far it has helped me in writing my first novel which I hope to have published in the next year. James Frey is a great author and I am glad he is giving some of his serects to writing novels away.

"Wonderful Book", There's plenty of reviews describing the content of the book, so no need to repeat that. I found the book highly informative, very inspiring, and easy to read.


"not very helpful ", I bought and read this book as part of writer's workshop some years ago, and found it extremely limited in scope and not at all helpful to what I supposed was it's market: just-published or not yet published novelists.

The author turned out to be one of those writers who 'teach' that there is only one way to write a novel and see it published. That generalization pretty much describes his approach in a nutshell and I found it helpful only for some of the other sources on novel and fiction writing he does cite.

"A nice start for a writer, but then you should... Read a lot more books!", This is probably one of the first book I ever read about story telling. I found the book simple and interesting. Though, I felt I had to read much more to really understand story telling.

I read many books and authors (Story, by McKee; The Art of Dramatic Writing, by Lajos Egri; Writing the Picture, by Russin and Downs; Theory and technique of Playwriting and Screenwriting, by Howard Lawson; Write that Play, by Rowe; Writing for Emotional Impact, by Karl Iglesias; and many other books).

Finally, I decided to read "How to Write a Damn Good Novel" again, and see what I thought about it after reading many other books on story telling.

The veredict is this: the book is really good. The most important principles of storytelling are right there. If you command the principles in this book you will probably write a good story.

The problem with this book is that it is so short that you might have a difficult time REALLY grasping story telling principles. That's why this book is good if you are just starting as a writer, because you'll learn some basic things. Non the less I urge to read many more books, so you really grasp story telling principles. Finally, after that hard work, you can come back to this book and enjoy the experience. It will serve you as a summary of other some more complex books.

Other aspects to take into consideration before buying it:

-The author stands on the shoulders of Lajos Egri, so you might want to go to the source.

-Not every dramatic writer would agree with everything said in this book. I know other authors don't agree with some details explained in this book. If you want to master an art, you need to understand the different theories and point of views. So don't think this book is the last word on story telling. Though it is a good start.

If compared to others books of dramatic writing... then I'm sorry to say this would not achieve 4 stars. There are other books that teach you the theory and technique of storytelling to a greater depth.

However, if this book is taken as a book for someone who is just starting, then you could say it is a five-stars book. In the sense that it would achieve its purpouse of giving you the basics in a very practical and insightful manner.

"The first of four great books on writing", I bought this book when it first came out in 1987, and read it so many times that it's fallen apart, so I've bought a second copy, it's that useful to me.

The book teaches the writer to think about the character first--the homo fictus of fiction, as opposed to the homo sapiens of real life--and then goes on to consider how dramatic stories are crafted, showing the writer the three rules of dramatic writing, the ABCs of storytelling, the fine art of dialogue as well as several nifty gadgets in the novelist's bag of tricks. It is a terrific book on how to craft, as the title states, a damn good novel.

If you are looking for a book that explains how to write a novel, this is one you should own.