This is going to be a short little post because I am utterly exhausted and will be climbing into bed in the very near future. It’s been a  busy week at work and I’ve continued to put in the hours on my novel, Cawdor.

What I want to talk about tonight is one of the best books I have read on how to be a better writer. The book is The First Five Pages by Agent Noah Lukeman. Many of the books on writing that I have read deal with broad concept level writing. How to construct plots, beginning middles and ends. That sort of thing and  that is very important. (Two books I would recommend are Writing The Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and Beginnings Middles and Ends by Nancy Kress.)

The First Five Pages should be on yourself with those two books. What Mr. Lukeman does with his book and help you diagnose and fix the detailed problems that get books rejected quickly. He gets down into the weeds of the matter and shows you how to tell a weed from a flower. The chapters are clear and concise, building on each other to lay open the complex task that is writing. At the end of each chapter there are work assignments to help you learn the lessons.

This book is exceptionally well written and deeply insightful. Cawdor is going to be  stronger novel because of it, If you are struggling with taking your writing to the next level, I think this book would help tremendously.