Maybe you’re a first-time novelist looking for practical guidance. Maybe you’ve already been published, but your latest effort is stuck in mid-list limbo. Whatever the case may be, author and literary agent Donald Maass can show you how to take your prose to the next level and write a breakout novel – one that rises out of obscurity and hits the best-seller lists.

Maass details the elements that all breakout novels share – regardless of genre – then shows you writing techniques that can make your own books stand out and succeed in a crowded marketplace.

You’ll learn to:

– establish a powerful and sweeping sense of time and place
– weave subplots into the main action for a complex, engrossing story
– create larger-than-life characters that step right off the page
– explore universal themes that will interest a broad audience of readers
– sustain a high degree of narrative tension from start to finish
– develop an inspired premise that sets your novel apart from the competition

Then, using examples from the recent works of several best-selling authors – including novelist Anne Perry – Maass illustrates methods for upping the ante in every aspect of your novel writing. You’ll capture the eye of an agent, generate publisher interest and lay the foundation for a promising career.

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This was a re-read for me, as I’d read this book several years ago and wanted to revisit it after I had a few more years of writing experience. My opinion about the books hasn’t changed:

It’s a great book full of good information, but it’s NOT for new writers.

You really can’t write a breakout novel until you can successfully write a novel. As an editor, I see too many manuscripts from authors wanting to breakout, but they haven’t yet mastered the basics.

I also think it’s important to realize that breakout novels aren’t for everyone. Do they sell well? Absolutely (that’s why they’re breakouts)! But out of all of the examples he used, not many of them are contemporary, and not many of them are in the style/genre that I like to read.

Takeaway?

There’s some great info in the book and it can definitely help you improve your writing, but first you need to learn the basics. Then you need to figure out if this type of breaking out is what you really want to do.

I absolutely recommend reading this book, but not at the beginning of your writing career. Get your copy here!