Medical Romance Book Review: One Month to Become a Mum

... Is the most excellent debut from Louisa George.

I don't even know where to start with this review. It's not often that I write them, and even less frequently do I write reviews for fiction.

I could say I loved it(I did), and gush about how the characters were drawn so sharply I couldn't fail to love them(Yep, that's true.). I could say I had to put it down in the middle when duties dragged me away, and I couldn't wait to get back(Also true), or that the emotional wounds were so deep I could almost smell the blood(I connected with the characters, does it show?).
 
I don't often gush over books with children with them. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, but I don't have any and sometimes the stories with secret babies and pregnancies are harder for me to identify with and I'll skip over baby stories for their non-baby counterparts. Had I not won the book, I may have not read this one(and probably wouldn't have because it's not on sale in the U.S. for some reason). That would have been my loss.

If I'm trying to figure out something on my own, I think I'm something of a slow learner. If you explain a new concept and give me examples, I'm quick to catch on. If you give me two very similar things and ask me what's different about them, the chances that I'll highlight the important differences are slim. What is logical to one person is not logical to me, and that's always how it's been.

I said that to say this: Louisa's writing made me realize what is missing in my own writing with such clarity I can only call it an epiphany. I'll look forward to her next release, with or without a baby.

Book Review: Writing for Emotional Impact

First book review! So, feeling my way here. Be patient!

Title:  Writing for Emotional Impact: Advanced dramatic techniques to attract, engage, and fascinate the reader from beginning to end
Author: Karl Iglesias
Published: 2005 by WingSpan Press

Reasons I purchased:

• Recommended by a trusted source
• Screenwriting book -- I'm into these lately, thinking of them more as STORYTELLING books 
• Subject -- Emotion is a tricksy beast that is hard for me to verbalize.
• Many good reviews on Amazon

Since I've started reading craft books, new insights have trickled off. That first book on writing is jam packed with new and exciting information. The second book(and every book after that) tends to say the same thing in a different way, and that can be helpful at the start too -- when you hit on the wording that makes sense to you. But the epiphanies trickle off fairly quickly. I'm 20-some craft books into my writing education, and this book was full of epiphanies. The difference is: WfEI = Film School, basic craft books = High School Drama class.

If it only contained Chapter Six -- Story: Rising Tension, it would still have been worth the full price. Ever been torn between how to reveal something big in your story? Should the reader know before the character? Should they find out at the same time? Should the character know something the reader doesn't? Chapter Six will help you decide, first by explaining what each of these situations do to the reader, and the pros and cons of each so you can decide what is best for your story.

Chapter Ten -- Dialogue: Vivid Voices, another chapter worth the cost of the book.

Other chapters include help for:

• Refining your concept
• Fascinating the reader
• Creating compelling characters
• Understanding subtext and its importance
• Description: how a few of the right words can go a long way
• What a Theme is, and why it's important
• The difference between Plot and Story
• How to craft brilliant scenes
• The last piece of the Conflict equation so often overlooked by beginning writers. (Hint: It's more than 'Two dogs, one bone.')

I know I have a tendency to gush over craft books, but I really can't say enough good things about this one. Within the last month I also read Story, by Robert McKee, and while I will say is brilliant, is also very difficult read. Very thick. Difficult to understand. I got way more out of Writing for Emotional Impact. It's littered with examples and will be a mainstay on my keeper shelf. I don't think I could even loan it out yet. I might NEED IT.