The Weekend Novelist

Who doesn’t dream of writing a novel while holding on to a day job? Robert J. Ray and coauthor Bret Norris can help readers do just that, with this proven practical and accessible step-by-step guide to completing a novel in just a year’s worth of weekends.

The Weekend Novelist shows writers of all levels how to divide their writing time into weekend work sessions, and how to handle character, scene, and plot. This new, revised version is far more skills-based than its predecessor, and includes both classic and contemporary literature models, contains a sample “Novel in Progress,” and at the end offers readers the choice to rewrite their novel, draft a memoir, or turn their rough draft into a screenplay. Readers for a decade have been instructed and inspired by The Weekend Novelist. This new edition will help many more strive to realize their writing potential.

• Offers a practical, structured approach to finishing a novel
• Ray has taught more than 10,000 students over 25 years and continues to teach new classes that attract new readers to his books

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The Weekend Novelist

Re-Writes the Novel

You’ve finished your first draft—congratulations! Think it’s ready for publication? Think again. The next stage is all about revising and reworking your manuscript—fine-tuning the plot, adding or improving subplots, and fleshing out characters; in short, addressing important structural issues that make or break a novel.

Robert J. Ray, who helped thousands of writers get from blank page to first draft in The Weekend Novelist, now guides the same audience through a series of seventeen weekend revision exercises designed to fit into any busy lifestyle, focusing on everything from rewriting scenes to developing sound flashbacks to refining characters’ back stories. Throughout the book, Ray illustrates his lessons with examples from such great works of literature as Jane Eyre, Gorky Park, and The Great Gatsby so that writers may more easily identify how and why a certain technique or structural element helps or hinders their own work. Also included are checklists, timed exercises, plot diagrams, and charts—all aimed to get you rewriting and revising your draft with confidence.

Whether you’re an amateur novelist, a seasoned writer who’s hit a mental block, or a creative writing teacher looking for proven exercises for better instruction, The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel provides the tools to transform first drafts into successful novels.

 

Amazon
Amazon

The Weekend Novelist

Writes a Mystery

Like Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler, Sara Paretsky and Thomas Harris, you, too, can learn the trade secrets of quality detective fiction.

It’s true.  Just one year from now, you can deliver a completed mystery novel to a publisher–by writing only on weekends.  Authors Robert J.  Ray and Jack Remick guide you through the entire mystery-writing process, from creating a killer to polishing off the final draft.  Each weekend you’ll focus on a specific task–learning the basics of novel-writing, the special demands of mystery-writing, and the secrets professionals use to create stories one scene at a time, building to a shivery, satisfying climax.  Using Agatha Christie’s The Body in the Library as a model for the classical mystery tale and Martin Cruz Smith’s Gorky Park for the hard-boiled mystery, this unique step-by-step program gives you all the information you need to reach your ultimate goal: a finished book in just 52 weeks!  

Let two successful masters of the genre show you how…

Discover:

  • Why you must create your killer first
  • The tricks to writing dialogue that does it all–moves your plot, involves your reader, and makes your style sizzle
  • How to “bury” information (and corpses) for your reader to find
  • Why you should NOT build your book around chapters
  • Special techniques for clearing writer’s block
  • Plus: examples from Sue Grafton, Dashiell Hammett, Patricia Cornwell, Thomas Harris, Raymond Chandler, and more.

 

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