Pretty helpful! I didn't realize till halfway through that this was a sequel, so perhaps the rest of the secret is in the first book.

My favorite part was the bit on beginnings, how you want to start with something that makes the reader ask a question.

The rest of it was mostly random tips, some helpful, some not. But it was a quick read and enjoyable. ( )

What makes a good novel? That depends on who you ask. 'Good' is a subjective term. It is largely a matter of taste. I found myself disagreeing with the author in several places on what constitutes a 'good' novel. For me, a 'good' novel includes an exploration of a philosophical idea or some significant point about humanity in general, concepts the writer of this book seems to dismiss as unnecessary, or at best secondary to conflict and emotion. A better title for this book might be 'How to Write Popular Formulaic Drama.' But even if that is not the type of book you like to read (or write), this short 'How To' manual provides helpful advise about how to shape a vague idea into a story. ( )

More advanced formulae. I read all these books because, in a fit of enthusiasm, I bought them all at the same time, and in my naivete kept hoping something useful would pop out.

I'd have done better to invest in pop-tarts. ( )

The first in this series is the best. THis enriches but isn't quite as motivating as the first one. ( )

There are problems with this book, clearly problems with the entire idea that Frey has embarked on teaching, for he had to come up with a second book in his treatise on how to write a novel. This is a book that deals with the Craft of writing fiction. Throughout the work and the previous work, Frey is good enough to quote from many texts to support his concept on how to write your work.

Clearly it does work for him and others. It will see you to the finish of writing a novel. This book does add, and even contradicts the previous work, and the concept can not stand without the first book. But it is is still slim. Both works should be sold and reedited as one work. Not two. In one place Frey speaks to his immortality through this work. That future literary writers will find it on some dusty shelf.

In fairness to those future writers, Frey should revisit and tighten up these concepts, and the reference to the first book by having this all in one volume.

What one can take from these works are further discussion on making a character strong enough to entice a reader. A great deal of work dealing with premise of your tale. And then how to begin to strengthen the writer for what lays ahead in the refinement of ones product. That is somewhat significant for far too many write and can’t see that there are flaws in what they have written. Worse though is not telling the writer and purchaser of this book the old cliche, everyone’s a critic. That even should the writer come up with the best draft after hundreds of iterations, someone will think it flawed still.

That should be the final lesson of the work, and Frey nearly touches on it, saying to take criticism as you wish. That the author is still the creator and thus can do with such criticism as he wishes. There of course is no mechanism to decide what is valid criticism, or what isn’t. It is all subjective. So while the mechanism’s in the two books on crafting our a solid addition, the last part on revision, which Frey says is important, is not quite where it needs to be to see to your Damn Good Novel. ( )