Tag: K.M.Weiland

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Book Review – Creating Character Arcs by K.M.Weiland.

Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development (Helping Writers Become Authors Book 7)Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author’s Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development by K.M. Weiland

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Creating Character Arcs by K.M.Weiland is a guide for authors to help them improve the writing of their character arcs.

The Cover: I think this cover is a fairly good fit. The image shows  a persons journey across a mountain range that peaks in the middle, symbolic of the character arc. The colours work well and the title defines the books content. The fonts are clear too. It is clearly a non-fiction title covering character arcs.

The Good Stuff: I read this all the way through and at the start I was thinking ‘this is all pretty obvious’… and it is, but this book spells it out and makes you aware of the process and methods. It really opened my eyes to how little consideration I have put into planning my character arcs in the past. I will certainly be more aware of this in future and I think I will be inclined to give it greater consideration when I put pen to paper. Hopefully I will see further improvement in my own writing from reading this title.

The Bad Stuff: There were a lot of examples in the book and I know they may be useful to some, especially as the examples cover different genres, but it felt like filler to me. I know that what clicks with one person may not click with another, so having more examples can be beneficial. For me, it seemed like padding out the pages with unrequired wordage.

Overall it was a good read, easy to understand and informative and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a better understanding of character arcs. I’m giving this one a character changing 4 out of 5 Golden Bookmarks!

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.

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Book Review – 5 Secrets Of Story Structure: How To Write A Novel That Stands Out by K.M.Weiland

5 Secrets of Story Structure: How to Write a Novel That Stands Out (Helping Writers Become Authors Book 6)

5 Secrets of Story Structure: How to Write a Novel That Stands Out by K.M. Weiland

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Review – 5 Secrets of Story Structure by KM Weiland
5 Secrets of Story Structure by KM Weiland covers off on the fundamentals of structuring a novel.

The Cover: This is a solid non-fiction cover that clearly conveys what the book is about.

The Good Stuff: This book is well presented and provides the formula for writing a good story in an easy to understand way. The content is very similar to Planning Your Novel by Janice Hardy, but presented in a slightly different format. From memory, I paid around $16.00 for the Janice Hardy book and I have no regrets, but (at time of writing this review) this one by KM Weiland is currently free on Amazon and Kobo and is just as insightful. Excellent value and a great book for anyone who needs to gain a better understanding of story structure.

The Bad Stuff: If there is any bad advice in this book I couldn’t find it. My only qualm would be with the term ‘plot points’. In my opinion this term is a little vague and did not fit, but this is only my opinion and it is a minor thing considering the value of the content in this book.

Overall, this book will be of great use to those starting out with their writing and anyone who struggles with story structure. It will teach you the fundamentals of the structure required to write a good story in an easy to understand, tried and tested way. I’m giving it 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:

Amazon.com.au
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com
Kobo

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.

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Book Review – Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland

Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story

Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story by K.M. Weiland

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story, as indicated by its title, is a book for writers who want to learn about novel structure.

The Cover: This has a strong non-fiction cover. The clear font, title, artwork and colouring clearly show what the book is about and who the target audience is.

The Good Stuff: If you want to learn more about story structure, this is the book for you. I was familiar with the content, but it served as a refresher for me. It is written in plain language and explains the key components around structure. I was actually surprized by the amount of content in this book and I recommend it if structure is something you wish to improve on.

The Bad Stuff: There really isn’t anything I found that was bad about this book. The experienced writer will probably know the information within the pages, but this is inevitable really. Any writer who practices long enough will eventually learn most of the knowledge and techniques that are available.

Overall, Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story is well written, easy to read and takes a very comprehensive look the elements of structure. I am giving this one 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:

Amazon.com
Amazon.com.au
Kobo

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.

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Book Review – Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland

Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to SuccessOutlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success by K.M. Weiland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland is a non-fiction title that looks at the benefits and process of outlining a novel before you start writing.

The Cover: The cover is a great fit for this title. The image reflects the craft of writing and works well in the non-fiction genre.

The Good Stuff: This book covers the techniques of outlining well. The author shares her experience in a clear and concise manner. There is some great information in this book that would steer an author on a straight path with their writing.

The Bad Stuff: There are a lot of author interviews interspersed between chapters. At first, I found them interesting, but then they all became a bit boring. They all seemed to say the same thing, drumming home the message that outlining is good. It seemed like filler to me and I would have much preferred just one or two examples at the end of the book.

Overall, there is some great information in this book. If you want to learn about outlining, I would recommend you read this, it will certainly tell you what you need to know. If you already have a good grip on outlining, you probably won’t learn so much. If this is you, it may just confirm that what you are doing is the same as other authors, or maybe you’ll learn something new. I was going to give this 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks as I did learn a little and I enjoyed the book. On reflection, I think it holds a lot of value for beginner to intermediate writers and for that reason I’m ranking this one 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:

amazon.com
amazon.com.au
Kobo

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries. 

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