Saturday, January 14, 2012

Fantasy - A Writer's Short Guide (Linda McNabb)

Fantasy - A Writer's Short Guide
Linda McNabb
Amazon Digital Services
Nonfiction, YA? Writing
*** (Okay)


DESCRIPTION: Fantasy author Linda McNabb presents an overview of fantasy, with workshop activities to spark story ideas.
A Kindle exclusive title.

REVIEW: As stated in the title, this is a short guide... so short I managed to read it in under an hour. The advice is so basic that I wonder if her target audience was people who hadn't read fantasy, and/or those who have never attempted writing at all. What is here isn't bad for an introduction, but it paints its subjects with such broad, simple brush strokes that no details can be discerned at all. (At the very least, McNabb could've offered a "Further Reading" section at the end, for those who wanted to learn more about fantasy and writing in general.)
If you were trying to organize a simple writing workshop for school or some manner of young adult club (an after-school book club, a Scout group, etc.), this might be an ideal course outline. Otherwise, aspiring fantasy writers would probably get much more out of Gail Carson Levine's Writing Magic.

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