The First Five Pages, Ch 3-5, post for the week of 02/01 - 02/08

I think The First Five Pages is a good little guidebook for those who aspire to become published writers but may need some help to get there. I like that Lukeman's chapters are short and to the point. He is able to explain concepts basically and although his examples are usually over the top, I think it is good, because it makes it absolutely clear what is unacceptable. I think I like this book because it could be useful to a wide range of writers. For novices, it gives clear guidelines about what one needs to perfect to be successful. For a more experienced writer, I think that it gives clear cut reference points that allow one to reinforce the things they were probably doing already. Lukeman's writing feels easygoing but firm and I like that. I think the most useful chapter out of these three is the one on style. While Sound and Comparison both point out important facets of writing, I think of the three style is the hardest one to alter. I also was amused because while I was reading the five ways to "tell if a manuscript suffers from stylistic errors" all I could think about was Epstein! I don't think number one really applies, but he manages to do the other four! I did feel that Book Business was being used as "an arena for the writer to exhibit his talent," that the writing was "too noticeable," that there was a great deal of redundancy, and that I was "being used as a reader." In the last post I made I tried to articulate just what I felt was wrong with Epstein's book and I don't feel like I quite put my finger on it. With Lukeman's descriptions, I can safely say that what was wrong with Book Business for me was definitely a stylistic problem.