The First Five Pages: A Writer'S Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
by Noah Lukeman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Noah LukemanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-01-01
ISBN: 068485743X
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of The First Five Pages: A Writer'S Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
Book Review: This book held much promise.
Summary: 1 Stars
When I began to read, I felt I was holding a rocket in a small tome. The writer launches with the words, "Most people are against books on writing on principle. So am I." My very own thoughts! So I kept reading, engrossed by the concise cadence of the words of guidance.
But on page 58, cold regret began washing in. Sure, his advice on that page is quite sound (e.g. "instead of saying `birds flew overhead,' name the birds.") His point: being specific will also make readers feel "they're learning something new, be it the name of a bird, bug or tree they've never heard of before." Lukeman's next sentence says (and I agree): "We must remember that reading is as much about education as it is entertainment."
A necessary digression: In the late 90s, here in Australia, one Matthew Reilly, Law student, produced a book, "Ice Station", which led him to his present status as "millionaire many times over." (Those are words of Reilly's schoolmate who I met at a jobsite months ago.)
"Ice Station" is the personification of a book that brought its writer fortune and fame. "Ice Station" is also the personification of a book that ignores guideposts in books like this. (Check the reviews of "Ice Station" by Matthew Reilly, noting especially the ones that speak plainly of this book's disregard for technical accuracy.)
This review (please note) is not to needlessly hogwash "First Five Pages"; nor is it to tear down Mr Reilly's work; nor to senselessly darken the outlook for writers-to-be. As will be clear by review-end, it is to lay bare a side of publishing that is hidden. Or unfathomable. In short, this review is to attempt a REALISTIC picture of the odds that aiming writers must brace themselves for.
After hearing a warm and fuzzy radio talk of how Matt Reilly finally got his book published and "best-sellerized", I bought a copy. Boy, was it hard to get through! I quickly realized that the "fuzzy" aspect of Reilly's success report was fuzzy in another way: "fuzzy" with facts. Oh well, that's journalism for you, I thought as I continued in my quest to crack the code for publishing success. I bought the audio book. Listening instead of eye-straining would make it easy to force-feed my brain, I thought. I thought wrong. The narration sounded clumsy---all round, it sounded ATROCIOUS. I had the feeling throughout, that the narrator seemed ill at ease putting his professional voice to such a silly job.
And to think!---the story surrounding Matt Reilly and his writerly quest had sounded so enticing on our trusted, no-advertising radio station (Radio National). How could they have put out such claptrap? Did our Radio National not consider the possibility that they'd lose credibility among their listeners?
One of the most useful things I got out of my training in Science was "clear thought"; to know that if a single occurrence contradicts the established laws of a science, the validity of that entire science can come crashing down. The case of Mr Reilly's unmeritorious success makes many books like "First Five" speed groundward at 10m/s2. They induce a disquieting mood that something vital is missing. Those who possess the secrets of publishing success are unable, or unwilling, to give a full explanation as to how it is that writers of great skill are ignored, and the bookshops are full of rubbish. Wait! "Rubbish" is subjective. Please check for yourself, review reader, and find out how many published writers trail along the guidelines of writing coaches and their books. Like the man who got rich solely from writing a book on how to get rich, some are getting published by writing books on how to get published. Oh, you want proof? Do I have enough space here? If you've read this far, you're determined. You'll do your own research. I hope you'll see the lay of the land more clearly than I can; I hope what you see will be brighter than what I see. One title of publishing success merely from writing a book on publishing success comes to mind. Before mentioning her, I should say that she wrote her book out of an honest naïveté---NOT with a charlatan's hand. The book is "Writing Down the Bones"; her name, Natalie Goldberg.
Would it be useful to mention--according to Mr Reilly's schoolmate--that Reilly's school was a wealthy private school; that Reilly's uncle is a barrister; that he is in fact well-connected? I remember the year Reilly made his début. Major bookshops in Sydney made mini towers of "Ice Station" to greet customers. From that year on, I have refused to buy a single book from those bookstores. I often browse in those bookstores (good service since Amazon.com became a competitor), but do I actually buy books from them? I prefer Amazon, thanks very much. A cynical attitude? Well, who started it?
To add the cherry to this dark view so plain to the sharp- and clear-eyed, here's an anecdote that begins chapter 16: "In 1969, `Steps', a novel by [...] won the National Book Award. Six years later, a freelance writer named `Chuck Ross', to test the old theory that a novel by an unknown writer doesn't have a chance, typed the first 21 pages of `Steps' and sent them out to four publishers as the work of `Eric Demos'. All four rejected the manuscript. Two years after that, he typed out the whole book, and sent it again, credited to `Eric Demos', to more publishers, including the original publisher of the [prize-winning] book, Random House. Again all rejected it with unhelpful comments. Random House used a form letter. Altogether, 14 publishers and 13 literary agents failed to recognize a book that had already been published, and had won an important literary prize."
How are even the most talented among us ever going to see the light of publication? A rejection slip will merely deject us into a despair that we're not talented after all. (Personally, I don't care to get published---I DO care about life's necessities that publication can buy.)
I get the feeling that we, Writers-without-influential-connections, will need as much luck as a lotto ticket buyer. Oh well, we can dream! I fear that's what we'll ever get to do. We'll no doubt enjoy a life of shunning other work in our love for writing, with little hope that our labours will ever see the light of any spotlight. Until some worldly soul gives us advice that doesn't take us along years of honing our craft, only to leave us at a brink, and no bridge in sight.
But wait! For those worthy writers among us, I DID find ONE writing book whose song chimed honest and bright: STEPHEN KING ON WRITING! (ISBN0340769963) Cracking that book open on page 109, you get the feeling he doesn't do any salsas around the truth. There are bad writers a-plenty, he says, employed as "professionals"; others have scribbled their crap to "homes in the Caribbean." Genius writers, he goes on to say, are mental equivalents of runway models thrown forth by genetic dice. At any rate, here's the core of what he works up to: "it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer" and "it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one." And here is another of King's guiding sentences: "I'm afraid this idea is rejected by lots of critics and PLENTY OF WRITING TEACHERS, as well." (Caps are my own.)
Bottom line: Not everyone can be a runway model---not everyone can be Writer. Those who offer their services as writing coaches---through books or otherwise---do it for dollars and cents. But they make little sense. Those bad writers who "connect" their way into publication midget-ize a nation's literary treasure.
My one grump about "On Writing" is that it says nothing about the "networking" side of publishing success.
I wonder. Has Mr Reilly made Australia a laughing stock? Is everyone too polite to laugh?
May the powers-that-be put a-right all that is wrong. May bad writers find their true calling, instead of causing grief and wasted of lives all round.
More The First Five Pages: A Writer'S Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile reviews:
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Summary of The First Five Pages: A Writer'S Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
IF YOU'RE TIRED OF REJECTION, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.Whether you are a novice writer or a veteran who has already had your work published, rejection is often a frustrating reality. Literary agents and editors receive and reject hundreds of manuscripts each month. While it's the job of these publishing professionals to be discriminating, it's the job of the writer to produce a manuscript that immediately stands out among the vast competition. And those outstanding qualities, says New York literary agent Noah Lukeman, have to be apparent from the first five pages.
The First Five Pages reveals the necessary elements of good writing, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, journalism, or poetry, and points out errors to be avoided, such as
* A weak opening hook
* Overuse of adjectives and adverbs
* Flat or forced metaphors or similes
* Melodramatic, commonplace or confusing dialogue
* Undeveloped characterizations and lifeless settings
* Uneven pacing and lack of progression
With exercises at the end of each chapter, this invaluable reference will allow novelists, journalists, poets and screenwriters alike to improve their technique as they learn to eliminate even the most subtle mistakes that are cause for rejection. The First Five Pages will help writers at every stage take their art to a higher -- and more successful -- level.
The difference between The First Five Pages and most books on writing is that the others are written by teachers and writers. This one comes from a literary agent--one whose clients include Pulitzer Prize nominees, New York Times bestselling authors, Pushcart Prize recipients, and American Book Award winners. Noah Lukeman is not trying to impart the finer points of writing well. He wants to teach you "how to identify and avoid bad writing," so that your manuscript doesn't come boomeranging back to you in that self-addressed, stamped envelope. Surprise: Agents and editors don't read manuscripts for fun; they are looking for reasons to reject them. Lukeman has arranged his book "in the order of what I look for when trying to dismiss a manuscript," starting with presentation and concluding with pacing and progression. Each chapter addresses a pitfall of poor writing--overabundance of adjectives and adverbs, tedious or unrealistic dialogue, and lack of subtlety to name just a few--by identifying the problem, presenting solutions, giving examples (one wishes these weren't quite so obvious), and offering writing exercises. It's a little bizarre to think about approaching your work as would an agent, but if you are serious about getting published, you may as well get used to it. Plus, Lukeman has plenty of solid advice worth listening to. Particularly fine are his exercises for removing and spicing up modifiers and his remedies for all kinds of faulty dialogue. --Jane Steinberg
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