I love books on writing. I have read my share of them too. I've read ones by Terry Brooks and Stephen King and others. So you'd think by now that I would have at least one novel under my belt. But I don't. Julie clarifies this issue in a nutshell...you have to write your way. Yes, you should pay attention to the advice and there are certain things the writer should not fudge on, like style and grammar. She recommends The Elements of Style by Strunk and White and there I couldn't agree with her more. I happen to have that book in my writing arsenal. A writer should also keep a good book on grammar handy. What she said that I really liked and agree with 100% is "write something that matters--if only to you." Great advice. Who wants to write something they don't care about? If the writer doesn't care, the reader certainly isn't going to. It doesn't have to be a big statement book, but the story should mean something, should touch the writer and, therefore, the reader. Authenticity and truth come in too. Don't skimp on the details. Do the research. The most important thing though...get it written. Set deadlines for yourself and this is one I like. Set a goal of five pages per day, five days a week. This works for Julie because she's a rule breaker so if she doesn't write on Monday, she can write Saturday to make it up. Or she can add pages on to other days. I think I like this approach better than so many words per day or hours even. Frankly, the word count thing makes me very nervous (I'm talking to you NaNoWriMo)!

Julie's core rules:

Start it--put one word after another.
Put your heart in it.
Part with it--get it written.

Simple and straight forward. I like it. In subsequent chapters, she discusses voice, plot, characters, and all the nuts and bolts when it comes to writing a novel, but she does it in a fresh way. She doesn't bog it all down with pages and pages of explanations. That's one beef I have with writing books. They are way too long. Hence why there are so many on my shelves that remain unread. Julie's 121 page dynamo is the perfect book on writing. This is a book that will stay in my eReader and I will be using it as I continue with the novel I started during NaNoWriMo and did not finish. I will finish it. Five pages a day, five days a week and I will write it my way. Thank you, Julie.
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