This book is a classic writing guide on suspense novels by Patricia Highsmith, the American suspense writer and author of the "The Talented Mr. Ripley" series. It is also a literary review of her own and other people's works.
As the author says in the preface, she devotes as much space to failure in this book as to success. The eleven chapters in the book cover all aspects of novel creation, from the budding of inspiration, the choice of perspective, to the advancement of the plot, the revision of the first draft, and so on. Highsmith used several of his famous works ("The Talented Mr. Ripley", "The Glass Cell" and "Strangers on the Train") as research cases to analyze the polishing process before and after these classic works. He also used a rare straight and humble attitude to describe the obstacles and problems he encountered.
According to Highsmith, what a writer has to do is express the differences between himself and others. In this spirit of openness, writing is not mysterious but an organized freedom.
Reader comments
This book is very practical! Especially for someone like me who has just become a mother, time is relatively fragmented and it is difficult to have complete time to write. But this book tells us that writing is not a mystery, but an organized freedom. The author also shared his own failures and mistakes, which I found very real and inspiring. I especially like the parts about plot advancement and perspective selection in the book, which I find very useful. Although the market for suspense novels may have shrunk now, the quality is higher, which gives me more confidence to try writing some suspense novels.
The writing is sincere, and not all writers have the courage to dissect their own books for analysis. The advice on inspiration, effort, and mindset is also very constructive, making it a great introductory guide for novice writers. Especially for suspense writers, even though many suspense works are now published physically, there is no big difference between the method of monetization and the age of the writer.
Although this book is written with sincerity and sincerity, firstly, I have not read any novels by this author. Secondly, this is a kind of teaching and explanation of published novels in the 20th century. It is difficult to apply it to the current fast-paced modern world. You can read it, just to cheer yourself up and gain some confidence.
The author shared his real writing experience, which is very helpful for writing.
It can be regarded as a reference book, which is very helpful for writing suspense novels. It gives a lot of ideas and techniques.
Anyone who has writing experience will feel that the content of this book is thoughtful and sincere.
This book is very practical! Especially for someone like me who has just become a mother, time is relatively fragmented and it is difficult to have complete time to write. But this book tells us that writing is not a mystery, but an organized freedom. The author also shared his own failures and mistakes, which I found very real and inspiring. I especially like the parts about plot advancement and perspective selection in the book, which I find very useful. Although the market for suspense novels may have shrunk now, the quality is higher, which gives me more confidence to try writing some suspense novels.
The writing is sincere, and not all writers have the courage to dissect their own books for analysis. The advice on inspiration, effort, and mindset is also very constructive, making it a great introductory guide for novice writers. Especially for suspense writers, even though many suspense works are now published physically, there is no big difference between the method of monetization and the age of the writer.
Although this book is written with sincerity and sincerity, firstly, I have not read any novels by this author. Secondly, this is a kind of teaching and explanation of published novels in the 20th century. It is difficult to apply it to the current fast-paced modern world. You can read it, just to cheer yourself up and gain some confidence.
The author shared his real writing experience, which is very helpful for writing.
It can be regarded as a reference book, which is very helpful for writing suspense novels. It gives a lot of ideas and techniques.
Anyone who has writing experience will feel that the content of this book is thoughtful and sincere.