New book and a new – and very welcome – experience for me: a “How To” write book received as a birthday present which I found many times more compelling, educational; entertaining and personally useful than the many “How To” books on writing I own: a dozen on my bookshelves, and knowledge of one discarded as not even being worthy of its slender shelf room.)
I admit the title – “How to write like Tolstoy” - was a little daunting when the only time I tried reading him was when, having gone into labour four and a half weeks early, with my first born, (and I novel-informed of hours of straining agony) I took ‘Anna Karenina’ into hospital with me. Don’t think I made it much past the fourth page, so any thought of attempting to emulate Tolstoy’s writing never happened) But Richard Cohen’s book grabbed my attention from the first, I found it compelling, amusing – the chapter on writing sex scenes is titled ‘Just like Zorro ‘ – apt and educational and have inserted several Post-it notes for further action on my current wip from ideas gained from chapters on Points of view – a new approach to structure seems an idea worth trying – and Rhythm in prose writing , and as 2026 is the sixth or maybe the twelfth year ‘Finish ‘Snap’ – the fifth novel in my ‘Love triangles with murder’ series – has been a resolution I’d better get on with it.
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