‘A book that proved itself useful.’
Summary
Brave the page is a non-fictional book about writing, presented by Nanowrimo. This book truly has it all: endless tips, encouraging words from well-known writers and an amazing writing schedule ready to be used. The tips provided by the book cover all that has to do with writing. For example, you can find instructions on how to deal with plot holes, but you can also find suggestions about how to completely eliminate distractions so you’ll be fully able to focus on your writing. Near the end of the book, you’ll find four extended pieces about each week of Nanowrimo and how to tackle the difficulties you’ll probably encounter. And there’s more: every part of the book ends with the so-called ‘dare machine’, a writing challenge that will help you apply the tips given in that specific part of the book.
Review
Criticising a work of non-fiction is hard. Especially when it’s written with the idea that the reader will take action and do as is said in the books. I, however, didn’t do that. Mainly because November had just ended and I just wanted to use this as a source for my research projects at school. But now I kind of feel like I have to share my opinion about this book.
Don’t get me wrong: there were a lot of useful and inspiring parts present that really taught me things I didn’t know before I started reading this book. But there just was a lot of ‘air’. I don’t know how to describe it otherwise. There were a lot of ‘dare machines’ that were supposed to get me to write. But I didn’t feel motivated to do so, actually. It slowed down my reading pace and that really didn’t make things better.
Besides, there were a lot of typing errors throughout the book. In the Dutch version, at least. And I mean, I can read past them when there are only like four. But at one point I continued to see spelling errors on every page. Didn’t really like to see that in a book about writing.
But I do have to say that this book contained a lot of useful stuff. The messages from all the writers were really sweet and inspiring and I enjoyed reading the parts about ‘How to…’ It opened my eyes to new insights in writing, and for that, I liked the book.
Conclusion
Concluding, I’d like to say that you shouldn’t not read this book just because I didn’t enjoy it from beginning to end. There were amazing pieces and there were pieces that felt a little random and unnecessary. But don’t let the negative words stop you, cause this book might prove useful in the near future! Who’s ready for Camp Nanowrimo?
| Product information |
| Written by: Rebecca Stern & Grant Faulkner |
| Pages: 304 |
| Publisher: Viking |
| ISBN: 0451480295 |
| Interested? Buy it here |