This is hands down one of the best books on writing fiction I have ever come across. If you are a writer, this needs to be on your shelf.

Before we dive in to the review on the book, here is a reminder of how I rate what I read (these will be on a scale of 1-10, 1 being low, 10 being high):

• Plot Structure: How well the story was put together.
• Character Development: Level of growth a character achieves and how well the author makes them feel “real.”
• Language: Level of swearing, innuendos, verbal abuse, and other triggers.
• Violence: Level of fight scenes and gore.
• Sexual Content: Level of physical intimacy.

Here are the star ratings and what they mean:

Anything less than two stars will not be posted as I don’t want to waste your time or mine.

If you would like an editorial review for your own book with content ratings, you can contact me directly, or request me as your reviewer on Reedsy Discovery.

Disclaimer: The more I write, the more I critique books harder on plot structure and how the various elements work together. Thus my reviews reflect this. However, if you see a book appear on the blog, it’s because I enjoyed reading and thought you, as a fellow bookie, would enjoy it as well. As always, reading is subjective and what resonates with me may not resonate with you. And that’s OK! We’re in this to discover new books that are family appropriate and worth taking the time to read.

Book Description:

Engage your readers with emotion.

While writers might disagree over showing versus telling or plotting versus pantsing, none would argue this: If you want to write strong fiction, you must make your readers feel. The reader’s experience must be an emotional journey of its own, one as involving as your characters’ struggles, discoveries, and triumphs are for you.

That’s where The Emotional Craft of Fiction comes in. Veteran literary agent and expert fiction instructor Donald Maass shows you how to use story to provoke a visceral and emotional experience in readers. Topics covered include:

● Emotional modes of writing

● Beyond showing versus telling

● Connecting the inner and outer journeys and much more

Readers can simply read a novel…or they can experience it. The Emotional Craft of Fiction shows you how to make that happen.

My Review:

I was first introduced to this book by YouTuber Jed Herne. If you haven’t checked out his writing videos, I urged you to do so. He is a fantastic teacher and his videos are easy to follow. On his writing channel, he did a book review on The Emotional Craft of Fiction, and gave his own spin on what emotion should look like in your writing. (Watch the video)

Prior to this, I had not heard of this book, nor the author, Donald Maas. Yet, now I’m hungry for more.

Maas outlines what emotionally ties readers to books and how you, as an author, can create this bond. One of Maas’s biggest takeaways is that we as humans experience life through feelings and your characters should do the same.

Throughout this book, you will find examples of what Maas is trying to teach, as well as reflection questions at the end of each section. Combined with his own experiences and teachings, I learned so much about how to make my own stories more engaging. I feel I can now write with a sense of emotion that wasn’t present in my writing before.

I recommend reading this book slowly. This will allow you time to digest the information and really put it into practice. 

How I rated this book:

• Structure: 10/10; This book was very well organized with plenty of examples from leading books as well as easy to understand teaching from the author. It had questions at the end of each section to aid in understanding the principles.
• Language: 3/10; Occasional language was used in some of the examples referenced.
• Violence: 4/10; One example had disturbing images, but the author warns you when this is coming up and suggests that if that type of scene isn’t for you, to just skip it. (I skipped it and didn’t feel I missed anything.)
• Sexual Content: 1/10; No examples of spicy or steamy content was used.

Conclusion:

There are three books I feel every fiction author should have on their shelf. A style guide, The Dictionary of Body Language by Joe Navarro, and the Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maas.

It’s just that good