Minds and Manuscripts

In his book Consider This Palahniuk gives readers incidents from his writing life and also advice to wannabe writers. He doesn’t leave the readers and dark and tells exactly what they should do until they are mature enough to be able to do things themselves. He gives useful advice which can be readily used. The incidences from his life as a writer tell the readers what one should expect as a writer and that it’s not all hunky-dory as people might expect the life of a writer to be. You create a product and then you have to market that product. Palahniuk’s advice is direct and no frills, he tells what a writer ought to do in specific situations. He tells the methods he uses and with clarity and detail. He tells about what he thinks works and tells the readers to use them, until they are good enough to improvise by themselves. He doesn’t give vague descriptions, he tells the readers exactly what they need to do to improve their stories and writing. It’s a good book to learn about Palahniuk’s style and writing in general.