There are many ways prospective authors routinely sabotage their own work But why leave it to guesswork? Misstep by misstep How Not to Write a Novel shows how you can ensure that your manuscript never rises above the level of unpublishable drivel; that your characters are unpleasant dimensionless versions of yourself; that your plot is digressive tedious & unconvincing; & that your style is reliant on mangled cliches & sesquipedalian malapropisms Alternatively you can use it to identify the most common mistakes avoid them & actually write a book that works Guardian Award shortlisted novelist Sandra Newman & veteran editor Howard Mittelmark have distilled 30 years of teaching editing writing & reviewing fiction into a hilarious & liberating guide that is the perfect read for anyone who's ever laughed at a badly written piece of prose & for anyone who's ever penned one
- & doesn't want to do it again