Noah Lukeman

Today I began Noah Lukeman’s The Plot Thickens.  It has been on my bookshelf for almost a year while I’ve read other books on writing craft.  His book The First Five Pages was the first that I read and had to put down to absorb when I came to the chapter on poetry.  

I needed to find some poetry in English but then life got in the way and a bad writing teacher turned me off to writing all together.  I’m happy I set down the manuscript I’m writing because, after six months when I read the first ninety pages I’d drafted, I realized it was worth continuing.   

Lukeman’s books on craft are gushing wells of information that every writer should keep, consult and peek through.  The Plot Thickens is nothing like I imagined it would be, its full of questions, it is an inquisition.  I needed this book as I know my characters were flat.  Do I really know my characters?  After starting The Plot Thickens, I can say no, I don’t. 

Thanks, Noah Lukeman

The First Five Pages

Yesterday the concierge brought a load of books in the mail.  I'd been expecting them but there was one that I craved above all.  Noah Lukeman's The First Five Pages;  A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile. 


Last night I read the first chapter on presentation and the second on adverbs and adjectives.  At the end of the second chapter he suggests, that before continuing, a writer do several exercises. One of these is to count and list all of the adverbs and adjectives on the first page of their beloved manuscript.

I thought that I had streamlined my MS well enough but listed over 10% of the words on the first page.

Oh how painful it was, I didn't want to do this exercise, it's not fun and the clock is ticking away precious painting time, and oh damn it's difficult doing this without a cigarette, maybe I'll just go smoke one.

It was a great exercise and now I know how to better write the next 60K words to the end of my first draft, and the cigarette?