Since I've been too tired to write or revise my stories recently, I decided to use the little free time I have to continue learning more about writing. I saw this book on Netgalley and thought it sounded interesting.

The Story Cure has two main sections: Cures (problems that occur when you're writing your first draft) and Checkups (revision and other things). Cures is the longer section and it covers topics like: getting to the heart of the story (I liked this the best because it was the most original part), starting a story, writing good scenes, dialogue and settings, and even plot. Most of the instructions about story elements can be found in other writing books, but the advice does seem very sound. The heart of the story chapter was the most interesting, and probably what ties all the story elements together because it's about hooking the reader and keeping his/her attention.

Checkups basically covers revision, habits (like writing daily) and last comments. It feels more like an afterword, but I think that if you're a new writer trying to finish a first draft, this will be helpful advice for you.

Did I get something valuable from this?

Yup. The advice is solid and I like the way examples (good and bad) were used to illustrate the points. If you're the type that needs to read it (especially bad examples) to know what to do or what to avoid, this will be helpful.

Is this THE writing book?

I don't think so. Then again, I don't think that there's a perfect writing book. If you've been writing for a while, you may find most of the advice repetitive, but if you're a new writer or want a refresher, then this book may be useful for you.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

As an Indie writer, I'm always seeking information on the craft of writing. I was intrigued by the premise of a "Book Doctor," A title/role I learned about on TV show--where publishers hire ghostwriters to mend a broken book or incomplete manuscript. I went into reading this book with hopes that I would find new and innovative ways to approach the act of writing. I will say that there were some things that I have taken away from this book. I think this is a good resource for writers starting out.

This was an interesting book on writing. As a creative writing student, and having read many books on the craft in my time, I would like to think I'm fairly knowledgeable.

One thing that I found really fresh was the whole "book doctor" thing. It was a really new and interesting... but the downside is, that it did seem childish. I was unsure about who the author intended to write the book before; sometimes, it seemed to be intending to adults, and other times, it was too simplistic.

I'll do other good things first: the author was very good at giving advise on revising novels. I found what he said very helpful, and there were also (albeit fairly simplistic) pieces of advice that I think I will try and carry with my in my writing. He made a good use of other author's quotes and passages, too, although I felt like occasionally there was an over-reliance on them.

That's why I gave it two stars: because, to be frank, the advice was good. HOWEVER.

1) firstly, the metaphor of the "book doctor" ran on a bit, was a bit too deep and sometimes it just seemed filler to make the book longer. Also, I found some bits quite offensive, like when he was discussing "happy pills". Like, what? Aside from the fact that this has NOTHING TO DO WITH WRITING, it was handled insensitively, and it made me unhappy and tentative to read the rest of the book.
2) The author was OBSESSED with divorce and affairs. Seriously. The guy has obviously written some memoir in his time, and I'm guessing that something happened to him because it was in every chapter as an example of a memoir. It was boring. It was unhappy.
3) He was not funny... and actually had to explain his jokes. .-.
4) He used his own writing in the exercises. This could be pulled off well, but sometimes the 'extracts' (he invented them for the novel which is why they're in inverted commas) were over a page long and he'd already used other extracts from different, published novels.

All in all, I won't be recommending this book to anyone else. He offered some good advice, and some things I could remember for later writing, but overall I found it lacklustre, over-reliance on himself, and insensitive.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

This was a tough one to rate, as I can't say that any of the advice in the book was poor. Dinty W. Moore clearly knows a lot about writing, and I'd love to take one of his classes, but unfortunately the way the whole book was set up simply didn't give the information the weight it deserved. How To Write books are a dime a dozen these days. They're everywhere and of varying quality. To set yourself apart, you really need to try and do something different. The Story Cure certainly tries to do that. Setting the book up as an ailment/diagnosis/cure scenario was a really unique way of setting up a how to book. The problem is that it failed to make the information accessible. The prompts and help were trapped between layers of unnecessary exposition and winding examples and metaphors that, while interesting to read for the most part, seemed only to serve to pad out a book that was sparse on information and long on prose.