This was a worthy read from a New Zealand writer. One part how-to, one part How-I-did-it. It was very enjoyable and well written. Not a lot of new ground covered here, but he has an encouraging way with words.

Decent advice, but I would've liked more exercises or worksheets or even just advice and less excerpts of the author's work. While I appreciate the first-hand experiences of the author I was hoping for something more engaging and less talking-at-the-reader. An interesting peek inside the writer's mind, at the very least. Decent for advice, but not for building any skills.

Interested in writing a novel? This book will help guide and lead you through the process. Well written and easy to read. This insightful book is certainly useful for those interested in writing.

This book is filled with great information and perfect for an up and coming new writer! Well written and easy to read.

Writing Your First Novel by John Reynolds is a very basic guide to getting started on that novel you've always intended to write. If you are not a natural writer and have no idea where to start, you might find this this book helpful as you begin. However, if you are a reader and write some, this book will not bring much new information to you. As a writer, I don't find this book very helpful. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. These opinions are entirely my own.

I would say this book is a great read for those interested in the industry and just starting out. John uses his background as a writer to give very helpful advice on how to write while keeping it easy to read and enjoyable. I don't know if this is a book for someone who has been in the industry already or read a lot of books like this, but it is called Writing Your FIRST Novel, so it does exactly what it's meant to do-- Help you as a beginner to write your first novel.

I would recommend this to those who are looking for a straight to the point kind of help. Personally, I loved that approach! Great book John!

Very inspiring book for a would-be novel writer. It’s full of great advice, especially about how to create a novel that can grasp the attention of the reader and motivate him to keep turning the pages to find out how it ends. I’ve read many similar books, but what I’ve found most interesting is the last part of the book completely dedicated to the publication and promotion of your novel. Once you’ve completed your novel, the hardest part is to get published, especially if you don’t have a track record. So Reynolds has included in his book a series of indications on how to convince a publishing house to at least consider your novel and maybe to publish it.

This is a short book and an easy read with some useful information for somebody who was thinking of writing their first novel. But this book, is one of many on how to write a novel, and it is not even alone in being a book aimed at the novice writer. I do feel that it doesn't have anything special to make it stand out from the crowd.
Personally having never tried to write dialogue since school, the chapter entitled Your Dialogue was a useful primer for the subject. Also having never thought about writing sex scenes that chapter was fairly illuminating on the subject.
There are too many unnecessary examples from the authors own work, they seem a little like filler and also as if he is just trying to impress us with his writing to improve his own book sales. I skipped past most of them. More interesting where the examples from acclaimed works such as the colour purple .

Non fiction books, especially concise ones on any subject are greatly improved by having a further reading section at the back. What this book has instead are the books that he has taken examples from listed and the classic The Elements of Style by William Strunk mentioned in the grammar section. In my opinion this is not sufficient.

This is the first book I have read on this subject. I would have been naive to think that a 133 page booklet would give me all the information I needed to write a book, because it doesn’t. I would have been much happier with this book if it had provided the readers with recommendations for further reading.

I found this book to be very helpful to a new writer. I am looking forward to using this as a reference for my writing. There are a lot of good and helpful idea's for a newbie.

This book would be better suited to new readers and those participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time. There really isn't much new here that can't be found FREELY online or in other paid books that offer a bit more depth. I was dismayed that the examples were exclusively from the author's works which I have not read.

I found this book helpful. Is it the most original informational book ever? Maybe not. However, I loved how John related back to his life an experience. I will be rereading when different parts become more revelant in my writing process. Overall I feel as though this is a great great for first time writers.

John Reynolds does a great job at breaking down the writing process. He goes over every possible question an upcoming writer may have. No matter what genre you hope to use write Reynolds explains what points need to be addressed. He also explains the importance of the title and the cover and ultimately how to get published. I think this is a great resource.

The old saying is those who can DO and those who can't... well John Reynolds can do BOTH.
Using his own books as an example, along with the first sentences, titles and major points from other popular authors, John tells it like it is. From the dream of being a writer, to the scheduling and commitment it takes, all the way through to finish, review and rewrite, this is a mini class in convenient form.
I have been a writer, editor and life long reader and I learned something about the process while reading this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for this opportunity to read and review.

As always, it’s wonderful when the title tells you everything you need to know.
Despite different names for some of the terms, this is pretty much the same format as most books and classes on writing. It didn’t help that a lot of the examples were from the author’s novels, which I have not read.
On the other hand, the end section on publishing was more useful, but his calling for a full-blown block party for a launch gets a little silly.

I love reading. I love writing. And there's nothing I like more than reading about writing. I've read hundreds of books of this type, and as such it didn't offer much I didn't already know, but I'm probably not its target reader. If I was coming to it cold, not sure how to embark on writing a first novel, I would have found it very useful. In any case, it was a short but very entertaining read and I would recommend it.

I received a copy through Netgally in exchange for an honest review.

Writing your first novel is a self help book for (mainly) new writers. The author has written his own novels and draws from that experience to provide an insight into the world of writing and publishing.

There are sixteen chapters in this book which cover many different aspects of writing from Writing what you know to Dialogue to Resources to name but a few.

Most chapters pull substantially on his own novels to show the reader how to write or market their own novel. The resources chapters gives you a number of people he recommends you send your novel to (lots of expense I would guess if you did it all) before you publish it. He explains the difference between traditional, vanity and self publishing, needing an ISBN and marketing (more expense again)!

From my view as a normal book reader, I now appreciate how many elements there are to getting a book published, so I would think this book is a good basic start for any budding author.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

publisher synopsis: Writing Your First Novel succinctly covers all the basic questions to which a new writer needs answers. Author John Reynolds initially based the book on the experience he gained in writing his first novel Uncommon Enemy. His new young adult novel Robyn Hood Outlaw Princess was published in 2016 and in this second edition he draws upon the additional knowledge and experience that he gained.

The content covers a range of key points including: developing the plot, creating contrasting characters, writing effective dialogue, developing descriptive passages, the challenges of writing about love and sex, grammar and punctuation, giving attention to detail, catalyst crisis and climax, resources and sources of support, review and review again, it's finished: what now? selling the sizzle, and marketing and promotion.

The book is written in an easy personal style using excerpts from Reynolds' two novels as well as drawing from a wide variety of writers from a range of countries and backgrounds.

Reynolds is a New Zealand writer, radio broadcaster, educator and filmmaker. He has worked in a number of countries including New Zealand, Australia, England, Canada, Zimbabwe and the USA. He travelled through eastern Europe during the Cold War, western Europe, South Africa under apartheid, coast to coast across the USA, and the Pacific Islands. All these experiences have informed his writing. He has written books, scripts, screenplays and the plot and dialogue for four full-length musicals as well as lecturing on education, writing and the media.

He is an entertaining speaker and has delivered author talks to a wide variety of cultural, social and service groups - in person or at a distance through Skype.

While this book had some really good thoughts and food for thought, the book itself seemed mostly like an advertisement about John Reynolds other novels Uncommon Enemy and Robyn Hood Outlaw Princess. Both were cited numerous times with passages that highlighted a thought or practice that Reynolds was trying to protray, so you got pieces of the books throughout this one. Also, there was a "writing dictionary" so to speak in the book, which could be helpful.

Overall, good content.



I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book borrows a lot from the author's experience as a writer and it provides insights on the writing process from the conception of an idea through to publishing and marketing.
I found his short take on pacing to be practical and very key for any Writer because he did not use so many words- he went straight to the point and shared on varying chapters and sentence lengths. I liked that.
However, though great on insights into the writing process, there are very little practical exercises or activities that would reinforce what's shared in the book. This on one hand makes it a good companion because it gives you the feeling that someone's been there before and would boost a Writer's confidence. On the other hand, the book offers suggestions and references to other books- so, a Writer who reads it would still have to read other books and in the world of literature that's the norm.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.