_How to Draw a Novel_ was written by Martín Solares, a Mexican author. I’m almost ashamed to admit I didn’t know him before seeing this ARC, in English, on NetGalley. I wanted to read some nonfiction, preferably something on writing or publishing, and rather absentmindedly chose that from NetGalley’s options. What a fortunate distraction! His choice of examples, many from Latin American literature, and his name sparked my attention and made me look up more about the author. It turns out the book was written in 2014, in Spanish. It is so refreshing to read quotes from many more languages and not only Anglo-American literature! I suppose the time has come for a translation. I would have read the original version if I had known how many (beautiful) works in Spanish the author would mention: Cortázar, Ribeyro, Bellatin, Zambra. That really made me wish I had found it before, but since I had already received it for the review, I continued reading in English.
Solares takes us in a tour of a novel’s possible structure and variations, from opening lines to everything else (but kindly avoiding spoilers). First, he is a reader with a very wide scope! It took me a while to read because I stopped many times to check – and enjoy – the references, while I fattened an already huge list of books to read. In addition to Latin American literature, he quotes from Dumas, Kipling, Zola and Eco to classic popular whodunnits (characters such as Poirot, Sherlock, Maigret and the more recent Wallander). Plus, you have to love an author who says he would “bet money” on the motives for another writer’s choice.
But for me, the unsung hero of this book is the translator! Can you imagine the crazy work it must have taken to translate not only Solares’ words, but his many, many quotes – some originally in Spanish, but innumerous that were already a translation (from French, from Swedish etc.). Kudos to Heather Cleary!
Even if you do not care much about writing per se, read if you have an appetite for new ideas for your reading list. This is a book for book lovers.
Thanks to Martín Solares, NetGalley and Grove Press for the ARC!

As a Writer and reader, I was drawn to this book because the of the title, "how do you draw a novel?" and that question led me to requesting the publisher to read this book and I'd say that this is a must read if you are interested in studying the craft of writing and fiction. The author in each chapter provides insights on writing, structure, character development, arcs, and above all draws examples from well known published works.
He also delves into the style of writing, narration through history (760BCE to 2022). I love how apt and accurate his doodles are on the flow of writing in most books, made me want to summarize books in sketches and lines.
I was most intrigued by his take on time in the novel, and how that in itself drives the story.
Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

This is an interesting take on the structure of various novels. By drawing triangles, circles, and all sorts of whirley-hoop figures, the author analyzes various novels and how the stories proceed from beginning to end. Most of the novels may be ones in which the reader is familiar, so that helps, and one can see the author's reasoning, or perhaps not. This book might be of more interest to academics who teach writing courses in fiction.

A refreshing, unique take on writing, structure, and characterization with a visual and poetic twist. I particularly enjoyed the character tree as a way to explore character development, motivations, and personality.
However, this is much more a collection of literary essays, diving into examples (lots of examples) about how and why a particular scene works, more so than this being a book about craft that a writer could use to improve.
Four stars for its detail, uniqueness, and style. Three stars for my personal reading preference