A few excerpts from Zane's "Infinite Words".

Infinite Words: A Guide to Creating, Pub...

Quick review for a quick, enlightening read. I really enjoyed the honest, straightforward writing advice Zane provides in "Infinite Words." She touches on many topics that would be beneficial for many writers of different walks (but especially beginning writers). Whether writing fiction, non-fiction, scripts, among other mediums, this book provides a very no-nonsense, straightforward guide of what to keep in mind as you're writing. She stresses the importance of time management, creating a SWOT analysis as a writer, how to best appeal to your readership and structure stories (including writing outlines and making characters pop), among many pertinent topics.

The advice is coupled with personal examples she's encountered in her experience, including her roles as a writer, publisher, and scriptwriter. I appreciated the chance not only to see her various approaches in how to work towards success as a writer, but also her background in the industry - and that was enlightening as much as the writing advice she provides. She's blunt and at times quite humored. (There were a few pet peeves she noted in the mix of common writing mistakes she's observed and I mentally went "Yes! Thank you! I feel the same way." Sometimes I had a good chuckle for her commentaries. My hope is that anyone picking up this guide will listen to the importance of those measures, such as the importance reading avidly as a writer or maintaining consistency in the details of your narrative).

This is a guide that I'll certainly return to, if even in the context of reading more of her work provides because it gives me a frame to see not only how I can improve upon my own craft as a writer, but also how her style and advice has shaped (and continues to shape) her own work.

Overall score: 4/5 stars

Note: I received a copy of this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Atria.