This is a unique offering by Brandon Sanderson and three other writers of 4 short Stories/Novellas. It starts by giving you the final story to read and then you can read the four of them brainstorming ideas for taking a simple one paragraph idea and building it out into a full story. Then they show you the rough draft and then follow with all changes and additions with strike-throughs and new prose. Kind of interesting to see how they start with an idea and then work on it and think it through and eventually turn it into a finished product. To be honest, after the first one I just read the story. Sanderson's story is very good. No surprise there since he is awesome! My husband is attempting to write his first novel and has been listening to he Writing Excuses podcasts. We got this on our kindles and I decided to read it too. I really enjoyed reading the brainstorming sessions and the first draft reviews they all did together. While I can't say I enjoyed all the short stories equally well I did think the reason behind the writing of this book is awesome. Its value for me lies not in the final drafts but in the editing process revealed. Many insights gained.
The short stories were enjoyable. Nothing to really get excited about and tell your friends.
—andreil
123 pages of original stories, over 200 pages of commentary. Enjoyed what I have read.
—melissa22
Well, I only read the stories. I might continue with the brainstorming eventually.
—PrincessPana
Great stories and the extra information was really fascinating.
—Isie
