About book Sometimes The Magic Works: Lessons From A Writing Life (2004)
Brooks, you spoke right to me. I have now read three really fantastic books on writing. Each one offers different things, different lessons. With each we must take what works for us. No one method works for all, no one lesson is a lesson for everyone and no one rule should be followed by everyone. We are all different.As far as personality and approach to writing I feel that I relate the most to Brooks, and yet I haven't read a Brooks book (which I plan to reconcile!).Sometimes I read what another author says and I say, but that's just not me...I must not be a writer. Then I realize what a garbage attitude that is. With that said, it was nice to stumble upon things that are me or would fit me, as far as an approach to writing. For example, he talks about writing as stemming from dreaming and questioning. I'm a dreamer and a questioner. I wonder what if, and then what if that what if comes true, and so on. My mind also wonders, playing out scenes (that tend to be horrific) and then snapping back to reality. For some reason this tends to happen most when I'm driving.What made me really say, that's me!, was when he talked about his formula for writing which goes like this:Read, Read, Read.Outline, Outline, Outline.Write, Write, Write.Repeat.Every writer will tell you that to be a good writer you must read like crazy and read all genres. Also, most writers (like Brooks and King said in their books) you must first be an observer both in the real world but also when you read you are observing. Outline is where some authors disagree. King, for instance, says that you should just sit down and write and that an outline just gets in the way of the creative process. Brooks, a highly popular fantasy author, is adamant about outlines. He reminds us of those stories where the plot just falls short, or part of the book is good but the rest isn't which is all the result of no outlining (aka no organizing). But in the end he says that it depends on you. Like he said in his book, and what most authors say about their writing- who don't outline, those who do not outline will revise, revise, revise, revise. He does an outline and revises once. So it's really a matter of do you want to do the bulk of the work in the beginning or end? By sitting down and just writing, you chose to do the more challenging part in the end. By doing an outline before writing you do the challenging part in the beginning. So there is no one absolute. Some people will say, "but you must just sit down and write." That's not necessarily true. You have to know you and decide if that will work for you.All in all, I love to read about writing. I pull bits and pieces from each one and I thoroughly enjoyed what Brooks had to share. I greatly benefited from reading it. As always I feel inspired after reading about writing because, well, I just love the topic of writing which is why I finished this book in a day. I just couldn't put it down (except to eat that is).
Having read Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life many years ago, I already knew that I loved it, and much of the wisdom and stories still lingered with me when I read it again recently. In that sense it was like coming back to an old friend. But it was long enough ago that some of it still felt new. And in that time, I had also changed. I had written more, discovered more about who I was, not just as a writer but as a person. I had experienced a great number of things, good and bad or even just mundane. In that sense so much of what Brooks had to say about writers and the act of being a writer really hit home this time around.The way Brooks tries to describe what it’s like, living in two worlds at any one moment, is the most accurate description I've happened upon. It’s a chapter that could be read by the relations or friends of writers who don’t quite understand, to know that we aren't ignoring you, there are just so many lives being lived in this one conversation, in my head, that sometimes it’s hard to maintain complete focus. Sometimes there are characters yelling at me, demanding my attention right now, and there’s nothing predictable about it. It just can't be switched off! Some times are easier than others, but I’ll most likely always have a small portion of my mind dedicated elsewhere, and I honestly just can’t help it. Brooks explains this and more, illuminating the mind of a writer with magnificent precision.By writing this book he takes readers through the experience of crossing over into writing (while always living in that world since childhood), of remembering how important it is to allow for the impossible, to imagine, to keep an open mind. He talks about the importance of connecting with fans, of outlining, of the business side as well as the creative side. Perhaps most importantly, he talks about the importance of understanding that in both writing and publishing, sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't; sometimes you need to keep pushing, and sometimes you need to take a step back and evaluate what you’re doing, and maybe start over.Sometimes the Magic Works is a comprehensive behind the scenes look at the literary world from the experience of a lawyer turned New York Times Bestselling Author. And in case you aren't interested in writing yourself, there are quite a few life lessons packed in there as well that will tell you exactly what you need to hear, coinciding with some pretty good anecdotes. It’s really hard for me to put into words what this book meant, both now and all those years ago, to express why it touched me so as a writer, but trust me when I say it’s more than worth it to pick it up. It's also a reminder of why Terry Brooks is my favourite author for so many reasons. A good read for anyone, and a must read for everyone taking on the literary journey themselves.
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This is one only for big fans of Terry Brooks obviously. Having read a lot of his books I was really interested to find out more about the author and there is some information about him in here but for me the parts about him were overshadowed somewhat by the writing guide elements of the book. Of course I expected that he would offer advice to aspiring writers but for me some of those chapters dragged on and again overshadowed the opportunity to find out more about the man himself or how he came
—Emma
This was a nice, quick read. It's along the lines of Stephen King's "On Writing" only much shorter and a lot lighter on the writing advice. I read it primarily for writing advice, which was good but nothing I've not heard before. I think his stance for outlining is unique among the big names of publishing. Every other big name author out there seems to take it as a point of pride that they have no plan when they sit down to write. Thank you for talking sense about this, Terry Brooks! Most of us just can't make up stuff as we go along and have it all hang together at the end.Read it if you want insight into how Brooks got his start and kept his career going. I think it will be time well spent.
—Jerry
I enjoyed this book - This was not one of those that I would say that I loved, but it is informative, and presented quite well. Terry Brooks gives writers a look inside his career, at some of the bad choices and good ones that he made along the way. This is an informative read, and he does give some help with the Craft of Writing, but overall, I would not read this a second time, which is what gives my reviews a 5 star rating.Worth a read if you get the chance, but you can wait until you have the extra money and time to purchase and read.
—Charles
