And now, here are those tips for choosing a good children’s book (apart from mine!):

Beware of marketing

The best books for children are not always found on the big flashy displays. Not to say that everything on the front-of-shop racks are poorly written, but don’t just grab the first thing you see in your lunch hour. These books are usually character driven spin-offs from television shows or toy product lines. They’ve got a massive advertising budget behind them and trade on ‘product recognition’. This does not necessarily mean they are well-written books. I was shocked to read some Thomas the Tank Engine Books the other day. They were quite simply film stills with captions, taken directly from the TV show. The original Thomas books by the Rev WV Awdry were wonderfully conceived and written, but since the TV franchise took over in 2002 (note they are now Thomas and Friends) the quality has gone downhill like a runaway train! So take some time and delve a bit deeper into your local bookshop.

Assuming you’ve got past the glitzy displays and into the dustier depths of the shop, what do you look for?

A good story

Quite simply, is it fun to read? Is the plot well constructed with a good beginning, middle and end? Are the characters engaging and realistic? Does the plot line deal with emotional issues without being too soppy? Does it dare to be daring? The other day I was delighted to read Pigs by Robert Munsch (illustrations Michael Martchenko). This is the story of a little American girl who opens a pig pen and lets the swine loose on the town. While I feel the book is a bit wordy and could do with a better balance between words and pictures (and less repetition), the story itself is brilliant! It’s funny, engaging and slightly ‘naughty’ – which children love. For older children, books that are often snubbed by the literary critics, are the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. They’re subtitled ‘Die Hard With Fairies’ and the first in the series is simply one of the best reads I’ve had in years.

Quality writing

It’s amazing how poor the writing in children’s books can be. Just because children are not that good at reading yet, does not mean publishers can get away with producing shoddy material. Read a book before you buy it – or at least sample some good chunks of it. Good literature doesn’t have to be boring. Anything by David Almond is guaranteed to entertain and challenge on an intellectual level. His first children’s book is Skellig about an angel in a garden shed, but my favourite is The Fire Eaters about a little boy in the 1960s who befriends a carnival freak.

Another beautiful writer is Eva Ibbotson. I loved Journey to the River Sea and The Star of Kazan. Ibbotson has the rare talent of knowing how to couple rich, atmospheric writing with a rolicking plot. She deals with historical and fantasy themes.

For a more contemporay, dare I say, tweenybopper, writer, Jacqueline Wilson is one of my favourites. She’s often maligned for being too gritty, but, in my opinion, she handles the darker side of childhood with sensitivity and an unflinching eye. I would recommend The Illustrated Mum about a young girl dealing with her mother’s mental health issues. It is a fine example of good writing and a respectful treatment of a difficult subject.

All of these writers have either been nominated for or won major awards.

Awards

For the confused adult buyer with not much time on their hands, an award nomination or win, is often a good guide. The major awards for children’s writing are the Carnegie Medal, the Kate Greenaway, the Guardian and the Whitebread in the UK. The Smarties Award, unlike the others, is voted for by children themselves, so is a good measure of what young readers themselves like to read. In America, the John Newberry Medal and the Caldecott (for picture books). Canada and Australia also have prizes (see list above) as does the Christian market in the UK and the USA.

A lack of preachiness

This applies to any book with a ‘message’; not just a Christian message. We need to respect young readers and their right to be able to make up their own minds about issues. Writers can present a positive viewpoint without resorting to brainwashing. The jury is still out in my mind about the most popular children’s series of the last decade: Philip Pulman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass). While the books certainly fulfil all of the above criteria of good children’s literature (and I enjoyed reading them), his overtly evangelistic atheism borders at times on a preachiness that would be condemned in a Christian book. And at least most Christian books are found in Christian bookshops so readers know what they’re getting. On the other hand, if more Christian books were as well written as Pulman’s they could compete on a more equal footing. (Was that a rotten tomato?). For a more in-depth discussion of spiritual themes in children’s literature see my article ‘Once Upon a Time.’

Quality illustrations

I toyed with putting this point first on the list, as illustrations are what makes children’s books magical. But I fear that many adult buyers are wooed simply by pretty pictures. Do the pictures complement the text and vice versa? Does the text over-clutter the illustrations or do the two elements work together to tell the story? On the other hand, beware of too much visual detail in stories for younger children. Simpler lines and bolder colours may not be aesthetically pleasing to an adult eye, but they are easier to engage with for a child under four. From four upwards the illustrations may be more sumptuous. However, this trend may be reversed as children approach eight or nine where the ‘cooler’ minimalist, cartoon-style illustrations are more in vogue. If you’re interested in illustration for children’s books, I recommend Illustrating Children’s Books by Martin Salisbury. In a later article I intend to discuss the relationship between the illustrator and writer in children’s picture books.

Original concept and presentation

There is a fine line between original presentation and a gimmick. Let’s admit it, it’s a challenge to find a different way to tell an age-old story, particularly at Christmas. But with that season of joyful spending coming up, I would recommend What’s Christmas? by Alexa Tewkesbury. This gets my vote for the best Christmas book of the season. It is an endearing tale challenging the traditional ways of telling the Christmas story. The beautifully constructed text is matched by charming illustrations and a little bit of subversive humour (look out for the Puffin Guide to the North Pole!).

Another recommendation is Father and Son. The poetic beauty of Geraldine McCaughrean’s words with Fabian Negrin’s exquisite illustrations, make this a book to be treasured. Written from Joseph’s point of view, Jesus’ earthly father contemplates the enormity of the task before him. This is a book that will touch the heart of every parent while inspiring awe in every child. Why didn’t I vote it ‘book of the season’? Simply because I felt it was written first for an adult and then for a child.

Age appropriateness

This applies to both subject, telling and presentation. Young children can be rough with books. Will your choice stand up to Junior’s attentions or should you put it away for another year? Are the illustrations and the text suitable for the age of the child you are buying for? Is this really just a clever, tongue-in-cheek tale for adults or an excuse for an adult flight of fancy? Is the child first in the author’s mind or the adult? A good book will balance the two (so that parents don’t get bored when reading to their sprogs) but children’s books should be for children first, adults second. When choosing a book for a particular child, beware that publishers rarely print an age guide on the covers. This is because some seven-year-olds are reading Harry Potter and some 12-year-olds can barely manage Winnie the Pooh! To try and help confused adult buyers, retailers have different shelves for different age groups, but this varies from shop to shop. If in doubt, ask a parent.

Old books aren’t always ‘timeless’

I know it’s hard to accept, but just because you enjoyed a book as a child, it doesn’t make it timeless. Nor does it make it a classic. The great children’s classics of the last century or so (Black Beauty, The Water Babies, Little Women etc) are quite difficult for modern children to get into. Some children will grow into the classics, some won’t. Don’t force the issue. And quite simply, not all ‘old’ books are classics! The Nancy Drew series, which I loved as a child, makes me feel ill when I try to read it now. Great stories, yes, but so badly written. The Famous Five and Secret Seven are also a bit long in the tooth. Again, they’re good stories, but the ginger-beer drinking days of yore are more likely just to bore. Fantasy books, such as Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland have fared better, perhaps because their make-believe-worlds are outside of time and harder to date.

For some excellent material on children’s books visit the Centre for the Children’s Book website or their recommendations page.

Related posts:

1. What makes a good children’s book?
2. Writing for children: Picture books
3. Young Adult vs Adult fiction. Where’s the line?

The company needs to sell roughly £45,000 worth of books to keep afloat for the rest of the year. Publishing director Chris Hamilton-Emery said the company had not wanted to repeat the initiative “because we thought it was unrepeatable, but we have just reached crunch time this week”. He added: “We realised if we didn’t get some sales, we would probably go bust very shortly.”

Hamilton-Emery said a number of factors had contributed to Salt’s financial woes, including the recession, the World Cup and the demise of Borders UK late last year. “They were a good customer of ours, so that was a real blow,” he said.

The Crafty Writer’s guest poetry tutor, Andrew Philip, is published by Salt.  He says:  “It’s harder and harder these days for authors – début authors and mid-listers in particular – to find publishers. The big houses are taking on fewer writers and concentrating their marketing power on certain titles in their lists. So writers need publishers such as Salt more than ever. Publishers who don’t simply bend to the howling winds of celebrity memoirs. Publishers who will take a risk on writing they simply believe in. Publishers who believe in you and give readers the chance to let your voice enter their hearts and minds. If Salt goes, we all lose.”

Writers and book lovers are being asked to buy just one book to help save Salt, Andy recommends:

• Short Circuit: A Guide to the Art of the Short Story, ed. Vanessa Gebbie
• The White Road and Other Stories by Tania Hershman: wonderful science-inspired short and flash fiction (read an interview with Tania on Andy’s blog)
• The Opposite of Cabbage by Rob A Mackenzie: lively, imaginative, inventive new poetry from Scotland
• Off Road to Everywhere by Philip Gross: children’s poetry from the recent TS Eliot prize winner
• Lions in Winter by Wena Poon: vivid, engaging stories that capture the true urban sophistication of New Asia

Related posts:

1. The Ambulance Box – getting your poetry in print
2. Independent publishers – an author’s perspective
3. What do writers earn?

Phil is a producer and freelance development consultant whose clients include Aardman Animation (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) and The Mob (Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather). He is the founder and Course Director of the MA in Screenwriting, at London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London.

About The Art and Science of Screenwriting

The Art and Science of Screenwriting is a fairly dense text and quite ‘academic’ in tone. But don’t let that put you off.  If you’re an absolute beginner, this book might not be for you, but if you’ve penned a screenplay or two and are ready to redraft them, it will be very useful. Although he does discuss short film and documentary, his main focus is the dramatic feature.

Although initially confusing, I found his presentation of what he refers to as the ‘creative matrix’ extremely useful in understanding the interplay of genre, style, form, plot, story and theme.  It has helped me look at my current feature script in a new light, and I’m reworking it accordingly. 

His chapters on ‘from stories to themes’, ‘revealing form and plot’ and ‘explorations of genre and style’  helped me to see what kind of film I was developing and how to identify which areas needed to be strengthened, particularly with regard to characters embodying a theme.

His discussion of rhythm and tempo (within and between scenes) was very useful, as were his tips for troubleshooting problematic structures. This is a book that will help you to see what is working in your screenplay, what isn’t and why. But what it won’t do is the rewrite, that’s still up to you.

Related posts:

1. Screenwriting for Dummies
2. Screenwriting: the director’s perspective
3. Screenwriting: Writing for the Camera

Twenty years ago I knew nothing at all about historical fiction except that some of the novels I’d enjoyed had been set in the past. I’ve learned a great deal since then, mostly from other writers and sometimes from my own mistakes. I still have much to learn and frequently don’t practise what I preach – but if you too are fascinated by the past and want to set your story there, I hope you’ll find some useful pointers in this series of articles. If you have anything to add or questions to ask, feel free to post your comments below.

Historical fiction – where is it?

Despite there being a Historical Fiction Society, there’s no Historical Fiction section in my local library. Instead, Society members’ novels are nestling in amongst Romance, Action and Adventure, General Fiction, Crime, Fantasy and Horror. If there were such a shelf as ‘Literature’ – which there isn’t – there would be plenty there, too.

Setting your novel in the past doesn’t determine what kind of book it will be, nor who might want to read it. All the usual wise advice about novel-writing – which you can find elsewhere, some of it in The Crafty Writer Bookshop – will still apply. As ever, much can be learned from reading widely, including reading outside your own genre. There are, though, some points that will be particularly relevant to ‘historicals’, whatever kind of tale you are telling.

Know where you’re taking your reader

Screenwriting guru Robert McKee (author of Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting) tells his students that it’s essential to know the world of your story. This applies whatever you’re writing, but especially in a novel where you want to take a reader to a place that’s deliberately distant from your own.

What does your world smell like? Feel like? Taste of? Who’s in charge? How do people earn their living?

You may need to do less homework for a light romance than for a novel about the battle of Waterloo, but you will have to do some. (I’m not insulting romance writers here, but assuming romance readers are less likely to care about the finer points of weapon design.) Most of what you know may never appear on the page, but it will underpin whatever you choose to reveal to your readers. This has two benefits – firstly, the more you know, the wider and more original your choices will be.

Secondly – it will help to ‘ground’ your story on a convincing base. For example, if your characters are travelling on horseback, there will have to be arrangements in place to care for the horses. We don’t need to see this happen. We don’t even need to be told that it’s happening. But you can’t send characters galloping from Dover to Hadrian’s Wall in an afternoon. Oh, wait a minute – you can if you’re Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. But that was light entertainment, and unless you’ve got Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman up your sleeve, it’s best to stick to what’s possible.

The point is, the more confident you are about how things work in the world you’re creating for your readers, the more comfortably you and they will be able to move around in it.

If you don’t know, don’t fret

You can worry too much about all this. Someone – if anybody can remember who, please say so – once bemoaned the difficulty of getting his characters in and out of rooms if he didn’t know what the door handles were like. This is not a problem for me: I have pictures of Roman door handles. (Yes, it is sad.) But I’ve wasted inordinate amounts of time wondering whether to put sheets on ancient beds.

In retrospect, this was more about avoiding writing than doing it. If you wait until you know everything, you will never write the novel. If you’ve tried to find out and can’t, it’s best to move on. Often the answer – or an unexpected solution – will pop up when you’re not looking for it.

Leave space for the reader

To sum up, the writer needs to know enough, but not too much. Even in the ‘real’ world none of us takes the time to notice everything, and we’re telling stories here, not writing textbooks. Try sketching in some details and letting the reader’s imagination do the rest.

Here’s an example, chosen for practical reasons rather than literary ones (i.e. I own the copyright).

Ruso was still pondering the body in the mortuary as he walked out of the East Gate of the fort. He was barely aware of his progress until he was abruptly recalled to his surroundings by a shout of ‘Get up!’ from further along the street. A man with a large belly was glaring at a grimy figure lying across the pavement just past the fruit stall. A woman with a shopping-basket put down the pear she was examining and turned to see what was going on.

The man repeated the order to get up. The woman stared down at the figure and began to gabble in some British dialect. The only word Ruso could make out was, ‘water’.

‘Burn some feathers under her nose,’ suggested the stallholder, bending down to retrieve a couple of apples that had tumbled off the edge of his display.

Ruso veered into the street to avoid the commotion and narrowly missed a pile of animal droppings. He frowned. He must try to concentrate on what he was doing. He had come out for a walk because he was unable to sleep. Now he was walking, he was having trouble staying awake.
(Chapter 2, Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls, published in the USA as ‘Medicus’)

In this scene I used small details that might trigger the reader’s memories of familiar street markets. I then tried to put in other material that would distance the scene from a modern experience. The woman begins to ‘gabble in some British dialect’ which the lead character, who isn’t a local, can’t understand. There are animal droppings in the street. Somebody recommends a cure that, to us, sounds quite bizarre. I also hoped that the way the sick woman is treated would imply a harsher society than our own, and raise tension as the reader wonders what’s going to happen to her and whether the lead character (who we know by now is a medic) is going to do anything about it. Some writers would use far more period detail. The choice is yours.

In the next post I’ll be thinking some more about research. In the meantime, next time you pick up a novel, you might like to ask yourself how the writer has created their world and why you believe in it – or why you don’t.

This post is copyright RS Downie, 2009. No reproduction of this material is permissible without the author’s permission.

Related posts:

1. Writing historical fiction 2 – doing the research
2. Writing historical fiction 3 – using fact in fiction
3. Writing historical crime novels – interview with R.S. Downie

Related posts:

1. Screenwriting for Dummies
2. Copywriting: write to sell
3. The Art and Science of Screenwriting

Related posts:

1. Writer’s Market UK 2009 – Review
2. Book Club Reminder
3. How to choose a children’s book for Christmas

I also thought I’d better brush up on my copywriting skills. So I bought Write to Sell: the Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting by Andy Maslen. Although the pompous title initially put me off (I’m suspicious of  anyone who claims to be the ultimate or final word on anything) the reader reviews on Amazon convinced me it was worth having a look.

I’m so glad I did. Maslen reminded me that to write for a client you need to think like your client and it’s not about what you want to communicate,  but rather what the reader wants to hear. Maslen shares some very useful tricks of the trade and is a great advocate for PLAIN ENGLISH.

Even if you don’t want to sully your artistic reputation by writing commercially, Maslen’s advice on how to write simply and effectively with a target readership in mind will serve every writer well. I shall certainly be recommending this book to my non-fiction and creative writing students.

Related posts:

1. Getting Started in Copywriting 1
2. Write Screenplays That Sell
3. Do you want to write full time?

Up until now I have simply been writing on instinct. I felt like a bit of a fake because I hadn’t read any screenwriting books and wasn’t fully aware of the ‘proper’ way of doing things. I had simply downloaded the free Scriptsmart Gold software from the BBC Writers’ Room and figured it out by trial and error and looking at sample scripts.

However, when the opportunity came to write a full feature film for a competition, I decided I needed a bit of help. I asked some of my more experienced screenwriting friends what books they could recommend and they variously suggested: The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler; Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee and The Definitive Guide To Screenwriting by Syd Field.

I have heard of all three writers – they’re hailed by some as gurus in the industry. But that made me nervous. Would they be too advanced for me? Would I get caught up in a ‘method’ war between Hollywood heavyweights? I simply wanted a book that covered the basics that I might have missed. For example, when, if ever do you say CUT TO? Do you or do you not number scenes? I wanted an overview of all the methods, rather than just one. So I unashamedly turned to Screenwriting for Dummies by Laura Schellhardt.

Good move. Like all the Dummies series, this was well-written, unpatronising and full of useful information. I got the basics of layout without feeling like an idiot, was encouraged by being told that you could use ‘cards’ (one of my major mental blocks in screenwriting) but I didn’t have to, and feeling affirmed in my less structured approach to the craft. Don’t get me wrong, Schellhardt is strong on structure, but she also allows for more organic writing styles like mine.

I read it before I wrote my screenplay, got going on the script then checked in with the book whenever I got ’stuck’. I then scanned it after I’d completed my first draft to see that I’d got everything in the right place. Her discussion of the infamous ‘Three Act Structure’ was particularly helpful without being annoyingly prescriptive.

So I would highly recommend this book for beginner or floundering screenwriters. It’s also a lot cheaper than the rest! Now I feel ready to read ‘the gurus’ and will report back to you as soon as I have.

Related posts:

1. The Art and Science of Screenwriting
2. Screenwriting: Writing for the Camera
3. Writing Short Films

• author
• genre and content
• research, sources and credibility
• structure
• writing style
• marketing

Author

Bill Bryson is, to date, the author of 18 published books. He started his writing career as a journalist for the Times and the Independent but is best known for his travel writing – including Notes from a Small Island and Notes from a Big Country about his experiences in Britain and the US, respectively. Although American by birth, he now (again) lives in the UK and is a renowned anglophile. He has also written about Europe, Africa and Australia. His witty travelogues have made him a household name. Less well known are his books on language and linguistics, such as Mother Tongue: the English Language. In recent years he has achieved critical acclaim for his A Short History of Nearly Everything (2005), which won the Aventis Prize for the best general science book and a Descartes Award for communication in science. Shakespeare: the World as a Stage (2007) is his latest offering.

In 2005 he became Chancellor of Durham University, succeeding the inimitable Sir Peter Ustinov. Ten years ago, one of Shakespeare’s First Folios was stolen from Durham University in a not-so-daring heist along with other valuable manuscripts including original fragments of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. In July 2007 a man walked into the Folger Library in Washington DC and asked them to authenticate a book he claimed to have bought in Cuba. It turned out to be the original Durham Folio. The FBI was contacted, then the Durham Constabulary, who tracked the man down to – of all places – Washington, Durham, UK. Bryson is said to be delighted at the imminent return of the Folio to the university (who have promised to beef up security), but I bet he would have been even more delighted if it had turned up two years ago, so he could have included a whole chapter of it in his book.

For discussion:
How do you think Bryson’s background as a journalist and travel writer helped him in writing this book?

Genre and content

At the risk of being too obvious, this is a non-fiction historical biography. It is a general introduction aimed at a populist rather than academic readership. So any suggestions that it is not furthering academia nor adds little to the scholarly canon on Shakespeare are misplaced – it is not meant to. Like any good historical biography, Bryson is concerned not simply with telling the story of an individual, but rather telling that story within a historical context. A Shakespeare born 200 years earlier or later would not have been the same Shakespeare; he is a product of and a contributor to his times. Which is just as well for Bryson who limits himself in journalistic fashion to only reporting the known facts, and, in his own words, there are so few known facts about Shakespeare that the result is a very slender volume.

This book was written not so much because the world needs another book on Shakespeare, as because this series does. The idea is a simple one: to see how much of Shakespeare we can know, really know, from the record. (Bryson, pp20-21)

Without the extra ‘padding’ of the historical background, there wouldn’t have been much of a book at all. Recreating the world in which Shakespeare lived is Bryson’s real gift – and he does it admirably, in good travel writing style. It is also a history of Shakespearean scholarship, and, I would argue, the latter chapters on the imposter theory and the First Folios are among his best.

For Discussion:
Suggest alternative ways Bryson could have fleshed out the actual biographical content of the book.

Research, sources and credibility

As I’ve already mentioned, this is a populist introduction to Shakespeare rather than an academic treatise. As such, the annotation of sources is not so rigorously observed – there is only a select bibliography given at the end of the book (albeit a respectable canon of 30 or so volumes), with no specific page references. But as I note in my non-fiction course, this is perfectly normal in populist non-fiction writing. And although every single fact is not footnoted and cross-referenced, the writer still needs a sense that the author has done his research and that they are not being fed a bucket of hogwash.

Bryson’s use of sources is journalistic – he piggy-backs on others’ expertise, acting as an interpreter between the academic specialists and the non-academic reader. As a non-fiction writer you don’t necessarily have to be a specialist in a field, just to have the ability to communicate information from one camp to another. However, Bryson does more than merely transpose knowledge, but more of that under structure and style.

Bryson quotes experts in direct speech, giving credence to his version of events. This is a classic journalistic technique. Experts or witnesses are interviewed, but only a fraction of what they say is actually quoted at the point where the writer needs to back up or further illustrate their interpretation of the ’story’. He also liberally scatters references (although not annotated) to previous works throughout the text, giving the reader the impression that he has done his research. But unless we are experts in Shakespeare ourselves, we cannot know whether or not he is reporting them accurately. That is the pact that is set up between a non-fiction writer and reader. In fiction we have the notion of the ‘unreliable narrator’ or the suspicion of an unreliable narrator (see for example next month’s Book Club The Reluctant Fundamentalist) which can add a delicious twist to a novel, but in non-fiction there is no room for this concept.

For discussion:
Do you think Bryson manages to communicate credibility? If so, how does he do it?

Structure

In non-fiction writing one normally has a concept for an article or book and then does some preliminary research to see whether there is enough information to fill the pages. At this point one would then begin to get an idea of structure. The structure of a book or article is what makes one piece of writing on a subject different from another. How is the research going to be communicated? One may already have a thesis and the research will back it up, or, alternatively, another thesis will suggest itself from the research and the original one will be adapted (or even abandoned) and the information structured accordingly.

For discussion:
What is Bryson’s thesis in this book? Do you think he had it before conducting his research or did it emerge from it?

In every body of research there are potentially dozens of books or articles that could be written; your structure will determine what you will include and what you will leave out in order to support or illustrate your thesis.

In Bryson’s Shakespeare, his thesis is that there is not much factual information on Shakespeare, but he will guide us through what there is, separating fact from fiction – this is stated up front in the first chapter ‘In Search of William Shakespeare’. On the way he will introduce us to the world in which Shakespeare lived (chapters 2, 3, 4, 6 & 7) and the literary and academic world that emerged after his death (chapters 8 & 9). Chapter 5, in which evidence for the plays themselves are discussed, is a fulcrum for the whole book. However, I think this is his weakest chapter, as the structure is too loose. One almost has the sense of bullet points rather than a flowing narrative. Overall, Bryson uses a chronological structure with a subject grouping running parallel to the timeline.

For discussion:
‘Chapter five: the plays’ could have been placed elsewhere in the table of contents. Alternatively, the information within it could have been scattered through the other chapters. Why do you think Bryson chose this particular structure? Can you suggest a different structure for the available material? Would you have done it differently?

Style

We’ve already discussed Bryson’s journalistic style, but we haven’t touched on his gift as a travel writer. In this book I see Bryson approaching his subject in the same way he approaches a culture or country in his travelogues. He takes us, the reader, on a journey through a little-known or unknown world. Collectively we are on a tour bus, which at times speeds through the boring areas and stops at those of greater interest. Bryson is a quirky guide (which is the charm of his travelogues) and he highlights the awe-inspiring and the ridiculous, the grand and the petty, in equal measure. Bryson believes that the minutae of life are sometimes of more interest than the sweeping politics of the day; I couldn’t agree more.

In my non-fiction course, I mention how contemporary non-fiction style is far less formal than it was in the past. Gone is the author referring to him or herself as ‘the author’. Bryson himself is ever present – just like a friendly tour guide. And although the facts and only the facts are reported in good journalistic style, he is not averse to commenting on them. In my opinion, that’s what makes this book the gem that it is. His wry asides and witty observations at times made me laugh out loud and turned what could have been simply an informative introduction to the life and times of Shakespeare and a turgid overview of Shakespearean scholarship, into one of the most entertaining books of the year.

For discussion:
In your opinion, what other elements of non-fiction writing style may help to endear this text to the reader?

Marketing

Bryson has become a brand. This was illustrated superbly in 2002 when Penguin re-released their ‘Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words’ (first written by Bryson in 1983) and renamed it Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words. Bryson has become synonymous with good writing, good entertainment and a good read. I doubt someone else without Shakespearean credentials could have got away with writing this book. Good branding equals credibility. We trust Bryson. Whether we should or not, is another matter.

For discussion:
Bryson took a risk in moving from his successful travel niche into the general non-fiction market. His first two books seem to show that it’s paid off. Do you think readers will now ‘trust’ Bryson enough with any topic?

Now it’s your turn. Please join in the discussion by leaving your comments below, and don’t forget to vote in our poll:
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Our next Book Club tile is The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. If you haven’t got a copy of the book yet you can buy it through the The Crafty Writer Bookshop and help keep the Club and all the information on this website free.

Related posts:

1. Book Club Reminder
2. Book Club: The Interpretation of Murder
3. Man, it’s the Booker Prize

• author
• genre
• structure
• sources and credibility
• research and content
• writing style
• marketing

I’ll make some initial observations and pose suggested questions for discussion. Some of our regular book club participants are published authors themselves, so it’s a great opportunity to share their knowledge and insight. You don’t have to do anything to join other than pitch up and participate. If you haven’t got a copy of the book yet you can buy it through the The Crafty Writer Bookshop and we will get a small commission that keeps the Club and all the information on this website free.

Related posts:

1. One Week to Book Club …
2. Book Club reminder
3. Book Club: The Interpretation of Murder