The Kick-Ass Writer [Book Review]

Chuck Wendig is a septic-dumpster fire I absolutely can’t get enough of.

If you’ve spent any time wandering the One Lazy Robot halls, you’ll know by now that I have a bit of a writer crush on the bearded cantaloupe. I’ve followed his career for the better part of five years now, which has been an interesting time to jump onto the Wendig bandwagon because he’s really hit his stride.

He tackled the official Star Wars: Aftermath novel leading up to the much anticipated release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (which generated such intensely polemic reactions from the community that it sort of still boggles the mind all these years later); he’s (last I checked) working to bring his saucy I-see-how-you’ll-become-a-ghost with the most heroine, Miriam Black, to television; he also brought the world Hyperion (which, correct me if I’m wrong) was his first graphic novel collaboration.

Needless to say, Wendig has his grubby little fingers in a lot of pots. I find his irreverent work-ethic and ‘take no guff’ attitude refreshing. Not to mention his writing voice makes my toes and writing organs tingle.

If you’ve never read anything from Wendig, I’d recommend grabbing a copy of Blackbirds and checking it out. His words hit hard, the pacing is crisp like an icy apple cider, and his heroine, Miriam Black, is one of my favorites of all time.

Now, besides putting out a prolific amount of dreck, Wendig is also known for giving back to the writing community in the way of tough love encouragement, no-nonsense business advice, and practical storycraft tips that anybody can start implementing in their writing today.

You’ve got two avenues for consuming his effluvience of writing advice: his blog at terribleminds.com, or grab a copy of The Kick-Ass Writer: 1001 ways to write great fiction, get published, and earn your audience.

I recommend both options if you’re tired of scrounging the bottom of the writer advice barrel. In particular, The Kick-Ass Writer can be a great resource for helping you out of a funk.

The Kick-Ass Writer is broken up into “lists of 25”. For example:

25 Questions You Should Ask As You Write

25 Things You Should Know About Character

25 Things Writers Should Know About Blogging

This format makes it incredibly easy to scroll the table of contents for a particular relevant topic, do a swan-dive into the muck, and then emerge more-or-less scathed for life less than 30 minutes later. The advice is given in quick hitting snippets that are easily consumed and easily implemented.

In terms of writing advice books, The Kick-Ass Writers stands out to me for its pure entertainment value. If you’re looking for a new resource to decorate your shelf, definitely pick up a copy of Wendig’s The Kick-Ass Writer. It has served me well for many, many years now.

I’m always on the look-out for great writing resources, so get down to the comments and let me know some of your favorite books on writing.

[box] Have you read anything from Wendig? If so, what? Did you like it or did it leave you feeling slightly dirty? Maybe both? Mosey down to the comments and let me know![/box]