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The Not How-to Book on Writing

by The Undead Rat on December 16, 2008

Tom Piccirilli is a horror writer who has recently turned his attention to the thriller. He is a multiple Bram Stoker Award in many catagories. He won awards for both The Night Class and The Devil’s Wine. He also wrote one of my favorite horror novels, A Choir of Ill Children.

Today’s special gift for the horror writer is a very helpful, very inexpensive and very small (50 pages) book — not a how-to write — but a guide to writing, particularly in the horror genre. It makes a great small gift that can have a last effect.

Welcome to Hell
Welcome to Hell

Welcome to Hell: A Working Guide for the Beginning Writer

Author: Piccirilli, Tom
Format: Paperback
Type: Nonfiction
Page Count: 50pp.
Pub. Date: August 18, 2000
Publisher: Fairwood Press, Inc

This working guide for the beginner writer is full of extremely useful suggestions. Piccirilli lets you know from the start that writing is serious business, but at the same time, the book is full of his offbeat, scathing humor.

From Welcome to Hell: “This is not a How-to book. I’m not sure if I believe that writing can be taught, and if it can, I’m probably not the one to do it. Writing can, however, certainly be learned. I find most How-to books about the publishing field to be more annoying than ultimately helpful. Many of them state rules on what to do, what not to do, and how to succeed in three, fourteen, or thirty-one easy steps. Outside of simple manuscript mechanics there are no fast or easy rules on how to produce solid stories and novels, how to sell them, and how to garner a professional career in writing. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for another. This is a guide to getting started, a map of what pitfalls to look out for, and an outline of what struggles and achievements you can reasonably expect through the course of learning your art. If you get anything out of this small book I hope it’s the idea that you should experiment with style, voice, concepts, and musing until you find what allows you to express yourself the best . . . This is an overview of what I’ve found to be elementary truths about the craft and business of writing. Truths that are often lost in the lavish dreams, mythology, and misconceptions of what it is to be a writer.”

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Welcome to Hell

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