_Sometimes the Magic Works_ by Terry Brooks

This week’s article is a review of a book by Terry Brooks about writing. I thought I would share this review again since Nanowritmo is coming up. Enjoy.

Ever wonder where writers get their ideas, or how do they write books? Many people believe writing is easy and they can some day write a book too. Sometimes the Magic Works by Terry Brooks is a book that can answer these questions. The book is a combination of an autobiography about the author’s writing career and advice on writing books. Readers will get fascinating insights about the author. Writers will find a lot of good information about writing books.

Terry Brooks is a veteran Fantasy author with many books to his credit. He burst into the Fantasy genre with The Sword of Shannara and went on to publish several other books in the genre over the years. Once a lawyer, he became a full time writer after the success of his first book. In Sometimes the Magic Works, Mr. Brooks talks about the successes and failures in his career along with lessons he learned about writing and the publishing industry.

The opening chapters talk about Mr. Brooks’s early years. He explains how he was not all there, meaning he does a lot of daydreaming. This plays a lot into his writing. He talks of the importance of writers having to be in the real world and in whatever world they imagine to write about for their books. Another chapter covers his story about how publishing a book is partly luck. Readers learn that writing something is a major drive to a writer to produce works of enjoyment for the reading public as well as for their own pleasure.

Later chapters talk about the ups and downs in an author’s career. Mr. Brooks covers this with his experience with Hollywood in being asked to write a novelization for a movie. The entire experience is eye opening and leaves him frustrated. He learns excellent lessons that aspiring writers can heed for their careers.

Many other chapters provide valuable information for aspiring writers. Mr. Brooks covers the importance of outlining for some writers and thinking your novel or story completely through to the end before actually writing. He talks about beginnings and endings of novels. Talking about his time spent with his grandson, he tells the reader about the precious lessons to be learned from the imaginations of children. Writers should remember these lessons for their own creativity.

Sometimes the Magic Works by Terry Brooks is an enjoyably helpful book. Readers of Mr. Brooks’s books will learn some interesting things about this author’s life and career. Writers, whether beginning or accomplished, will gain considerable information about writing and the publishing industry. This small book is packed full with good information, humor and insights about writing. I highly recommend this book to Fantasy readers and aspiring writers.