B&S 36: Euphonics for Writers - Book Review
Bodacious
As a writer, are you having difficulty getting your craft to a more advanced level? Most books for writers focus on the basics: story structure, character creation, and smooth prose. Many of us master those and crave further instruction to speed up our progress.
Enter Rayne Hall’s Writer’s Craft series, books for journeyman and master authors seeking advanced techniques.
Euphonics for Writers is as advanced as they come. People unconsciously draw meaning from the sounds of speech. A frightening graveyard versus a spooky cemetery. A goofy idiot versus a bumbling buffoon. By purposefully layering in euphonics, you can punch up your prose like a poet. The book goes into the implications of various phonemes, and while I’ve alluded to alliteration here, Euphonics for Writers covers many other ways to weave meaning-bearing sounds into your books.
Rayne Hall also covers how to do so with subtlety. Rhymes are inspiring in poetry, but sounds silly in prose, so you’ll learn how to create mood with sound without bringing on laughter, unless you want to.
I enjoyed this book very much and have been using its tips while editing the final draft of my current novel. To me, that’s really what Euphonics for Writers is about: putting the final shine on an already good story.
You can follow Rayne Hall on Twitter.
Sundry
First, a note on the above. I've ready several more of Rayne's books that I haven't yet reviewed, so you all have that to look forward to! I actually have a lot of posts planned, and I'm doing my best to start writing two posts per week again. Look for my review of two new Cosplay by McCall's patterns in the next few days!
As I've mentioned before, I got my taxes sent in as early as possible, and am waiting for my return. My current computer is 4 1/2 years old! In order to continue The Wild Steampunk Podcast and other videos on YouTube, I need that new PC. My plan: to get up to creating two new videos per week and writing two new blog posts. Also, once Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western is finished, I hope to write a new Bodacious Creed sequel per year.
Bodacious Creed
Speaking of the Creedverse, that first novel is coming along well! When it comes to revising my fiction, I become a perfectionist. Because of that, the editing goes slowly. However, the writing gets much better. My first readers have commented on how much they enjoyed the beta draft, but how much more the writing and story are coming together as I do my final wave of edits.
I'm about half way through Chapter 19 of 60. In order to speed things up, I've stopped playing video games and stopped watching my favorite podcast, because those just take too much time. If I'm going to "waste" time, I want to do it on reading or free-writing, things that actually help. What I haven't given up? My weekly TV shows and shorter YouTube videos. Still, we're talking about a lot of time saved.
So, the novel is coming along well! I'm cutting out extraneous prose, better defining character motivations, and painting a clear picture of my fictional Santa Cruz, California of 1876. Some actual historical figures now live there, as well as all the wonderful fictional people I've populated it with, from U.S. Marshals to prostitutes to ranchers to outlaws. Hey, did you know that the U.S. Marshal service didn't exist in our world in 1876? That's the fun of crating alternate history. You can find reasons for things to exist earlier, or completely change a historical city.
The Winner
The winner of my first book giveaway said it was all right for me to reveal her name!
Danielle Phillpot of Tasmania, Australia, won a limited edition hardcover copy of Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western, plus trade paperback copies of my fantasy novels Children of Rhatlan and Tamshi's Imp!
I sent her the paperbacks yesterday, and as soon as I've published Bodacious Creed (in the next couple of months) and have those first hardcover copies, I'm going to mail her copy.
The best way to keep informed of my next giveaway is to sign up for The Wild Steampunk Newsletter. Plus, you'll get to read the Bodacious Creed prequel story, The Obstructed Engine, for free!
