As I become more serious about my writing, I'm hoping to add another feature here on the blog. Wordsmith Wednesday may not happen every week quite yet, but it's reserved for things that specifically have to do with my writer's journey. We're going to kick it off with a book review!

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How long does it take to become a better writer?
Just five minutes.
These five-minute chapters are each designed to help you master an aspect of the writers’ craft. From prewriting and character development through plotting, editing, proofreading, and on to the options available in publishing, we will help you with every step of your writing journey. No matter where you are in your process, there is something you can learn that will make your writing stronger.
The path from writer to author is an obstacle course of pitfalls and secret rules. Five Minutes to Success promises to help you overcome each roadblock on your road to publication. With exercises and worksheets for each topic, we promise tips and tricks to make your work shine.
Give us five minutes.
We’ll give you the writing world.

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I first heard about this book not long after it was released. A friend of mine happens to know both of the authors and was encouraging everyone that he knew to pick it up. Eventually, that's just what I did. Then, it sat on my Kindle until this past week when I decided to start really working on my education as an author. I confess that I didn't do a 5 minute lesson each day. If I had, it would be another 6 years before I wrote this review. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but this book is long.

The Good:
There is a ton of great information within the pages of this book. Even if you're not new to writing, this book will serve as a great refresher course. Each section has a little assignment at the end which will help the knowledge acquired sink in even further. This is one of my favorite things about this type of book. I'm a put it down in pen and ink kind of learner so having study questions really helps.

The Bad:
While it is stated that there are two authors for this book, the book really reads as if only DW Vogel (known as Wendy in the book) wrote it. I believe there are only one or two occasions where Jeri's opinion is stated. Also, there are locations where the punctuation is off (primarily section 1) and at least one point where a sentence's subject's gender changed mid-sentence. There are some other errors in the book, such as Deus Ex Machina being listed as Deus Ex Machine and the author's use of the term dialog instead of dialogue.  Granted, that last one is a pet peeve kind of thing for me. It isn't technically wrong, but it isn't the preferred form of the word. Dialog should be reserved for software design in my world.

The Summary:
If you can overlook the issues that I mentioned above, don't hesitate to pick up this book. It doesn't matter if you're a first time writer or someone who has been at this for a while, I'm pretty sure that you can find something in there that you can use. I do want to point out that the emphasis is more on traditional publishing, but again, don't let that stop you, self-publishers! I have no desire to have an agent or be signed to a big name publisher and I have pages and pages of notes to refer back to.



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An instructional art book in narrative graphic novel form that uses the tale of one aspiring young artist and his reluctant mentor to impart easy-to-follow lessons on the fundamentals of drawing.

With over 10 million views and growing, Mark Crilley's YouTube drawing instruction videos have an enormous worldwide legion of fans and have been featured on sites such as Yahoo News and Reddit. In addition, Crilley is an accomplished graphic novelist. Now for the first time, he pairs both strengths resulting in a one-of-a-kind art instruction experience. Through the story of aspiring, overeager young artist-in-the-making David and his helpful, but often flustered mentor, Becky, readers gain a grounding in the basics of drawing and rendering, along with a helping of laughs and poignant entertainment. Each lesson builds off the previous, with sidebars at the end of each chapter that direct readers to tackle some of the very same drawing exercises that David has just completed. The sequential art format provides the perfect vehicle for these step-by-step lessons, and the Pixar-esque approach to the surrounding characters and story ensures an enjoyable experience that readers will want to revisit again and again.

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Every so often you come across something that just amazes you. That is this book. In some ways, it's two books in one. You can read it just as a graphic novel or you can use it as how to book for drawing. I loved David's enthusiasm as he returned for each lesson and how each lesson built upon the previous ones. While this book won't teach you advanced drawing techniques, it's perfect for those who are just starting out, young and old alike. Follow along with David and as you master each technique, open the book back up and see what Becky is now teaching him! I may not be an artist, but this book is one that will happily be joining my other graphic novels on the shelves and one that I will recommend to any art teacher who will listen.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.
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Since I had a few requests on how to create the giant snowflake that's hanging on my wall, I decided to post the instructions. Since I didn't invent this, I knew there had to be instructions out there somewhere and sure enough....TaDa!



I do have to apologize for a) the length of this video and b) the fact that he has loud music playing the entire time he's creating the snowflake. For the abbreviated version, I suggest this video. He made me laugh.



Now, if neither of these works for you, I'd suggest this link. It has pictures and a video! If you do make one, please be sure to come back and link me to pictures! I want to make some smaller ones to go with the teacher gifts. I just have to find the time!