Excellent resource for fiction writers. Writing prompts, character development thoughts, etc. Well worth having a paper copy on your bookshelf to help you prep or to unstick you.

I borrwed my copy from the library but will be buying a physical copy for my bookshelf soon. ( )

In this book, Lukeman's main premise is that writers whose plots are too thin (or non-existent) will find a solution in deeper characterization and, so, this book is mostly about characterization. Unlike "A Dash of style" and "The First Five Pages", "The Plot Thickens" feels very much like a book aimed at beginners - perhaps because very little of it will be new to anyone who has read other books on story craft but also because of its tone (which is subjective, I know). Nevertheless, anyone who struggles to create plot from initial ideas, or struggles to find ideas at all, will find it a wealth of inspiration. I'd also recommend this book to those scribes who believe that literary-means-not-having-to-plot, though I fear they would need to be strapped down and forced to read it (less so, though, than "The First Five Pages: A Writers' Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile" the very title of which, unfortunately, is likely to make those who need it most run in the opposite direction.)

Note that the first 80 pages are devoted to characterization exercises.

( )

What ages would I recommend it too? Twelve and up.

Length? A couple of days.

Characters? No.

Setting? Writing world.

Written approximately? 2003.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? Clarity.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? Yes.

Short storyline: Covers plot points.

Notes for the reader: Multitudes of questions to help build characters to improve plot
lines. ( )

With an unusual approach to plotting, Lukeman uses a holistic, rather than a didactic, method. There is plenty of instruction and practical examples, as well as exercises, in the book, so it is a "teaching" book, but what Lukeman achieves is more than just teaching a reader "how to plot."

Although this book is mainly about plot, it's doesn't take a step-by-step approach to plotting. Rather, one gains a sense of how the elements of a novel are all connected and multi-layered. Characterisation drives plot; but plot deepens character.

Each chapter does deal with a specific element to strengthen plot, but ultimately what Lukeman conveys is that to achieve a work that goes beyond the norm - to write a transcendent book - one needs to understand that writing a novel is more than just technique.

The final chapter "Transcendency" reflects on what differentiates a great book from a good book and is a salutary lesson writing, not from the intellect, but from the soul. Lukeman says:"... it will entail putting yourself on the line ... passion is magnetic. Writing from a place of truth and love, you can never go wrong ...[there is] a difference between a writer who writes because he wants to and one who writes because he has to... the transcendent work is the work you know is the best you can offer."

As inspiring as Lukeman's [The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile] ( )

Lots of useful gems and thought exercises in here. ( )