Writers Tricks of the Trade ISSUE 3, VOLUME 7 | Page 12

NYT B EST S ELLERS L IST
J AN 15, 2017
NYT Complete Lists
COMBINED PRINT & E-
BOOK NON-FICTION
1. KILLING ENGLAND
BY B ILL O'R EILLY AND
M ARTIN D UGARD
2. WE WERE EIGHT
YEARS IN POWER
BY T A -N EHISI C OATES
3. WHAT HAPPENED
BY H ILLARY R ODHAM
C LINTON
4. THE DANGEROUS
CASE OF DONALD
TRUMP
EDITED BY B ANDY X. L EE
5. ASTROPHYSICS FOR
PEOPLE IN A HURRY
BY N EIL DE G RASSE T YSON
D ON ’ T A LWAYS E MULATE Y OUR F AVORITES (C ONT ’ D .)
I have a book I’m currently reading to my writer’s group. I write it when
Dubya was still in office (yeah, it was that long ago). So far, I’ve deliberately left
it the same except for minor tweaks, knowing it isn’t up to snuff. When I read
the first chapter to the group, I provoked the group by bringing up a rhetorical
question about “Every other thriller I’ve read lately does it this way.” The
responses I got were what I expected and generated discussion. It boiled down
to the fact that the story started too slow with too much description and not
quite as bad as mine.
I did it to make a point and I did. If everyone else is doing it, why can’t I?
Because it isn’t right, that’s why. It’s not up to my standards or the
standards, we as writer’s are striving for.
YOUR STORIES ARE YOUR LEGACY
When you get published, those books will be out in the world in some
form, long after you croak. Do you want future generations to look back and
think of you for lousy writing?
I certainly don’t!
Happy writing .
Fred
COMBINED PRINT &
E-BOOK FICTION
1. ORIGIN
BY D AN B ROWN
GET CREATIVE IN YOUR DESCRIPTIONS
2. THE SUN AND HER
FLOWERS
BY R UPI K AUR
FOR EXAMPLE...
3. SLEEPING BEAUTIES
BY S TEPHEN K ING AND
O WEN K ING
4. IT
BY S TEPHEN K ING
5. THE CUBAN AFFAIR
BY N ELSON D E M ILLE
F ALL 2017
P AGE 4
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE TRADE