Pen the Sword: the universal plot skeleton of every story ever told (Write Club Series) Kindle Edition

It gives you the foundation pieces of writing in an easy straight forward outline. Even throws in additional tips to make writing concise and easier to read. Very easy to navigate the premise. Really enjoyed. Quick read.

I really liked the simple and detailed way the author moved through the stages of a novel. I loved all the examples, applications, and alternate suggestions. I recommend this book to any starting writer, planner or pantser, as the author clearly addresses both types of writers and offers them great advice. I will be reading it again, taking notes and referencing it as I work on my novel.

I am writing my first novel and was nearly finished when I found this book. I am a former high school English teacher, so I know a thing or two about plot development and construction, but the premise of "Pen the Sword" struck me as interesting, so I bought it. I do not regret it. It has helped me to tighten and tweak my conclusion. I am glad I found this!

I enjoyed "Punching Babies" (the authors first 'how to write a novel' book) more. I recommend checking it out first.5 stars just because there's good info and because the other reviewer was moaning about using movies as examples. Story is story.I would have preferred that the author updated his original book rather than writing a completely new one.However, I imagine that this might be less profitable.On the other hand, I walked away from reading this version -- scratching my head and wondering what new information was here. There might have been some, but I was underwhelmed after having read his first book, "Stomping Babies."Why not write "Stomping Babies 2.0," or something to that effect? Although the information in the book is informative, the market is flooded with plotting books.Case in point, this author has three. I'm not sure they shouldn't be combined into one and renamed "Stomping the Sword with Strangers."Please think about it. Maybe a retitle as well.

This is an OK book that explains a "universal" plot outline.First the weak bits. Blurb on the print version of the book is unreadable because of the colour of the text and I have excellent eyesight and I am not colour blind. Pity because I think blurb is essential for non-fiction books to give one an overall summary of the book.Second, a bugbear of mine is authors who only use film plots to tell us how a book should be plotted. Rule one for becoming a writer is one must read. Yes I know everyone must have seen certain films but films are not books and books are not films, so plotting a book is different to plotting a film. How many times have you heard people complain that a film was not as good as the book because so much was left out? At least use a couple of novels if you are trying to teach people to plot a novel.On the whole there's some good stuff in the book i.e.the "expanded universal plot skeleton" which is essentially the Hero's Journey, but the author complicates things by adding a "Master Plan" and the "Hollywood Secret". I don't see the relevance of Hollywood to novel writing and it felt like padding.His advice to Pansters is bizarre - use the "expanded universal plot skeleton" but you can ignore it or bits of it because it's your novel. Confused? I am.Good bit on self-editing at the back but it feels like more padding.So overall good ideas but I think the author should have stuck to his "expanded universal plot skeleton" and expanded that into the book. Maybe even using a real book or two as examples. That would be novel.

Excellent book. Well structured and thought out, and extremely helpful.I would dearly recommend to anyone who is news to the craft or who wants a reminder.

This book is short and sweet. Has good content for writers who are looking for a basic foundation for a plot. Recommended for newbies.