The Nighttime Novelist...accomplishes more in about 240 pages than a dozen other "how to write" or "craft your novel" books have ever done.

--Helen Gallagher/Blogcritics
[Review]

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Reviews

[blogcritics/Helen Gallagher]
The Nighttime Novelist: Finish Your Novel in Your Spare Time accomplishes more in about 240 pages than a dozen other "how to write" or "craft your novel" books have ever done.

The Nighttime Novelist helps you make the most of whatever creative moments you can grab in your day, night, lunch hour, or a Saturday at the library...You’ll learn more about finding story ideas, building characters, getting over hurdles, and learn the elements of good description. The book includes a thorough and practical analysis of point of view (POV), with a helpful chart to help you decide on POV, one of a novelist's most difficult tasks.  [Full review]

[Suite101/Suzanne Pitner]
With such impressive credentials, one might expect a stuffy tome of advice for writers, but instead, Dr. Bates comes across to the reader with a friendly, engaging, and at times, humorous voice...I often found myself drawn to my own keyboard to try out these assignments immediately. [Full review]

[Kill Zone/James Scott Bell]
I like to teach nuts and bolts, actual techniques that work. This is the approach Bates takes as well. It's like having a reliable writing coach available for you any time of the day or night.

And that's really the point here. No matter when you write, or how long you have to do it, you can use this guide to give you a little jolt of creativity or direction when you need it.  [Full review]

[Curious Villager]
When asked which books one should read to learn how to go about writing a novel, there are two I immediately name:

#1. The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
#2. On Writing by Stephen King

Now I would add this book as #3 to my list. While Elements of Style is necessary for the basics, and Stephen King is necessary for inspiration, The Nighttime Novelist would be the actual blue prints of how to get your story down on paper. [Full review]

[bookpleasures.com/Norm Goldman]
Technically, The Nighttime Novelist: Finish Your Novel in Your Spare Time is superbly organized, written in an engaging style that has just the right formula of instruction and fun. Moreover, the design is an outstanding feature of the book with Bates' generous use of colorful pages that are combined with pictorial content, tables and sidebars that wrap the whole book up in a presentation that is extremely pleasing to the eye. As for the text, it is very informative covering a wide range of topics. [Full review]

[Comics Worth Reading]
The book is an easy read — although you won’t want to read it through; instead, you should stop, reflect on the lessons, and try them out. It’s written in a conversational tone, and pages are punctuated with inspirational quotes from famous writers. If you’re looking for an encouraging gift for a creative friend, especially one who just needs the right hand-holding to get started, this might fit the bill. [Full review]

[bellaonline]
Many how-to-write-a-novel books push the same ideas over and over again to the reader but Bates’ approach is refreshing. He doesn’t repeat the same things other books have. He explores how to connect with your characters and focuses on the end of you story by thinking like the reader who may be holding you novel in their hands in a year. [Full review]