Wonderbook (Revised and Expanded): The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction

A gorgeous and inspirational guide to creative writing, especially for writers of speculative fiction. It is filled with beautiful and insightful illustrations which alone are worth the price of the book, and Vandermeer's review of craft elements is fresh and pragmatic. He has also included artwork from 30 other artists as well as several apt and illuminating contributions from other authors such as Ursula Le Guin, Neil Gaiman, and George R. R. Martin. This is not your typical college writing guide, but maybe it should be.

For a taster, read his "Illustrated Guide to Writing Scenes and Stories," posted on Electric Literature.

Vandermeer tends toward the outlandishly fantastical side of fiction, and some of his examples and illustrations fell flat with me. As a whole, however, his eclectic approach was just what I needed to understand the concepts and see the joy in working with them. I would recommend this book to any aspiring writer. Or to anyone interested in a story featuring a talking penguin, a woman with a gun, and someone hiding behind a potted plant.

The book says a lot without telling you much. It’s more a philosophical view of writing rather than knowledge for aspiring writers.

Most successful writers will agree that mastery of the craft of writing is never ending. If you are a fantasy or science fiction writer and you’ve not read this book, you are woefully at a disadvantage in your genre. I’ve read and studied well over 30 writing craft books and can tell you this book is packed with innovative ideas and the highest imaginative instruction and motivation, full of images that will reach into your creative mind and boost you into a whole new realm of writing. Vandermeer touches thoroughly on organic writing, world-building, realistic fiction vs. fantasized fiction, good beginnings vs. bad beginnings, characterization, narrative design (“Deus Ex Machina,” “Interruption,” “Contamination,” “Time Intrusion”) and how to give your stories the “unexpected richness of life.” Essays by the masters like Neil Gaiman, Karen Lord, Matthew Cheney, Kim Stanley Robinson (“Hero of the Environment”), Ursula Le Guin, Lauren Beukes, Charles Yu, and many more. If you don’t know these authors’ names, this book will give you great insights to their mastery of writing and process. I think my favorite was the 9-page interview with George R.R. Martin, and discovering his writing process, especially Martin’s advice on why fantasy and sci-fi authors need to read, read, read widely in their genre. He recommends to read his list of 50 novels. The illustrations are glorious, the content soaring with not only an analysis of writing, but in-depth explorations of creativity. Highly recommended. Paula Cappa is an avid book reviewer and an award-winning supernatural mystery author of novels and short stories.

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I was introduced to this book first in college, and to be entirely honest, I don't know why it happened so late to be introduced to this book! KIDS can understand this book! This book was built for creative imaginations and honestly, the amount of love, effort, and extreme detail that went into it - SHOWS! On every single page.

The book itself is like a fun maze, there's something new to see on every page and the way that it's laid out is meant to be accessible to all types of learners of ALL ages. But literally, the Bible. I swear by it. You have to read, enjoy, and maybe get a little imagination going to really appreciate everything this book illustrates (literally) for you.

So not only is it GORGEOUS for simple table decor, but also totally reliable for actual usage in writing. Also, its not just one writer offering you guidance and advice and showing you HOW to formulate things in your writing, its several. Well worth the exploring and the reading of this book.

But don't take my word for it - buy this whimsical wonder of brilliant creative writing advice for yourself!

If you're interested in trying to start writing science fiction this book is an excellent place to start learning how.

It's the right book and it's beautiful

I bought this for myself and now I have purchased it several times for auctions at writer's conferences. Love it.

great

Title: Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction

Author: Jeff Vandermeer, et. al

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Nonfiction

Series: Standalone

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

I borrowed this book from my local library and reviewed it.

I’ll be honest: I only discovered Jeff Vandermeer and his works a few weeks ago, when I decided to read the first book in his Southern Reach Trilogy, Annihilation. I’ve been trying to circulate between fiction, nonfiction, and texts that will help me improve my writing skills. As soon as I was finished with The Babysitters Coven, I dove in, not sure what to expect. But this text was informative, entertaining, hilarious and unique. It provided such an in-depth look at the minds of creative people, and I learned so much! I cannot wait to have a copy of this essential text for my own collection, because I have a feeling this is a book that I will return to again and again! Vandermeer has established himself as one of my favorite authors with this wonderful, strange book!

Wonderbook is an illustrated text that shows a writer how to tap into their imagination and many other tools in order to write creatively and effectively. It offers many helpful tricks and hints throughout to help a creative, not just a writer, find their voice and style and use that to their greatest effect. But what was really cool about this was even though Jeff Vandermeer was the main author, he asked many different authors and artists to contribute. This monster of an anthology was incredibly insightful and informative. It contained pictures, interviews, diagrams, and other helpful resources. I got so much inspiration from reading this book, so much so that I’m hoping to add it to my own collection so I can refer back to it whenever the well is threatening to run dry. I loved every moment of it. I was learning, but in a way that was so dynamic that it made all of the knowledge it packed into the book easily absorbed. This book might be my very favorite of Vandermeer’s body of work; it was wonderful! I just wish that I’d found it a lot sooner, because it is a valuable resource for people who are creative, for their main vocation or a hobby. An absolutely indispensable resource for all creatives! The bottom line: Rich with research and knowledge in the creative field, Vandermeer teams up with many other creatives for in-depth interviews, diagrams, and drawings to help make his points; I loved it so much! Next on deck: Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll!

I love this book. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten this one out just for the joy of looking through its pages of illustrations alone. It inspires me. The author not only gives solid writing advice on a variety of general topics but also sparks the imagination with an in-depth look at the specific areas of writing to need to know as well. I can't even estimate the number of writing books I own at this point, but I can say I keep this one in my "go to stack" on my desk.