The Story Cure: A Book Doctor's Pain-Free Guide to Finishing Your Novel or Memoir

by Dinty W. Moore

A collection of cures for writer's block, plotting and characterization issues, and other ailments writers face when completing a novel or memoir, prescribed by the director of creative writing at Ohio University.

People want to write the book they know is inside of them, but they run into stumbling blocks that trouble everyone from beginners to seasoned writers. Drawing on his years of teaching at both the university level and at writing workshops across the country, Professor Dinty W. Moore dons his book-doctor hat to present an authoritative guide to curing the issues that truly plague writers at
all levels. His hard-hitting handbook provides inspiring solutions for diagnoses such as character anemia, flat plot, and silent voice, and is peppered with flashes of Moore's signature wit and unique take on the writing life.

• ISBN10: 0399578803
• ISBN13: 9780399578809
• Publish Date: 2 May 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Ten Speed Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 192
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399578809

Reviews

[Jane]

**I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**

The Story Cure reiterates what writers should know about writing.

I gave it one star shy of five, due to some typos in it and times when I feel certain lessons could be better explained.

I think this topic worked so well for Moore, because he doesn’t just work in the industry — he’s a teacher, so he understands what students most often need help with. He’s an educator who understands time is valuable and writers would rather be writing.

This book will definitely be one I keep on the shelf and refer back to, however. 😏👌😉

Full review at Janepedia: https://janepedia.com/thestorycure

[pamela]

This was a tough one to rate, as I can't say that any of the advice in the book was poor. Dinty W. Moore clearly knows a lot about writing, and I'd love to take one of his classes, but unfortunately the way the whole book was set up simply didn't give the information the weight it deserved. How To Write books are a dime a dozen these days. They're everywhere and of varying quality. To set yourself apart, you really need to try and do something different. The Story Cure certainly tries to do that. Setting the book up as an ailment/diagnosis/cure scenario was a really unique way of setting up a how to book. The problem is that it failed to make the information accessible. The prompts and help were trapped between layers of unnecessary exposition and winding examples and metaphors that, while interesting to read for the most part, seemed only to serve to pad out a book that was sparse on information and long on prose.