This book has thousands of great tips for all levels of writers. The unique difference with book is that it is not meant to be read from front to back. It's designed to give you tips no matter what page you open up to. There is also a great index in the back for any more advice on any particular subject. I bought this book twenty years ago when I was writing my first book in highschool, and the advice is still fresh and relevant as it was twenty years ago.

This book does stand out from the many other writing books on the market. I would invest in this one if you must choose between two books.

If you are ready to elevate your writing, then you need to get this book. Mr. Bishop breaks down every aspect of the writing process and provides examples that trigger many oh-now-I-get-it moments. Only for the serious.

DARE TO BE A GREAT WRITER, by Leonard Bishop, was one of the first "how-to" books I read when I first started writing novels, and it's still one of my favorites. Much like Robert Masello's Robert's Rules of Writing, this is a collection of writing tips presented in no particular order. Because of the format, I wouldn't recommend either as the first "how-to" book for a novice. But the scrambled format works well for me when I'm looking for a "writing tip of the day" or a quick read during TV commercials. Many of the ideas offer practical help; others provide thought-provoking insight. You don't have to agree with every "key" to enjoy this one.

I read this book when I first started writing, and it gave me many DO and DON'T suggestions. The author gives the reader short sections on each subject he thinks is important. I like that, but I wish the book had a better organization, so when I go back to read a certain passage, I'd know where to find it.
BUT, it is STILL one of my favorite books.

"Dare to Be A Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction" is a well-titled book, but not much else. Though Bishop does offer decent advice, the lack of any coherent organization of the book's content seems to outweigh the occasional good nugget of info the reader might come across.

I can't think of any justification for Bishop neglecting to organize his thoughts into relevant chapters. Perhaps it's simply that Bishop doesn't have enough advice about any one topic to necessitate an entire chapter, but it would have been nice if he'd tried. Instead, the reader is encouraged to look up something in the index and then read it.

Though this is an original approach to writing a "how to" book of writing, it just didn't work for me. It causes the book operate as more of a "dictionary" of writing advice and nobody I know will sit down and read a dictionary for more than a few minutes.

That being said, there IS some decent advice in here. Bishop touches on a lot of areas that many writing books don't address such as guarding your writing time, the pros and cons of writers groups, as well as how to demand more money from a publisher. You'll ocassionally come across something very interesting that you might not have heard before.

If you can deal with the random organization, this book might work for you. But I've owned and read other books that are much better than this one at describing how to write good fiction.