I had a visitor recently who came in with 300 + page MS asking for a critique. As usual, I offered a preliminary scan and promised a comment within 24 hours. I quickly gave up as I tried to untangle a word jungle of verbosity that obviously she created without any plan. When I finished the first couple of pages they looked like a chicken with muddy feet had walked all over the MS. Then came the hard part; writing a negative report that I knew before I began would dash her dreams. The sad element is the situation was so easily avoidable. Everything we do in life is planned and a book should be no different. I know very well my target is not published authors; it’s beginners of any age venturing into fiction writing. Why is it that someone who wants to write a story, barges into the writing process without a plan? Because I felt so badly about spoiling her dreams, I offered a free interview to show her how to plan her story. She refused my offer and retreated with the comment she will finish her manuscript without my assistance. The best I could do was give her a free copy of my book, “Beginning Creative Writing: A Learning Experience” that I recently posted in the Non-Fiction Forum of BookTalk. A person named Valerie Lindsey posted the following customer review on Amazon:

QUOTE: Mr. Byers gives many examples throughout to help the aspiring writer in how to construct, compose and edit a story. The author also provides valuable websites to aid in finding additional information (e.g., grammar and editing your finished product).
The story forming process is a great tool for those unsure of where to begin and an excellent alternative to developing an outline. All in all, a great resource. UNQUOTE