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Andrew J Chamberlain
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The Creative Writer's Toolbelt Handbook Kindle Edition

by Andrew J Chamberlain (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 32 ratings
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At last! A book that gives you the tools you need to be a better writer and improve your work.


The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt Handbook gives you practical, accessible advice for all of the dimensions of the craft, backed up with examples from classic and contemporary literature, and insights from dozens of professional writers, artists, editors and agents.


Here’s what others have said about the book:

"A unique and comprehensive handbook... it lays the foundations and then helps you build."

"A refreshing change to many writing books."

"I've found so few advice givers as competent and informative as Andrew Chamberlain"

Each chapter covers an aspect of the craft, giving you insights that you can apply immediately to your own writing, and providing you with the confidence to go on to explore and develop your skills.


In The Creative Writer's Toolbelt Handbook we look at:

Chapter 1: Creating a Story
Learn the classic shape of stories and understand why throughout history, one particular approach to story construction has been so successful.

Chapter 2: Characters and characterisation
Explore the two primary aspects of characterisation: character essence and goal motivation and passion. Learn why getting these aspects right is most of the hard work of character development.

Chapter 3: Setting, world-building, and research
Understand the two critical requirements of a setting - that it be credible and immersive. Grounded with examples, we also look at the best way to gather and apply research, with expert insights into the process, and guidance on the important issue of understanding and writing characters who do not reflect our own heritage.

Chapter 4: Tools of the trade
Understand how to use the most important tools of the craft; from 'showing not telling' to point of view and foreshadowing to exploiting the power of sensory description.

Chapter 5: The building blocks of writing
Explore the techniques for harnessing the power of punctuation and structure, understand the power of verbs in driving the pace of a sentence.

Chapter 6: The sound of your writing
Unlock the secrets of tone, style, and voice, and wield the sharpest tools available to you: clarity, brevity, and precision.

Chapter 7: Story identity - Genre and theme
Explore the strategies for harnessing genre and trope to reassure and absorb the reader. See how symbol, dilemma, and innovation interweave with theme and moral, and how to apply these aspects to enrich and enhance our work.

Chapter 8: The Writer's Life
Living well is a step towards writing well. From physical health to mental and emotional wellbeing, the handbook offers suggestions for the writer's life. This chapter also explores the author experience with publishers and some thoughts on how to effectively market both ourselves as writers and our work.
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  1. Print length
    329 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    18 Sept. 2017
  4. File size
    3.5 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
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Product description

About the Author

Andrew Chamberlain is a writer and creative writing tutor. He has ghost-written several commercially published memoirs, including the bestselling Once an Addict by Barry Woodward. His short stories and novel length fiction have been commercially and self-published, in print and online. Since 2014 he has presented The Creative Writer's Toolbelt, a podcast that gives practical advice on the craft of writing. Andrew's focus is on providing accessible advice to writers that they can apply straight away to their own work. The Creative Writer's Toolbelt Handbook, is a compilation of the very best advice and insight from the first 100 episodes of the podcast. With contributions from over twenty guests, the Handbook will cover all the fundamental dimensions of creative writing, with examples of best practice, from the writers, editors, and publishing professionals who have guested on the podcast. Andrew is a blogger for the Association of Christian Writers at the More than Writers website, and has been a regular speaker at the Lakes School of Writing autumn retreat. He has spoken at numerous writing events across the country and was a panellist at last year's Eastercon Science Fiction convention. He lives in Cambridge with his wife and their slightly over enthusiastic labrador Pippin. You can contact Andrew via his website at www.andrewjchamberlain.com

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B075RB8M9M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ CWT Media; 1st edition (18 Sept. 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.5 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 329 pages
  • Customer reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 32 ratings

About the author

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Andrew J Chamberlain

Andrew J Chamberlain

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Andrew J Chamberlain is an author, speaker, and writing coach. From 2014 to 2022 he ran "The Creative Writer's Toolbelt", a podcast that gives writers practical advice and encouragement on the craft. In September 2017, he published “The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt Handbook” a compilation of the very best advice and insight from dozens of professional writers, artists, and editors, from the podcast. He is a member of Resolute books, an author's collective, and is also co-chair of the British Christian Writers Conference.

His novel "The Centauri Survivors" the first book in the Centauri Sequence, first published in 2019 will be re-published with Resolute Books in November 2024, the second book in the series "The Secrets of the Alethi" will be published in the summer of 2025.

As an international trainer and speaker, Andrew has supported authors of all ages from eight to eighty-eight, to be better writers and produce great work.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
32 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique and Comprehensive Handbook
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I was lucky enough to beta read the Creative Writer’s Toolbelt Handbook, and although I have read numerous writing books, the CWT Handbook is a rare beast: it’s a unique and comprehensive look at the writing craft, and has something in it for every writer, whatever their stage of development.

    The Handbook is a refreshing change to many writing books. Based on the author’s Creative Writer’s Toolbelt series, there’s content from 100 podcasts and the author has packed the book with the best bits of the series. As well as advice from many authors and industry professionals, there’s a wealth of practical examples – the kind of clear, helpful examples that I struggled to find when starting out writing.

    The Handbook is great for beginners, but there’s plenty of content for more experienced writers too, and the author has a deft touch with knowing how much information to pack into each section so that it never feels like there’s too much at once.

    Perhaps the Handbook’s greatest strength though are its differences to the majority of books on the craft. There’s a wonderful section on the writer’s life and lifestyle towards the end, for example, that complements the technical chapters nicely and transforms the Handbook from a technical manual to a holistic approach to writing. Add in some great advice from a wealth of authors and industry professionals and the end result is a wonderful resource for writers.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 March 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I was drawn to this book after listening to Andrew Chamberlain's podcasts. The podcasts are informative, short and concise. Perfect when you are driving to pick the kids up from school. The books approach is unique, compared to other sources I have read, as it provides a methodology which is straight forward to follow. I am confident this book will give you the tools to become a more accomplished writer. Well done.
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  • Line Madsen
    5.0 out of 5 stars THIS!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 March 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This is the only one you need.
    And listen to his podcast. It is gold.
    Love love love this book
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Top reviews from other countries

  • _Fyre_
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for solid storytelling
    Reviewed in the United States on 20 September 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I've been writing for years, and published, and I've read so many books about the craft, and listened to so many podcasts ... and yet I've found so few advice-givers as competent and informative as Andrew Chamberlain. He does not merely "tell" you what works and what doesn't, he "shows" you with practical examples from the world's best authors (e.g. Tolkien, Rowling, King, Austen etc.) I've learned a lot and my writing has improved tenfold. It lays the foundations and then helps you build. Indeed, creative writing courses may soon allow this book to usurp old tomes like "The Elements of Style" or McKee's "Story" as required reading.
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  • Matt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely useful practical guide to fiction writing
    Reviewed in the United States on 26 January 2019
    Verified Purchase
    A very useful practical (hands-on rather than theory) guide with many (many) examples to show how a character or technique works in other fiction. This book's a great amplification of the topics covered in the Podcast, and cross-references with the podcast episode covering each topic as well. Highly recommended.
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  • John Jukes
    4.0 out of 5 stars Keep this one handy to the keyboard
    Reviewed in Australia on 6 December 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Having retired from business involving a lifetime of commercial and technical writing, I found this Handbook made the change to writing fiction enjoyable and productive. My first murder mystery has been accepted for publication in an anthology coming out in September 2019.
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    John Jukes
    4.0 out of 5 stars
    Keep this one handy to the keyboard

    Reviewed in Australia on 6 December 2018
    Having retired from business involving a lifetime of commercial and technical writing, I found this Handbook made the change to writing fiction enjoyable and productive. My first murder mystery has been accepted for publication in an anthology coming out in September 2019.
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    One person found this helpful
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  • Simon Farrant
    5.0 out of 5 stars Worth it :-)
    Reviewed in the United States on 7 December 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Excellent book, loads of great information.
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