Book Reviews Non-fiction

Don’t Live For Your Obituary by John Scalzi

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Don't Live for Your Obituary: Advice, Commentary and Personal Observations on Writing, 2008-2017 by John Scalzi is a collection of posts taken from Scalzi’s popular blog, Whatever. Scalzi gave each post some light editing, but otherwise if you’re a long time follower of his, you’ve probably already read many if not all of this material. The benefit of this collection is that you’re getting those same posts in a somewhat logical (as opposed to chronological) order since Scalzi put them into loose categories as follows:

  • Golden Nuggets of Writerly Wisdom, or, This Is Where I Offer Up Some Writing Advice, Take It or Don’t
  • The Fine Art of Putting Your Books and Yourself Out There Without Wanting to Drink Acid, or, Let’s Talk About Publishing and Online Presence
  • This is the Section Where Scalzi Snarks on People More Famous Than He Is, So Get Out Your Popcorn, or, Thoughts on Writers and Other Notables
  • Don’t Type Angry, Well, Okay, Fine, Go Right Ahead, or, Writing Controversies and Other Such Nonsense
  • Jeez, Scalzi, Does It Always Have To Be About You? Why Yes, Yes It Does, or, Notes From My Career

From looking at the categorizations, one might expect to find posts with topics that vary widely. Consider such expectations correct. You’ll find everything from Scalzi’s opinion on the latest drama going on within the inner author circles, to how to react to reviews, to an egotistical look at the author’s many successes, and, last, a fairly good amount of advice on how to grow and sustain a career in writing. That last point comes with the caveat that everything stated is what worked for Scalzi and that your mileage may vary.

So, bottom line, Don't Live for Your Obituary: Advice, Commentary and Personal Observations on Writing, 2008-2017, is the kind of collection you might want to read if you’re a fan of Scalzi’s blog or his internet persona, but if you’re looking for substantial, informative views on writing there just isn’t a whole lot here. I think Scalzi would have been better served by writing a book such as Stephen King’s On Writing. Scalzi has the genre cred and the success at this point in his career to author such a book. Instead, though, he went the route of recycling blog posts. That in itself is kind of disappointing.

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