Stroking Thomas

I came across this site promising to teach me how to write a book in 14 days (as mentioned – web surfing is one of my bad habits). I didn’t surf to it on my own, but rather from this blog

I was even encouraged to write a small sample and e-mail it in for a free evaluation. The rules were: I was given 3 words. I had to start the story with one of them, and use the remaining two in the first paragraph. I had 5 minutes to scribble like mad. I could use minor variants of the words instead.

So this is the fragment I came up with using the words fire, clock, and certainty:

Fire raged through the three story apartment building. Clocks chimed three in the city and it was the third of March – a certain sign of ominous ominosity.

Jack wiped his brow as he watched the flames licking at the roof of the building. Ghastly shimmering shadows undulated behind the windows.

People began to gather outside to watch the spectacle. Yes, spectacle was the right word. No one cared what was going on, this simply served as a diversion from their normally humdrum day. After all, who didn’t want excitement in their life? Who wasn’t up for a boisterous round of drinks in the pub after work, or on Saturday, or Sunday?

People drank themselves into a stupor and now stood, mouths agape, around the burning building. Dirty, sodden sheep is what they were.

Here is the free unbiased evaluation (yes, I use the unoriginal pseudonym of John, maybe if I was more colourful, I would use something like Maximilian or Alexander):

John, Outstanding!

Now that's the kind of writing that can easily be turned into a book! It grabs your interest right at the beginning and keeps going. The reader just has to ask, "What happens next to Jack?"

But don't take my word for it. Take this bit of writing and show it to your friends. I have a feeling they'll frankly tell you the same thing. Tell me, what did you think after you had written the piece? Did you think it would be that good, or that straightforward?

You see, that's the strategy behind my writing system. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to write your book. I want your book to be marketable, too. Fiction or non-fiction. The system is a proven collection of strategies that is working for people, literally, around the world.

You and I both know there's a book inside you, waiting to get out. Maybe even two, three, or a dozen or more. My objective is to help you make that happen.

I look forward to working with you. And to adding you to my list of successful students. If you'd like to get more information, don't hesitate to go to http://www.WriteABookNow.com
Cheers,
Steve

Of course, like everything, this life lesson is not free – about $700 of non-freeness (which I presume is US$). Of course, I do get a whole bunch of freebies thrown in. In 5 days, I’ve gotten 6 e-mails from Steve: 3 general purpose lesson / motivation e-mails, 2 special offer e-mails (including one promising me a free audio cassette of one of his seminars – simply for sending my mailing address and home phone number), and 1 writing sample evaluation.

So? What is your evaluation? Are those 4 paragraphs something that can be easily turned into a book? (Yeah, yeah, I know, I tried NaNoWriMo and didn’t exactly run a good race - I didn’t get much past the starting blocks).

Image grabbed from here.