Dear Ally, How Do You Write a Book? by Ally Carter

So… summer school has really picked up the pace and I haven’t been able to fully finish a book in AGES. Seriously, there are piles of books with bookmarks on my table as I write this… So sorry if this is the only review I get out in a while but that’s the best I can do for now; hopefully I finish one or two more stories this week!

I figure many of us have thought of writing a book much like the ones we immerse ourselves in and that’s exactly why this book caught my eye. This is an informative non-fiction book written by YA author Ally Carter about the process of writing a book. It’s geared towards aspiring young authors starting to discover their love of writing with many, many unanswered questions. Ally talks about writer’s block, persevering through the bad days, finding an agent/publisher and MANY other related topics, basically covering everything you need to know to begin your story. In addition to her own tips, she also adds advice from her many writer friends, authors we all know and love. To name a few: Cassandra Clare, Marie Lu, Soman Chainani, Marissa Meyer, the list just goes onnnn. This gives the book a lot more perspective and insight, especially on topics such as co-writing or genres Ally hasn’t touched on herself.

As you can tell, I quite enjoyed this book because it answered many of my questions and even some I didn’t think I needed to ask but I really truly did. However, many of her answers looped back to something she’d already said in another section which made the book a bit too repetitive for my taste (that’s why it took so long to finish it, I got a little disinterested towards the end 🙁 ). However, the book is written with a very light, humorous tone which makes it more relatable and FAR easier to comprehend. All in all, a very informative read that you will get something out of. I give it a 7.5/10 because it repeated itself so much I was a little bored towards the end but I’d still recommend it to any aspiring authors out there!