Catégorie : Livres – Books

Écrire pour vivre, par Jean-Benoît Nadeau

J’écris rarement. pour ne pas dire jamais, à propos de livres de conseils pratiques.

Sauf que ce livre m’a tellement aidé. Après avoir dévorer « Le Guide du travailleur autonome 3.1 », je me suis tout de suite procurée « Écrire pour vivre ».

L’auteur va droit au but, il ne fait pas dans le chichi et utilise un excellent amalgame d’expérience, de bons sens et d’humour pour transmettre l’info.
Il ne propose pas de solutions miracles, donne beaucoup d’exemples et partage les ressources que lui-même utilise depuis de nombreuses années.
Et ce livre de conseils pratiques ponctué d’anecdotes est vraiment agréable à lire! J’ai souris à plusieurs reprises.

Le plusss mieux? Le livre m’a donné fourni les conseils et les astuces dont j’avais besoin pour réussir, moi aussi, à écrire pour vivre.

Publié en 2007 aux Éditions Québec-Amérique, « Écrire pour vivre » est toujours aussi pertinent.
Quoique je serais curieuse de lire une version vingt ans plus tard, puisque le marché de l’écriture – si on me permet l’expression complètement vague – a bien changé. Lançons l’idée à l’univers et poursuivons.

En finir avec les idéaux romantiques

C’est en lisant cet ouvrage que j’ai finalement mis dans une jolie petite boite bien douillette mes idées romantiques à propos de l’écriture et que j’ai foncé dans le projet écrire pour vivre.

Je suis à mon propre compte comme rédactrice depuis près deux ans.
Est-ce que je fais des tonnes de fric? Non.
Est-ce que je gagne bien ma vie? Pas encore.

Mais ça s’en vient!

Merci d’avoir lu cette fort brève critique de livre. On se retrouve sur twitter ou une prochaine fois sur ce blog.

À la prochaine!

Book of the week: Mortal Engines

Let me catch my breath

What a fast pace novel, that one. Sooo fast, I’m glad I purchased #1 and #2 at the same time.

It’s a good book, perfect for kids and tweens who actually don’t like to read or find it a long, boring, pointless exercise. You ain’t gonna have time to be bored with that one, m’dear young reader!

I really enjoy it. I will read all four. That being said, I feel like I have no choice but to read the whole series, not only because it’s good, but because I am dying to know what will become of the main characters.

Clever author Philip Reeve makes sure to hook the readers, with his harsh and wonderful dystopian universe and complex characters.

No wonder the book became a massive movie thing, every scene in every chapters reads like a movie. Everything is to the point. From the emotions the characters go through to the descriptions of the complex mecha, no word is superfluous.

No time to waste anyway. Even if you wanted to rest a little with the character in the beautiful place they reached, and have a longer look around, you can’t.

And, that’s exactly why, you know, I liked the book buuut.

So much hastiness!

The art of pacing

Philip Reeve gives us a fast-paced story, which works great for everybody, especially people who, like I said, don’t like books to begin with, or have a lot of other books to get to, aged from 11 and beyond.

In a universe where who could easily spend several chapters to describe one place since there’s so much that could be said about it – great worldbuilding, by the way, a beautiful masterpiece of worldbuilding, well delivered – a fast-paced story is crucial.

Still, sometimes, the story cuts short.

Some details are, sometimes, given at random just so the story can move along. The same goes for the unraveling of a supposedly super well-buried secret a character suddenly puts together and voilà, moving on.

Mortal Engines, was first published in 2001. It is a great #1 to this fast-paced quartet by the excellent Philip Reeve, a prolific UK author.

I read the book in French. Published by Gallimard and translated by Luc Rigoureau, Mécaniques fatales as one flaw that kept putting me off: the translation of the names.
When it comes to names, I understand one can’t just leave the names untouched and explains the meaning in footnotes all the time… but one should.


Book of the week ​: Brave

That book rocked my writing world too! I am so so glad to have taken the time to read it.

I am in book love.

I read many great books lately, but oh ! this book by Svetlana Chmakova!

I read Brave, then I immediately ordered the other ones. I read them more than two times each already. Brave, I am currently re-re-re-reading.

I told you. I am in book loooooooooooove !

About Brave

Brave is in the middle of a graphic novel series for middle-grade and even tweens. And, may I dare say, every teacher, every librarian out there with a bit of love for kids should buy and share those books with them.

It’s about a daydreamer Jensen, a middle-grader who learns what it means to be brave through a rough ride coping with bullying.

The main character is sooo much fun, and the crew around him is a lot of fun. Even the bad guys, that we kinda almost like at the end.

An absolute must read

I am currently writing a novel about friendship and the aftermath of bullying. What becomes of the victims? What becomes of the bully/bullies? Can you really be friend with someone who bullied you, and vice-versa? And all that jazz!

That book rocked my creative writing world! I am so so glad to have taken the time to read it.

It does get a tincy tiny bit on the explanation side of the bullying matter, for this grown-up taste anyway. That being said, I am many years older than the kids for whom this story was written.

Of course, it needs to be said, what is bullying and how to deal with it. It also needs to be said, what being friends mean and what true friends really are.
When I was Jensen’s age, I had a couple of so-called friends. It, unfortunately, took me a little while to admit they were mean jerks.
Today, I remember only one of those mean jerks name’s, and only one bully thing she did to me. More than 30 years later, it still sting a little.

To admit that we might be bullied is a big step since sometimes it means we are going to be friendless. At an age where being accepted by people our age matters more than anything, it is really really hard.

For that reason and many more, this graphic novel is a must read.

Mr. Racoon

Not only did I love the story, but I also quite enjoy the afterword. Svetlana shares her process and what inspired her to write that story.

There’s also a super fun sketch gallery with commentary. She explains what is behind her characters designs and her creative process. And Mr. Racoon shows up too.

Overall, dear readers, those graphic novels are worth buying, worth sharing, worth having in your life.