Spider, Spin Me a Web
A Handbook for Fiction Writers
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Narrated by:
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Richard M. Neer
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By:
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Lawrence Block
About this listen
The craft of writing is a lot like spinning a web: You take threads and weave them skillfully together, and only you know where this intricate network of twists and turns begin and how it will end. Now, with Lawrence Block's expert advice, you can learn this art of entrapping your reader in a maze of fascinating fiction. Spider, Spin Me a Web is the perfect companion volume to Block's previous book on writing, Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, which Sue Grafton noted "should be a permanent part of every writer's library".
As helpful and supportive as always, Block shares what he's learned over the course of writing over a hundred published books: techniques to help you write a solid piece of fiction, strategies for getting a reader (or editor) to read - and buy - your book, ideas for increasing your creativity, and developing an environment that will nourish you and your craft. Spider, Spin Me a Web is a complete guide to achieving your full potential as a writer.
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Get Stein on Writing
- By Lois on 12-04-09
By: Ayn Rand
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Six Walks in the Fictional Woods
- By: Umberto Eco
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In this exhilarating book, we accompany Umberto Eco as he explores the intricacies of fictional form and method. Using examples ranging from fairy tales and Flaubert, Poe and Mickey Spillane, Eco draws us in by means of a novelist's techniques, making us his collaborators in the creation of his text and in the investigation of some of fiction's most basic mechanisms.
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big ideas presented simply
- By Ashton on 01-31-14
By: Umberto Eco
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Cultural Amnesia
- Notes in the Margin of My Time
- By: Clive James
- Narrated by: Clive James
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Abridged
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From Anna Akhmatova to Stefan Zweig, via Charles de Gaulle, Hitler, Thomas Mann and Charlie Chaplin, this varied and unfailingly absorbing book is both story and history, both public memoir and personal record - and provides an essential field-guide to the vast movements of taste, intellect, politics and delusion that helped to prepare the times we live in now.
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Very enjoyable and well narrated
- By Larbi on 05-18-08
By: Clive James
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Big Magic
- Creative Living Beyond Fear
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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People of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear.
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Biggest Inspiration In a Long Time
- By Gillian on 09-23-15
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Ignore Everybody
- And 39 Other Keys to Creativity
- By: Hugh MacLeod
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 2 hrs
- Unabridged
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When Hugh MacLeod was a struggling young copywriter living in a YMCA, he started to doodle on the backs of business cards while sitting at a bar. Those cartoons eventually led to a popular blog - gapingvoid.com - and a reputation for pithy insight and humor, in both words and pictures. MacLeod has opinions on everything from marketing to the meaning of life, but one of his main subjects is creativity. How do new ideas emerge in a cynical, risk-averse world?
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Ignore this book !
- By Tim on 08-03-09
By: Hugh MacLeod
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Georgette Heyer
- Biography of a Bestseller
- By: Jennifer Kloester
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international best seller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today's best-selling authors. Despite her enormous popularity, she never gave an interview or appeared in public. Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was 17 in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success, and 90 years later it has never been out of print.
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Heyer as a person
- By Jerri C on 06-15-15
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How to Write Short
- Word Craft for Fast Times
- By: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrated by: Roy Peter Clark
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In How to Write Short , Roy Peter Clark turns his attention to the art of painting a thousand pictures with just a few words. Short forms of writing have always existed - from ship logs and telegrams to prayers and haikus. But in this ever-changing Internet age, short-form writing has become an essential skill. Clark covers how to write effective and powerful titles, headlines, essays, sales pitches, Tweets, letters, and even self-descriptions for online dating services.
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Ironically long
- By Amazon Customer on 03-14-16
By: Roy Peter Clark
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The Man with the Golden Typewriter
- By: Ian Fleming, Fergus Fleming
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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On 16 August 1952, Ian Fleming wrote to his wife, Ann, 'My love, This is only a tiny letter to try out my new typewriter and to see if it will write golden words since it is made of gold'. And he did write golden words: 14 best-selling James Bond books, and an equally energetic flow of letters to his wife, publisher, editors, fans, friends and critics, charting 007's progress....
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Ian Fleming revealed through his letters
- By James Litsios on 05-10-18
By: Ian Fleming, and others
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So We Read On
- How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures
- By: Maureen Corrigan
- Narrated by: Maureen Corrigan
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover extraordinaire, points out, while Fitzgerald's masterpiece may be one of the most popular novels in America, many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.
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Reading Gatsby as an adult reveals its greatness!
- By Mark on 10-06-14
By: Maureen Corrigan
What listeners say about Spider, Spin Me a Web
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Matt Coffey
- 09-28-20
Tremendous
Lawrence Block has yet another fantastic book for writers in Spider, Spin Me a Web. This time around, he goes through the needs of the writer in regards to the work itself (how do you handle foreshadowing? Flashbacks? What do you include, what do you omit?), dealing with the struggle of putting words on the page in the first place (procrastination that is born out of fear, comparing oneself to other writers, rejection, confidence to include oneself in the work), the business (surviving on a writer’s income, slush piles), what you might consider philosophy (the timelessness of literature contrasted with the inherent modernity of all good work, age and the writer) and more. It is written in an inviting manner that makes for not only an exceptional handbook for the prospective writer, but a fascinating listen for those who are interested in the thoughts of a man who’d been in this business for thirty or so years at the time of this book’s publication. Insights, anecdotes, personal matters, and straight business interests come together for a very interesting and informative listen. If you’re interested at all in the business of writing regardless of whether you hope to find success in it or if you just love to read, there is something in Spider for you to sink your teeth in.
In regards to the narration, Richard Neer proves to be an excellent proxy for Block. He manages to give the material both a professional and casual quality that invites you to hang out and listen as a master talks shop, while also showing you how the sausage is made. It is easy to lose track of the time as Neer perfectly balances conversation and lecture into a tremendous audiobook.
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- Jeremy Marchant
- 12-18-19
Coffee with Lawrence Block
I've been reading Lawrence Block's fiction for decades now, and have enjoyed every word.
When I comes to writing, Mr. Block has definitely been there and has the t-shirt to prove it...his body of work speaks for itself. Having some interest in producing my own fiction, I figured I'd see what a master of mystery had to say about it, and I wasn't disappointed.
While this title is billed as a companion to another book Block has written, I haven't read the other book. I can reassure listeners that it doesn't matter, as the subject matter he covers stands on its own effortlessly.
I've never heard Mr. Block speak, but the narrator's conversational voice combined with Block's engaging way of writing made me feel like I was just sitting having coffee with the author. I liked that.
I'm quite certain I will be listening to other audible titles by Mr. Block, fiction or not.
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1 person found this helpful