Choice Reading Response 10- How NOT to Write a Novel

In this section of How Not to Write a Novel, aspiring writers are sarcastically encouraged to change narrative points of view and verb tenses often in order to confuse readers.

I think this book's use of humor allows me to see my errors as a writer in a new light. I made a personal connection to the verb tense section. The writers noted that the English language has six ways to use past tense, so the beginning author can construct a variety of sentences without accidentally slipping into different tenses. I have definitely switched verb tenses in academic papers and in my own personal writing. The other section about switching points of view helped me understand how I can best present my writing (which eyes will I write through). I have struggled with this problem before in my writing. I activated some of my prior knowledge about verb tenses and points of view to apply and connect the new information this novel used.


Mittelmark, H. et al. (2008). How not to write a novel: 200 classic mistakes and how to avoid them--a misstep-by-misstep guide. New York, NY: Harper Paperbacks.