Book Club: The Backwoods Writer, Writing a Novel
- Leigh Macfarlane
- Oct 1
- 3 min read

The claim the author makes at the beginning of this book is that this book differs from other How-to-write books by sharing personal anecdotes from her own writing experiences -- and some of them will be embarrassing fails. She doesn't disappoint. Stories like reviewers loving a book but wondering who a character was -- and on review, realizing she had changed the character's name halfway through the story -- are worth a chuckle, even if they were cringeworthy at the time. There is a lot more than just personal fails in this how-to book. There is information to help both the experienced and the beginner novelist.
You will find general information on the parts of a novel, plus deep dives on setting, character, plot, and dialogue. There is a grammar tutorial section, a section specifically dedicated to commas, and another section all about words that are often used wrong. My favourite part of the book, though, is the first several chapters where issues like answering the question, why do I want to write this novel, what kind of novel do I want to write, and most of all, what happens in the headspace of a writer -- and how can I make it work for me and not against me?
One of the parts of this book that I found unique for a how-to-write book was the discussion about Maslow's Hierachy of Needs. The author suggests that real-life humans are motiated by certain needs -- and characters are, too.
"Basically, though, if you take a moment to think about what motivates you to do things, that will give you a good starting place for understanding why your characters do what they do."
I found there were distinct sections to this book. First, the personal and theoretical chapters, next, the practical, technical chapters, and finally, the editing and publishing section finish things off. For the purpose of this review, though, I didn't actually read the book. Instead, I listened to the audiobook version. I found the narrator kept my attention well even though I had previously read this book multiple times. The one thing I did notice is in a couple of spots, the final constanants of words were dropped in the recording. It's hard to say if this was the recording, the editing, or the narrator, but it never affected my ability to grasp the meaning intended. I also found there was a little bit of the section on commas other grammar specifics were geared more to visual than audio mediums.
This book can be consumed in paperback, hard cover, E-book, or audiobook versions. You can even study this as an online course. The flexibility of options is helpful, the personal stories, technical information, and the interactive moments of the book will help any would be author become a successful, stronger author. You will definitely benefit from the chapters at the beginning of the book that discuss what comes before you even sit down to write your book, and will also learn a lot from the bonus section on publishing at the end. This provides an overview on publishing options and what to expect when choosing the various publication options.
The Backwoods Writer Writing a Novel is inteded to be the first in several books on writing by Leigh Macfarlane. After reading this book, I am looking forward to seeing what the author offers next.

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