Telling Lies for Fun and Profit

A Manual for Fiction Writers

By: Lawrence Block

Narrated by: Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is a best-selling author of popular mystery fiction. With over 30 of his works in print, he is as prolific as he is skilled. This collection of essays and articlesfrom his Writer’s Digest columns has been in print for over 20 years. Here he provides invaluable advice to the aspiring writer and the established author. Featuring a witty and honest narration from the author himself, Block presents an illuminating look into the world of the professional writer.

©1981 Lawrence Block (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC

Entertaining, Informative, And Fun To Listen To

What did you love best about Telling Lies for Fun and Profit?

Lawrence Block shares information he's gained over his years as a successful writer in a way that makes you feel like you're listening to an old friend. I love his sense of humor. Take his advice, find your own voice, and you can become a successful writer.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I've listened to Telling Lies For Fun And Profit several times. It encourages me, gets me excited about writing, and reminds me that every writer has moments of struggle. We all doubt ourselves at times. The only way to improve and get your work out there is to read other works of fiction, learn your craft, and keep writing no matter what. Telling Lies For Fun And Profit is one audiobook that can help you put the pieces together.

Great book for writers

Lawrence Block is a great resource for fiction writers. He has a friendly, informal no BS style that is easy to learn from. This book is a collection of columns from Writers Digest. So I knocked one star because there is a significant overlap with his excellent book From Plot To Paper.

inspirational

It's a pretty cute, entertaining audio-book. While it does contains seeds of practical advice, it seemed to be more inspirational and encouraging to me than anything else. A nice listen for when you are tired of writing and want to know you are not alone.

For the love of god why did he sound asleep the whole time?

Great book with great advice, genuinely glad I bought it.
Wish I had bought a physical copy though, because he sounds like like the reanimated corpse of a blob-fish who was taught to speak by Ferris Bueller’s homeroom teacher.
It’s impossible to get engaged or pay attention when I keep imagining that I’m attending a lecture taught by droopy dog.
It was actually effective in opposing my insomnia on nights I had to be up early the next morning, but I kept having unsettling dreams about an old man trying in vain to seduce me with the world’s most boring small talk while he slowly deflated like a gigantic balloon sculpture with a microtearing in the rubber.

Please heed my advice and just buy a physical copy, you will be much better off.

Beneficial for any writer

Outstanding and practical advice on the craft, and business, of writing. Would highly recommend to any aspiring or professional writer.

it's like having a writing master as a best friend

What makes this different than other writing audiobooks is that it is like a casual conversation with a writing master if that person were your best friend. It's not step by step. It's more like random tips you get from Writers Digest.

Enormously Entertaining and Enriching...

If you could sum up Telling Lies for Fun and Profit in three words, what would they be?

Enlightening, eye-opening, and very certainly entertaining.

What other book might you compare Telling Lies for Fun and Profit to and why?

There are many books for aspiring writers but I would hazard to advance that very few of them are similar to Block's books for aspiring writers.

What about Lawrence Block’s performance did you like?

I believer that Block is really opening up about his life as a writer and put that on the page. Many successful writers give the "party line" about what it takes to be a writer, but I believe that Block is giving us the true soul of a writer of his generation. He is a brilliant man who decided young that he would be a writer and did so...not always to a glorious end, but he is one of my heroes for sticking to his guns, writing junk to survive and genre classics to entertain.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from Telling Lies for Fun and Profit?

The true existence of a successful modern writer.

Any additional comments?

If you aspire to entertain others with the written word...listen to this over and over. It is brilliant and entertaining.

The true first stop for the beginner

Lawrence Block, a true veteran of quintessential American commercial fiction, presents the would-be writer with sound fundamental advice. Very little of the advice presented in this book is purely theoretically biased drivel, and when theory is discussed he presents several perspectives on the subject, none of which are "the true way to do it". Neither does he belittle the beginner into making absolutely sure he or she wishes to write, this separates himself with other teachers, who far too often get frustrated with the naive aspirations of a beginner. Block simply relates his rich experience to guide you into finding your own path, to discovering your own habits that benefit you and sticking to a work schedule. Block is a very intelligent man, and despite of what you might think of the genre he works in, you can't go wrong with the advice of a guy who has written so many fundamentally SOLID works of fiction. I highly recommend that a beginner reads or listens to this first before coming to any other books about writing fiction. Not only will it encourage you, but it will ground you into the most important aspects of improving yourself.

READ THIS BOOK!

Indispensable writing advice. The fun part is translating typewriter technology into the age of word processing. The good part is the wordsmithmanship. The author’s snarky delivery is reminiscent of a hard boiled detective working a Cold War era murder case.