Being a writer is probably 80 percent instinct and 20 percent skill. Most writers have amazing, subversive, expansive imaginations, yet we also seem to have an innate, unharnessable quality that allows us to translate those swirling worlds that exist within our brainmeats to comprehensible, accessible, and (if we're doing it right) entertaining stories for our readers.Despite the innateness of this quality, or perhaps because of it, we do ourselves a favor by taking the occasional class or seminar, or reading the occasional book, that helps us further develop and refine our craft. Writing the Breakout Novel by literary agent Donald Maass is one such book.In WtBN, Maass does a great job of breaking down and describing the many elements that go into writing a novel (premise, theme, conflict , etc.). The real gem of this book though is the well-structured information dump of the differences between fiction that soars above the average and ordinary and fiction that, to readers, may come off as dull and uninspired. Maass includes tons of examples of both mainstream literary and genre fiction to help illustrate his points (and provoke a sense of eye-rolling self-satisfaction depending on how many of the examples you've already read), and if you're the analytical type or an avid reader, you'll identify right off what he's describing. After learning what makes a novel breakout the next step is learning how, and I think Maass has actually created an exercise book as companion to this one.I highly recommend this for writers. Even if you're comfortable and confident in your skills, there is almost a certainty that this book will inspire you to think of your current or future novels in new and exciting ways.***