Book Review: The Story of a Story

Ravish Mani is a much-loved name in blogosphere. A number of writers including me reach out to him for guidance related to writing, publishing and promoting their work. He has profound knowledge on the subject of writing. And that was reason enough for me to download this book – to learn something new. 

About the author

Ravish Mani is a life adviser and story consultant. He’s known in the blogosphere for his spiritual approach, analytical abilities, multidimensional perspectives, and helping nature. He blogs at Books As I See  where he shares book reviews,  in-depth analysis, author interviews and other interesting articles.  He is a professional in story consultancy, manuscript analysis and developmental editing. You can connect with him on Twitter.

About the book

The book is exactly what the title promises – the story of a story. It talks about the journey of writing a story from inception of the idea to the final creation. It’s an academic work that explores the evolution of storytelling and techniques involved in creating a story. An original research meant to help writers and readers alike.

What I liked

I will start with the title. The title of the book is intriguing and what’s more, it is not a stunt. The title is not just for attracting readers but it truly represents the contents of the book.

The book is a great example of original research put forth in a short compact form. One can see years of experience and reading that has gone into this work. The philosophical side of the author is reflected well in this research.

Although the book is academic in nature it’s a breezy read because of the way it’s written. The tone is lucid and simple, meant to reach out to masses rather than intimidate the readers with a baggage of information. That’s the beauty of Ravish Mani’s writing style. It’s simple but elegant, full of quotable lines.

The author uses examples from popular books and movies to explain various concepts of storytelling. That indeed help drive the point rather than verbose descriptions. Ravish Mani has the gift of conciseness. The way he explains complex concepts in the most concise manner is incredible.

Here are my top takeaways from the book (quotable lines).

“.. characters in a story are not Homo sapiens but Homo fictus, a relatively simple & more perfect version of Homo sapiens.”

“It’s not the actual reality but your perception of that reality that drives your action”

“The stronger the attachment of emotion with the reference experiences, the greater its effect on the belief”

“Knowledge of and insight into the world of your story is fundamental to the achievement of originality and excellence”

What could be improved

I personally believe that the book cover does not do justice to the depth of the analysis and overall philosophical tone of the book. The book cover does not reflect that maturity and profoundness of what’s inside it. 

I also found the formatting lacking. And I can totally understand why this is so. The author mentioned the story behind this book. How he lost his manuscript at the last moment before submission deadline. I commend the author’s perseverance in still meeting the deadline.

I can only wonder what this book could become with more time and more examples put into it.

Recommendation

If you want to improve your writing this is a must-read book. Not just for fiction writers but also for non-fiction writers. The book itself is a non-fiction about fiction-writing. There’s a lot to learn just from the way this book has been written. So go ahead and download the book while it’s free.

Rating: 4.5/5

Other recommendations

You can also download my ebook “15 Days in Europe” from Blogchatter Library for free. I published this travel memoir and essential guide to planning a short trip to Europe from India in 2019. My second ebook “Postcards from India” was first published in Blogchatter Ebook Carnival in 2020 and later moved to Amazon and Notionpress (use code DISCOUNT25 for 25% discount) .  You can check my other book reviews here.

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