There are very few articles and books on on how to just type in the first word and head off into the dark writing a novel with no plan, no character sketch, nothing but pure exploration.

Smith provides an excellent argument for writing into the dark for fiction writers. Writing into the dark is about trusting the creative voice and keeping the critical voice at bay. Also, it is about writing without an outline and letting the subconscious tell you the story. Reading this book is quite freeing in a lot of ways and will have a permanent place on my bookshelf.

This piece of advice is worth the price of the book:

“Just tell the next story. Do your best on every story you write, keep learning, keep practicing, and then just tell the next story. Get that story you just finished out to sell to readers in one way or another. And then just keep learning and tell the next story.
Make writing fun.
Make learning fun.
Make telling stories fun.”

Amen. No more to write after that.