Anne Perry: Put Your Heart on the Page

English crime novelist Anne Perry talks directly to the camera in this barebones instructional program subtitled “An Introduction to Writing” (featuring little music, a smidgen of effects, and some odd choices of flashing onscreen text from her commentary—such as “poisonous gas”). Put Your Heart on the Page finds Perry covering the different parts of working on a story—themes, plot, dialogue, exposition, settings, scenes, research, and rewrites—with text exercises bookending the chapters to help a prospective author flesh out ideas. All of these are important facets, but the bulk of the program features Perry's readings from her own five-part World War I novel series to illustrate points, which seems too specific for a general primer. Still, Perry does offer some good advice on getting to know your characters, the importance of establishing a basis for the plot within the first few pages, and the necessity of doing solid research to avoid errors or silly mistakes. Despite its flaws, this is likely to be a popular title that will be sought out by would-be writers. Recommended. Aud: P. (J. Williams-Wood)