This is not about writing technique. "Violence: A Writer's Guide" is an introduction to the world of violence. To the parts that people don’t understand. The parts that books and movies get wrong. Not just the mechanics, but how people who live in a violent world think and feel about what they do and what they see done.

“Novelists need to be experts on storytelling. For everything else, we need to fake it convincingly. If you want to become a real expert on violence, you can spend years in a dojo, and in a jail, and on the street, and in Iraq, and in conferences and libraries analyzing your real-world experiences. Or you can borrow the expertise of someone who's done all that. Clear, concise, invaluable. Sgt. Rory Miller has written the best book on violence I've read.”