Writing Fiction a Guide to Narrative Craft Pdf
663 reviews 458 followers
Excellent, with some quibbles--
Used by creative writing programs all over the U.S., this book pretty much covers everything about the craft. The contemporary short stories at the end of each chapter were really good, especially starting from Chapter 4 with "Mule Killers" by Lydia Peelle.
The main focus of the book is literary fiction and is admittedly biased against genre fiction with a convincing reason: "whereas writing literary fiction can teach you how to write good genre fiction, writing genre fiction does not teach you how to write good literary fiction." She further draws a comparison between realism and drawing of still life in painting, which analogy I found to be pretty compelling.
There are limitations to the book, however. First, there are other books that cover certain topics much more in depth, such as characterization (see Swain's Techniques of the Selling Writer), point of view (see Orson Scott Card's Characters and Viewpoint), description (Monica Wood's Description), story and structure (James Scott Bell's Plot & Structure and Donald Maass's books), revision (Self-Editing for Fiction Writers), etc. Also, the students are left to find all the topics implemented in the short stories at the end of each chapter, and yet it's sometimes difficult to pinpoint why exactly those stories were selected. Some guidance on how those stories used the techniques discussed could have been beneficial.
There are other shortcomings. In certain parts, the author also asks questions to the reader without providing answers, which is a shame because feedback is one of the most important factors in learning. The section on "psychic distance" was not entirely clear, especially the examples she gives to illustrate using abstract nouns and generic details increases a sense of distance while using concrete nouns and specific details increases intimacy.
Another misguiding thing about the book is when it covers the "golden" rule of contemporary fiction: show and tell. She pretty much tells you, "Show, don't tell," which is misleading because you should definitely show and tell where appropriate and simple vilification of telling does more damage than good, since telling can be a powerful tool, too, and she doesn't cover when it's good to tell and instead gives the false impression that telling is always bad--a preposterous stance if you stop and think about all those authors who use a hell of a lot of telling (Marquez, Chabon, Murakami) and still manage to be fascinating. She does, however, cover what makes good telling in a wholly different chapter under a different name: summary.
Also, she covers some topic and doesn't tell us any rule of thumb for knowing when it's good to use it. For example, she says filtering should be avoided. But a lot of stories--even those included in the book--use filtering at some point. When is it okay to use any technique she cautions us against? Should we always avoid them? But why are the stories she herself selected use them? So some explanation on that aspect of each technique would have been illuminating.
All in all, this is a really good book on writing, and I think everyone who is serious about the craft should read it.
Good stuff.
- japan_jul07-aug11 writing_reference
Author 3 books 57.6k followers
This is THE classic how-to on writing fiction.
I used this both as a student and teacher. The examples are incredible.
Update, Aug 2017:
I just bought the 8th edition of this book, and started rereading several chapters again. (I also went back and reread 10 years ago.) Even an experienced writer can really benefit from a quick refresher on techniques I've left behind. We each fall into our own writing ways, doing the stuff that has worked for us, and it's remarkable how many things I'm NOT taking advantage of. Or techniques that I spurned at another time, didn't feel right for me, but I'm in the right place for now.
And exceptional book. A true gift for writers.
Note: It's really expensive, but thank God for used books. I find that if you go back one edition, it's dramatically cheaper. The 9th edition is out, so I bought the 8th for $30. Still pricey for a paperback book, but this is unique, and a steal at that price. (And I imagine they have to pay very high fees for using all the short stories, and long excerpts.) So I'm not getting all the latest stories, but so what? They have changed dramatically from the last edition I got. And I don't really need new ones anyway.)
Author 5 books 297 followers
Unhelpful waffle.
- non-fiction writing
Author 29 books 887 followers
"Almost any reader can identify with almost any character; what no reader can identify with is confusion."
269 reviews 4 followers
I cannot in good conscience give this text anything higher than a two. The advice is solid, I'm not going to argue against that, but there is far too much meat in the writing that comes across less as solid writing advice and more as a formulaic approach to writing.
This text is full of bland approaches to writing and repeats the same things I've read in other books. The exercises are tedious and boring; there is no sense of adventure or experimentation. It's a methodical, bland, autopsy of writing and what works, supposedly, in making writing better.
If your goal is to understand the craft of writing, this is not the book for you. I recommend Jerome Stern's Making Shapely Fiction, Stephen King's On Writing, or The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Non-Fiction for the sake of actual method and practice material.
This book is for you only if you're goal is to be a "write by numbers" kind of person. If you need the formula, if you need every single little aspect of writing to be laid bare for you, then read this. If you're purpose is to understand writing, well, you'll get that from this but it's a longer journey to take and can be done better and more succinctly via other paths.
If you wish to be a good writer, well, write. That's the best advice anyone can (and will, in every writing guidebook) tell you. After that, read. Then, if you're lucky and have talent, you can be a successful writer. No formulaic approach will make you better than what you inherently are. That's where practice and work come in.
- 2012
26 reviews 8 followers
I am beginning my last semester of a Creative Writing BA program in San Francisco, and out of the many writing books I read (Anne Lamott, Stephen King, David Morley, Natalie Goldberg...) this one came close to perfection. It provides students a grounding vocabulary. With this book students can discuss the elements of writing rather than rely on anecdote or discuss talent. As a student myself, I've been frustrated by authors and teachers explaining writing as a boundless art form that cannot be learned by a conventional curriculum
Writing Fiction does not try to contain writing in a concrete definition, but the book makes creative writing possible to study and discuss with others. As craft.
Any aspiring or established writer should spend time with this book. It's dense with information and fantastic examples.
- favorite writing
251 reviews 16 followers
This text joins Sol Stein's Stein on Writing and Ursula LeGuin's Steering the Craft among my absolute favorite craft texts. Clear, readable, with superb and diverse examples (something Stein doesn't do as well), this book is full of inspiring insights and analysis, punctuated by terrific exercises and -- this might be my favorite part -- reprinted complete short stories, a whopping three per chapter, selected to illustrate the concepts discussed in the chapter. It's a terrific craft book and a superb short-fiction anthology all in one.
(One caveat: It is a textbook, intended for college students of creative writing, which means that some of the advice is rather geared toward young people -- I found this mildly annoying, though I worked instead on finding it amusing.)
- on-writing
1,383 reviews 338 followers
I love Janet Burroway's writing-I want to read all her work. Such a great presence shining through the words. And very motivating. Just what it says-a guide and a very good one. It teaches as much about how to read as how to write. I've read it several times & want to read it again. Soon.
- how-to-teaching writing
647 reviews 86 followers
If your goal is to improve your fictional writing know that this volume is filled with great advice and beautiful examples to help you learn the ways. In addition to in depth explanations of how to work with setting, characters, time, space plot and point of view; it offers many intriguing writing exercises and fun prompts. It's an excellent source of advice to any writer aspiring to be published, or even just if your creative writing is limited to your own entertainment. It offers methods to shape, enrich and enliven the stories by discussing, throughout the book, the main concerns with planning fiction, in its multiple aspects, going beyond outdated advice like Faulkner's "kill all your darlings".
I was impressed by how the book really seemed to cover all possible realms of the writing process and loved Burroway's airy narration along it. One of my favorite textbooks by far!
Favorite short stories:
"Bullet in the Brain" by Tobias Wolff
"Reply All" by Robin Hemley
"Binocular Vision" by Edith Pearlman
"Mud" by Geoffrey Forsyth
"We Didn't" by Stuart Dybek
*"Like a Pilll" by Nicole Rivas
- non-fiction school
Author 16 books 51 followers
Excellent treatment of the elements of fiction, with clear examples, like characterisation, show don't tell, point of view. If you do not understand it after reading this book, you will never get it.
- five-stars
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Writing Fiction a Guide to Narrative Craft Pdf
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222117.Writing_Fiction
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