How to Write Fiction (And Think About It)

If you are a writer of fiction, this practical handbook will teach you how to acquire your own writer's tool-box. Here you will learn all about developing your craft. The wide-ranging exploration of fiction-writing skills contains many unique features, such as the focus on reflective learning and tuition on advanced skills including foreshadowing, transitions and producing short story cycles. Throughout, the approach is centred on 3 kinds of activity:

• Examining the theory of particular fiction writing skills.
• Analysing the practice of these skills in examples of published work.
• Practising the use of skills in fiction-writing exercises.

What makes this guide so distinctive, though, is the way it consistently asks you to reflect on your work, and stresses the importance of being able to articulate the processes of writing.

Packed with wisdom about the art of fiction and filled with writing exercises, How to Write Fiction (and Think about It) examines the work of today's finest authors to teach you everything you need to know about writing short stories or longer fiction. Whether you are a student, a would-be professional author, or a general reader who simply likes to write for pleasure, this guide will equip you with a portfolio of key fiction-writing skills.

Auteur

Robert Graham is Creative Writing Subject Leader in the Contemporary Arts department of Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

Contenu

Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Writing Bursts
PART 1: HOW A WRITER WORKS
How A Writer Works
Making Notes
500-word Story Project: Person, Place, Problem
Keeping Journals
How To Read As A Writer + Reflection Project: The Writer Reading
Reflection Project 2: Reading As A Writer
PART 2: HOW TO WRITE SHORT STORIES
A Brief Tour Around The Short Story
The Distance Between: Author, Narrator, Reader and Point of View
Characters; H.Newall
Living Elsewhere: Plot
Scenes
Dialogue
Setting
Epiphany
1000-word Story Project: Family Plot
PART 3: HOW TO REDRAFT
Redrafting 1: Editing
Page Design
Peer Appraisal
Writer's Workshops
Redrafting 2: Revising
PART 4: HOW TO MANAGE FICTIONAL TIME
Some Notes On Handling Time In Fiction; J.Friel
Foreshadowing
Transitions
Crossing Timelines and Breaking Rules; H.Leach
PART 5: HOW TO WRITE WITH STYLE
Meaning Sense and Clarity
Description; U.Hurley
Sentences
2000-word Story Project: Dental Surgery
PART 6: DEVELOPING YOUR FICTION
Demons and Angels: Using a Persona; J.Newman
Looking For The Drama; U.Hurley
3000-word Story Project: Literary Revision
The Longer Story
Story Project: The Longer Story
The Short Story Cycle
Story Project: The Short Story Cycle
Structure What Is It Good For?; G.Creer
Reflection Project 3: Where You Are Up To Now
AFTERWORD
How To Go the Distance
Bibliography
Index.