Very helpful book
This is an excellent book but is really about the planning and execution of a novel rather than fixing what is broken. It makes reference to and analyzes some well known novels and you have to read them to get the most out of the book. Is quite technical and practical and is oriented toward serious writers as opposed to touchy-feely. I think that I read it twice and got alot out of it. Structuring Your Novel
A great starting point for writers
Certainly if you have little writing experience or skill you will need more than just this book. But you have the talent and desire, but not the discipline, then you'll want this book. I put my amorphous novel idea through almost every chapter and by the end, it had solidified into a detailed outline.
The other great thing about this book is that if you can be truly honest with yourself, you will find out quickly whether your idea can stand on its own as a novel, which beats finding out 400 pages later.
Okay, but be careful
First, this book is not about structuring your novel. It is a general book on fiction writing. Second, it is very basic, for beginning writers only. That said, if you are just starting out, this book has it over the other beginning books in that, at least, it says what it has to say and doesn't beat around the bush. If you need a cookbook approach, this is it.
It is very brief. Also, its format is to say what it has to say in bold characters, then repeat the same thing in a couple of paragraphs, as though you were hard of hearing or as though teaching a class of bored students whose minds may have been wandering when he said it the first time. For instance: "The protagonist in a novel can be singular (just the main character) or plural (more than one of the leading characters)." (p.11) Then, just in case that statement was too difficult for you, he spells it out in the next half-page. And so it goes. "To set the stage for the basic conflict..., place the protagonist in conflict with his own environment or the environment of others." (p.14) Again, a half page to repeat that. In other words, you can get all there is in the book just from reading the statements in bold print. That way, you can finish the book in one hour.
All this might be safe enough, except that some of these bold statements are debatable. For instance: "The basic conflict cannot be developed or sustained unless the author exaggerates the reaction of the protagonist to the stimulus of the environment." (p.20) "The event...that starts the chain of causally related events may or may not be presented in the first chapter." (p.128) Beware of such advice unless you have a good friend who is an acquisitions editor!
The author touches all the bases: idea, conflict, plot, viewpoint, theme, exposition, description, narration and action, characterization, symbolism. He also has two brief chapters on "craftsmanship" in which we are told to "Make every word count" (p.164) and that "The motivation of everything a character says and does in a novel must be established in the reader's mind." (p.158) And in a chapter on style we are told that "Style in novel writing cannot be taught." (.p.187)
As long as you go on to read several other beginning books on fiction writing and take many of the proclamations with a grain of salt, it might be safe to read this book. Certainly, it will get you started quickly.
THE book for writers who need direction
Ever sat in front of the blank page or screen with an idea mulling around and thought GEE WHIZ where do I go from here?
This book guides you out of the mire and through to the safe haven of the goal.
Onward through the fog!
One of the best books on writing I've ever read
I was so happy to learn today that this book is still in print as I have had occasion over the years to recommend it to many, many fiction writers I have coached in the writing of their novels. I first read it more than 20 years ago, and in pulling it down from my shelf I find that it still seems to me to have exceptionally clear explanations of point of view -- a hard concept for many first-time writers to get right -- and of theme -- a nebulous but important concept. If you want to master fictional technique, study this book. One of the best investments of time and money you could make! - Marcia Yudkin, Writing Coach and Author of 11 Books,
(17 reviews)
