Fiction

Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) (Write Great Fiction)

The second book in the Write Great Fiction series, Plot & Structure offers clear and concise information on creating a believable and engaging plot that readers can't resist. Written by award-winning thriller and suspense author James Scott Bell, this handy instruction guide provides:

* Easy-to-understand techniques on every aspect of plotting and structure, from brainstorming story ideas to building scenes, and from using subplots to crafting knock-out endings

* Engaging exercises, perfect for writers at any level and at any stage in their novel

* Practical and encouraging guidance from one of the most respected writers publishing today

Full of diagrams, plot brainstormers, and examples from popular novels, mastering plot and structure has never been so simple.

Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints (Write Great Fiction)

The indispensable Write Great Fiction series continues with an in-depth look at three of the most important tools in the writer's craft: character, emotion and viewpoint. With the tips and techniques in this book, readers will learn how to:

-Create compelling characters that readers believe in -Write scenes that deliver an unforgettable emotional impact -Distinguish among the many different kinds of viewpoint, and choose the one which is right for their story

Each chapter is filled with examples drawn from the work of successful writers and action-and- results exercises that help readers take their lessons to the keyboard.

Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels

Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics was published in 1993, just as "Comics Aren't Just for Kids Anymore!" articles were starting to appear and graphic novels were making their way into the mainstream, and it quickly gave the newly respectable medium the theoretical and practical manifesto it needed. With his clear-eyed and approachable analysis--done using the same comics tools he was describing--McCloud quickly gave "sequential art" a language to understand itself. McCloud made the simplest of drawing decisions seem deep with artistic potential.

Thirteen years later, following the Internet evangelizing of Reinventing Comics, McCloud has returned with Making Comics.

Designed as a craftsperson's overview of the drawing and storytelling decisions and possibilities available to comics artists, covering everything from facial expressions and page layout to the choice of tools and story construction, Making Comics, like its predecessors, is also an eye-opening trip behind the scenes of art-making, fascinating for anyone reading comics as well as those making them. Get a sense of the range of his lessons by clicking through to the opening pages of his book, including his (illustrated, of course) table of contents (warning: large file, recommended for high-bandwidth users):

Scott McCloud tore down the wall between high and low culture in 1993 with Understanding Comics, a massive comic book about comics, linking the medium to such diverse fields as media theory, movie criticism, and web design. In Reinventing Comics, McCloud took this to the next level, charting twelve different revolutions in how comics are generated, read, and perceived today. Now, in Making Comics, McCloud focuses his analysis on the art form itself, exploring the creation of comics, from the broadest principles to the sharpest details (like how to accentuate a character's facial muscles in order to form the emotion of disgust rather than the emotion of surprise.) And he does all of it in his inimitable voice and through his cartoon stand–in narrator, mixing dry humor and legitimate instruction. McCloud shows his reader how to master the human condition through word and image in a brilliantly minimalistic way. Comic book devotees as well as the most uninitiated will marvel at this journey into a once–underappreciated art form.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print

There's not much of the old-style editing going on at publishing houses today. Renni Browne, veteran of William Morrow and other publishers, founded the Editorial Department in 1980 to teach fiction writers the techniques professional editors (many of whom have gone independent) use to prepare a manuscript for publication. In this book, she and senior editor Dave King share their accumulated expertise in a series of brilliantly compact lessons. One page from their simply and markedly improved version of a scene from The Great Gatsby alone would make a compelling advertisement for their techniques. Very highly recommended. --MTB

Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here at last is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the techniques of the editing trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories.

In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited.

How Fiction Works

How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling (How to Write a Damn Good Novel)

Elements of Writing Fiction - Characters & Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)

Write Great Fiction - Dialogue (Write Great Fiction)

How do some writers craft conversation so authentic, it feels like they've been eavesdropping? What's the secret behind getting characters to talk to each other? How can writers make their dialogue sing?

Answers to all of these questions and more can be found in Gloria Kempton's in-depth look at this crucial component of fiction. Readers will learn how to create dialogue that sizzles, with tips on:

* Creating dialogue for specific genres

* Bringing characters to life with revealing dialogue

* Identifying and fixing common dialogue problems

Each chapter features numerous examples of successful dialogue drawn from bestselling novels, and chapter-ending exercises help readers apply the lessons learned. This is one book that will get readers talking!

Don't Murder Your Mystery [Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction Book]

The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers

"John Gardner was famous for his generosity to young writers, and (this book) is his . . . gift to them. The Art of Fiction will fascinate anyone interested in how fiction gets put together. For the young writer, it will become a necessary handbook, a stern judge, an encouraging friend."--The New York Times Book Review.