Books on Novel/Fiction Writing
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Fill-in-the-Blank Plotting - A Guide to Outlining a Novel by Linda George
Fill-in-the-Blank Plotting combines the two most reliable story structures -- the Hero's Journey and the Three-Act Structure -- and shows writers how to merge them to create a powerful plot.Some writers are lucky. Plots pop into their heads, fully formed and ready for the page. This book is for the rest of us.
This book combines the two most reliable story structures: the Hero's Journey and the Three-Act Structure, and shows writers how to merge them to create a powerful plot.
For those of us who have to work hard at turning our ideas into a workable story, here is a helping hand. Linda George's method for outlining allows flexibility and ''eureka'' moments, while providing a reliable way to develop scenes, characters, turning points, and other dramatic elements to strengthen your novel.
In this book, Linda shares her two plotting boards, presents the twelve steps of the Hero's Journey, and shows in detail how the Journey fits into the classic Three-Act Structure.
A fill-in-the-blank method may sound formulaic, but proves to be a wonderful platform for creativity -- a sturdy trellis for the climbing vines of your story.
This book combines the two most reliable story structures: the Hero's Journey and the Three-Act Structure, and shows writers how to merge them to create a powerful plot.
For those of us who have to work hard at turning our ideas into a workable story, here is a helping hand. Linda George's method for outlining allows flexibility and ''eureka'' moments, while providing a reliable way to develop scenes, characters, turning points, and other dramatic elements to strengthen your novel.
In this book, Linda shares her two plotting boards, presents the twelve steps of the Hero's Journey, and shows in detail how the Journey fits into the classic Three-Act Structure.
A fill-in-the-blank method may sound formulaic, but proves to be a wonderful platform for creativity -- a sturdy trellis for the climbing vines of your story.
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master by Martha Alderson
When it comes to writing bestsellers, it's all about the plot. Trouble is, plot is where most writers fall down--but you don't have to be one of them. With this book, you'll learn how to create stories that build suspense, reveal character, and engage readers--one scene at a time.Celebrated writing teacher and author Martha Alderson has devised a plotting system that's as innovative as it is easy to implement. With her foolproof blueprint, you'll learn to devise a successful storyline for any genre. She shows how to:
- Use the power of the Universal Story
- Create plot lines and subplots that work together
- Effectively use a scene tracker for maximum impact
- Insert energetic markers at the right points in your story
- Show character transformation at the book's climax
The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories by Martha Alderson
When it comes to writing bestsellers, it's all about the plot. But creating a captivating storyline that mesmerizes your audience until the very end is easier said than done. With thousands of engaging books on the shelf, you'll need to set yours apart by developing unique scenarios that leave readers wondering what happens next.
In this writing workbook, celebrated writing teacher and author Martha Alderson covers everything from constructing spirited action and compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. She also walks you through the development of a successful narrative with exercises that:
In this writing workbook, celebrated writing teacher and author Martha Alderson covers everything from constructing spirited action and compelling characters to establishing an unforgettable ending. She also walks you through the development of a successful narrative with exercises that:
- Help build suspense
- Incorporate effective subplots
- Tie up all the loose ends
- Keep the reader turning pages
Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling by Donald Maass
Whether you're a commercial storyteller or a literary novelist, whether your goal is to write a best-selling novel or captivate readers with a satisfying, beautifully written story, the key to success is the same: high-impact fiction. Writing 21st Century Fiction will help you write a novel for today's readers and market, filled with rich characters, compelling plots, and resonant themes. Author and literary agent Donald Maass shows you how to:
- Create fiction that transcends genre, conjures characters who look and feel more real" than real people, and shows readers the work around them in new ways.
- Infuse every page with an electric current of emotional appeal and micro-tension.
- Harness the power of parallels, symbols, metaphors, and more to illuminate your novel in a lasting way.
- Develop a personalized method of writing that works for you.
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass
Maybe you're a first-time novelist looking for practical guidance. Maybe you've already been published, but your latest effort is stuck in mid-list limbo. Whatever the case may be, author and literary agent Donald Maass can show you how to take your prose to the next level and write a breakout novel - one that rises out of obscurity and hits the best-seller lists.
Maass details the elements that all breakout novels share - regardless of genre - then shows you writing techniques that can make your own books stand out and succeed in a crowded marketplace.
You'll learn to:
Maass details the elements that all breakout novels share - regardless of genre - then shows you writing techniques that can make your own books stand out and succeed in a crowded marketplace.
You'll learn to:
- establish a powerful and sweeping sense of time and place
- weave subplots into the main action for a complex, engrossing story
- create larger-than-life characters that step right off the page
- explore universal themes that will interest a broad audience of readers
- sustain a high degree of narrative tension from start to finish
- develop an inspired premise that sets your novel apart from the competition
Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass
Noted literary agent and author Donald Maass has done it again! His previous book, Writing the Breakout Novel, offered novelists of all skill levels and genres insider advice on how to make their books rise above the competition and succeed in a crowded marketplace.
Now, building on the success of its predecessor, Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook calls that advice into action! This powerful book presents the patented techniques and writing exercises from Maass's popular writing workshops to offer novelists first-class instruction and practical guidance. You'll learn to develop and strengthen aspects of your prose with sections on:
Set your work-in progress apart from the competition and write your own breakout novel today!
Now, building on the success of its predecessor, Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook calls that advice into action! This powerful book presents the patented techniques and writing exercises from Maass's popular writing workshops to offer novelists first-class instruction and practical guidance. You'll learn to develop and strengthen aspects of your prose with sections on:
- Building plot layers
- Creating inner conflict
- Strengthening voice and point of view
- Discovering and heightening larger-than-life character qualities
- Strengthening theme
- And much more!
Set your work-in progress apart from the competition and write your own breakout novel today!
Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies by Sol Stein
Stein on Writing provides immediately useful advice for all writers of fiction and nonfiction, whether they are newcomers or old hands, students or instructors, amateurs or professionals. As the always clear and direct Stein explains here, "This is not a book of theory. It is a book of usable solutions--how to fix writing that is flawed, how to improve writing that is good, how to create interesting writing in the first place." With examples from bestsellers as well as from students' drafts, Stein offers detailed sections on characterization, dialogue, pacing, flashbacks, trimming away flabby wording, the so-called "triage" method of revision, using the techniques of fiction to enliven nonfiction, and more.
The First Five Pages: A Writer'S Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman
Whether you are a novice writer or a veteran who has already had your work published, rejection is often a frustrating reality. Literary agents and editors receive and reject hundreds of manuscripts each month. While it's the job of these publishing professionals to be discriminating, it's the job of the writer to produce a manuscript that immediately stands out among the vast competition. And those outstanding qualities, says New York literary agent Noah Lukeman, have to be apparent from the first five pages.
The First Five Pages reveals the necessary elements of good writing, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, journalism, or poetry, and points out errors to be avoided, such as
* A weak opening hook
* Overuse of adjectives and adverbs
* Flat or forced metaphors or similes
* Melodramatic, commonplace or confusing dialogue
* Undeveloped characterizations and lifeless settings
* Uneven pacing and lack of progression
With exercises at the end of each chapter, this invaluable reference will allow novelists, journalists, poets and screenwriters alike to improve their technique as they learn to eliminate even the most subtle mistakes that are cause for rejection.The First Five Pages will help writers at every stage take their art to a higher -- and more successful -- level.
The First Five Pages reveals the necessary elements of good writing, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, journalism, or poetry, and points out errors to be avoided, such as
* A weak opening hook
* Overuse of adjectives and adverbs
* Flat or forced metaphors or similes
* Melodramatic, commonplace or confusing dialogue
* Undeveloped characterizations and lifeless settings
* Uneven pacing and lack of progression
With exercises at the end of each chapter, this invaluable reference will allow novelists, journalists, poets and screenwriters alike to improve their technique as they learn to eliminate even the most subtle mistakes that are cause for rejection.The First Five Pages will help writers at every stage take their art to a higher -- and more successful -- level.