Art and Life in Novel Writing
Misc pearls of utility plus takeaways on craft learned from books utilized in the AAC novel writing program including "Write Away" by Elizabeth George, "The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner, "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass, and "The Writing Life" by Annie Dillard:
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BOOK REPORTS THE ART OF FICTION by John Gardner How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? I have to say when I started to read it, for a moment I was not liking John Gardner's tone. For me, a little too pompous. But, I agree with what him in that a writer needs to work on his craft to get even better, even if you are born with the talent. The book helped me have a better understanding on the overall craft of writing and the dedication one must put to really become one of the bests. I also learned by his examples proper way of tackling different ways of expressing oneself as a writer. …
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BOOK REPORTS: 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? 2. What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel? 3. Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they? THE ART OF FICTION - JOHN GARDNER This book challenged me on two levels: an abstract/theoretical level and a more concrete “craftâ€� level. As difficult as it is to apply theory sometimes, it is good to pull yourself away from your work and try to look at it from afar. The “common errorsâ€� section …
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The art of fiction This book does a great job of inspiring the creative spark with its built in lessons, and its a perfect starting place for new writers for this reason. John Gardner's respect for writing as an art form is appreciated, because he stresses the importance of writing not being clearly defined by "do's" and "do not's", or complex mathematical equations. I like the reminder that every subtle detail must be relevant in the story, and that unimportant facts need to become so or simply discarded. This is an easy mistake to make, and the book helps to teach how destructive it can be. It is certainly something I keep a keen eye out for in my revisions. The…
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"The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner (a great primer for this commercial program)
 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? “ The first and last important rule for the creative writer, then I stat though there may be rules (formulas) for ordinary, easily publishable fiction - imitation fiction - there are no rules for real fiction, any more than there are rules for serious visual art or musical composition. Pg. 158. That line made me question a lot of things. With that said Gardner does later imply that you have to be a master to learn how to break those rules correctly. It was good reminder that Im still gree…
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Writing the Breakout Novel: 1. Writing the Breakout Novel was my favorite craft book of this series. This book taught me a lot about what makes specific novels fall into the “breakoutâ€� category, such as how to create a good conflict, how to make theme memorable and relatable, and how to create larger-than-life characters. Overall, Maass gave very specific examples to allow me to not only learn but also see what makes breakout fiction and how to re-create those techniques in my own writing. It also helped me as a writer because it planted all these seeds about what I should be thinking about while I’m working, which was very helpful. 2. I think the biggest less…
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By Chris Stewart As someone who organizes readings and a large literary arts festival with workshops, author appearances, and exhibitors, over the last ten years I have developed a list of writers who I will not work with again. And rest assured, I’m not the only one who does this. Why? Because they didn’t follow directions. It’s that simple. Who's on it? Writers who acted like the organizer/staff were their personal assistant/manager. Take note of the following ways to avoid this blacklist and be a true professional! KNOW YOUR OWN SCHEDULE Double booking is such a big no-no we can’t believe you’re not aware of this already yourself. Whatev…
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The Art of Fiction – John Gardner 1. A valuable grammar Bible in Part II - Notes on the Fictional Process - that includes basic skills to avoid common errors. Gardner also encourages writers to create their own style. Both directions require practice! 2. Major lessons: A. CHAPTER 5 VOICE: Vary sentence lengths and rhythms to excite the reader. *A sentence with three syntactic slots: The man/walked/down the road. (pg. 106) Don’t cram all three with details. Load down slot 1: The old man, stooped, bent almost double under his load of tin pans, yet smiling with a sort of maniacal good cheer and chattering to himself in what seemed to be…
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(Some context: previously I’ve read, many times, SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS, Browne and King; and STEIN ON WRITING, Sol Stein.) THE ART OF FICTION WRITING John Gardner guides us through the universe of fiction-writing, sharing so much with such authority and clarity, that I was able to go back to my draft, to fuzzy areas, and start to bring them into focus. (I knew things were fuzzy, didn’t know what to do to fix them). Especially on top of the two books I’d read previously, the craft aspects gain critical mass, helped by his excellent examples. An important message for me is that scenes must have enough detail to come to life for the reader, and that lan…
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The Art of Fiction: I had the good fortune of drinking in some of the same bars Gardner frequented. I was an undergrad at SIU-Carbondale. Didn't know him. Or maybe I did. I drank a lot in those days, then went back to the dorm and had ponderous discussions about the meaning of everything. Maybe this is where this book came originated. I might have been there. I don't remember, but it makes a good story, particularly if one forgets that Gardner was a family man with young children and a national reputation following the publication of Grendel. Did I know him? Probably not. Did I sit in the dorm lounge, drinking crappy beer and pontificating about the virtues of clean writ…
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Write Away: Overall, this text was useful for me, in that its balance between instruction and examples is well-composed. It is far easier to become immersed in the theory of the instruction with well-chosen examples of the applied practices, and the examples of dialogue were most eye-opening for me. On page 108, included is an example from For the Sake of Elena, in which you can see the use of animated characterization. The dialogue portrayed how seamlessly dialogue can develop character and character relationships, rather than contrived dialogue with flat character animation. Dialogue is what I struggle with most, generally, when I write fiction. On page 113, still…
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Book Reports: The Art of Fiction by John Gardner This book has been aided me greatly in fleshing out a succinct plot, as well as promoting good writing practices. John Gardner really knows the great detail that goes into writing a believable plot with multidimensional characters and interactions. For that reason, my writing has flourished. The craft points he makes are spot on, and any novice or intermediate writer would be wise to take notice. The three lessons that I’ve learned from John Gardner include the importance of plotting, characterization, and good practices. His plotting advice is something I’ve referred to whenever I’ve gotten stuck on how scenes s…
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“The Art of Fictionâ€�, John Gardner How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? This book gave me courage to break rules in my writing. Knowing the rules is imperative before breaking them. But I realize that many of my favorite books have rule-breaking elements in them. I detected an overall theme of aggressive attack in writing - through plot, dialogue, setting, characters, concrete details. Since I write YA, much of my writing is first-person present. Gardner is not a fan! But he did have some great tips on carrying the narrative and not starting every sentence with “I.â€� The big lesson for me: Balance is everyt…
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Books on Technique Utilized in The Novel Writing Program â—¾"The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner (a great primer for this commercial program) â—¾"Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass (another good primer) â—¾"Write Away" by Elizabeth George (a no nonsense primer, and humorous) â—¾"The Writing Life" by Annie Dillard (a look at the struggle) ________________________________________________________________________________ As you've noted on the novel writing program website, the above books are listed as must reads for this program. And that can't be closer to the truth. Therefore, the purpose of this forum is to cajole you into taking what you'…
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The Art of Fiction by John Gardner 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? By mentioning writing errors and discussing solutions to them, Gardner’s book was extremely educational. Through the examples and exercises in Gardner’s book, I learned appropriate sentence structure and vocabulary building. I also found Gardner’s examples to be very helpful. At the beginning of his book, Gardner promotes reading well-written novels. He explains that this will improve a writer’s craft. This definitely provoked me to read classics I’ve never read. Reading those novels definitely improved my writing skills. 2. …
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Writing the Breakout Novel 1. It helped me step back and evaluate my novel more objectively. There are specifics that need to be there intentionally, not just accidentally, including a strong theme that is understated through the characters rather than preached through narration. 2. I learned that the romance subplot needs to be more developed. Presently, there is nothing at stake, and it is little more than an afterthought. My book also needs improvement in description on all levels, especially in describing setting without excessive use of adjectives and adverbs or using teacup handicaps. 3. The one complication between the book and the novel writing program is th…
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The Writer's Edge Interview With Author Jenny Milchman : A Lesson in Tenacity and Smarts
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http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L1pXo4xN464/VcpPrfiFQ_I/AAAAAAAAAy8/twGxL0kcs_E/s200/jenny-milchman-square-web.jpg Jenny Milchman I wish I’d known just how polished and perfected a work has to be to get published traditionally. I was lucky enough to get kernels from industry pros that allowed me to go back and hone my craft... How long did it take you to get published? Here are my stats: 11 years, 8 novels, 3 agents, 15 almost-offers from editors. An almost-offer happens when an editor wishes to acquire a book, but gets turned down by her editorial board, or by people in the marketing or publicity departments, or even (as happened to me with my seventh novel) the publi…
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How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel? Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they? David Maass Writing the Breakout Novel has become my bible of sorts I find it vastly helpful, from David Maass' advice on upping the stakes to creating tension on every page to remembering to like my villain to having successful subplots to ... I found writing out of story dialogues between the author and characters …
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Write Away by: Elizabeth George I found the section of Character Analysis to be thought-provoking. I liked the concept of a Prompt Sheet and I plan to use this tool whenever I’m out traveling, stuck in a work meeting or maybe trapped at a family function I can’t escape. With this, I can quickly sketch out character frames that I can later return to, like a bank of possible characters to use in later stories. This tool is also very helpful to reference when getting in touch with a character’s voice. George’s chapter on voice was helpful because it reinforced the importance of setting and how the characters will speak as products of their environment and how they r…
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1. The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner Invoking the power of the pen (keyboard), I will return to review this novel after the other three with a brief explanation for why I changed the order. 2. Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maas: I read the book years ago and reread it for this program. Key overall aspects I took to heart then (and now) include: I want to write a breakout novel, not a mid-list one, storytelling matters above all other considerations, word of mouth drives a breakout novel rather than marketing, and high stakes and gut emotional appeal are critical, especially when they escalate. Major lessons that I sort of learned years ago, an…
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THE ART OF FICTION, John Gardner How the book helped me as a writer: The copy I have is dated 1984, and it was interesting to see what I’d underlined in red, what my younger writer self found important. There were many great insights and to be reminded of things like not starting a sentence with an infinite verb phrase, were valuable. Gardner wrote, “The reader cannot understand or believe the change unless some clue is provided as to the reason for it.â€� And “moment by moment authenticating detail as the mainstay of fiction.â€� I find myself struggling as I revise, finding so many instances where I have not provided enough of a reason for one of my cha…
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Book Reports: Gardner The Art of Fiction taught me that there are no absolute rules when it comes to fiction. For example, a term used often with regard to creative writing instruction is “show don’t tellâ€�. For many beginning writers this is good advice especially if they are drowning in abstraction. However, for the art of fiction to be entirely void of exposition is disastrous, turning a novel into a screenplay. While these rules can be helpful tools, the writer has to assess them and use them fittingly. One vital lesson from this book is “What Fancy sends, the writer must order by Judgementâ€�. An author may discover a tantalizing plot point but if it is not …
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by Michael Neff At a conservative estimate, upwards of 250,000 writers in the U.S. are currently struggling to write or find an agent for their first commercial novel or memoir. If you understand this business, you also know why an enormous percentage are unable to make it happen. Below are the top seven reasons why otherwise passionate writers will join the 99.9% never to become commercially published. 1. INADEQUATE WRITING SKILLS AND STORYTELLING PROBLEMS In the case of the former, the writing itself does not display the energy, creativity, and polish necessary to convince an agent to go deeper. This is perhaps the number one cause of failure. Usually, the w…
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BOOK REPORTS: 1. How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something? 2. What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel? 3. Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they? THE ART OF FICTION, John Gardner
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John Gardner - The Art of Fiction I read parts of this book in a fiction workshop in college, so it was somewhat familiar. It was good to be reminded of the importance of maintaining the “fictional dream.â€� Gardner’s discussion of writing within the context of other art forms was inspiring, as is his emphasis on the importance of writing exercises. I also found his discussion of fiction as “concrete philosophyâ€� (Homer), or as a particular form of thought, really interesting; it made me think about theme and it’s relationship to events in a work of fiction differently. Gardener’s section on Plotting was enlightening. It taught me that plotting and …
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AS II, Module VIII Nordstrom, John, Prose That Reads Like Poetry The Art of Writing Book Reports Assignment Writing a novel is a Sisyphean task, where the finished novel inevitably rolls down the hill and crushes the writer just as he thinks he’s beaten Fate by producing something rather than nothing. Elizabeth George, Write Away. George’s two fundamental points about writing, that is, that story is character and that setting is story too strike me as right on and thus reinforce my own theory of writing. In Prose That Reads Like Poetry, character and setting can be both internal and exterior parameters that interact with each other to create a plo…
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