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 the book’s description of a character-based plot as the contemporary way of writing plot. Books that I have read that are character-based do not contain the detailed, complex plot advocated by the novel writing program.
The Art of Fiction
1. The book helped me come back to the heart of writing. Writing for the sheer enjoyment of it, writing because I have something to say that I feel is important and communicating it in a way that interests and invigorates both me and the audience.
2.It helped me to recognize the need to move from passive voice to active voice. I did a search for all auxiliary verbs in my book, did a count of them, and changed at least ½ of all auxiliary verbs to active verbs. It also helped me to understand what is considered concrete, as opposed to abstract, description, and the importance of writing prose in concrete terms.
3.One substantial difference between The Art of Fiction and the novel writing course is that planning the course of the novel as well as its outcome, giving it a satisfying resolution, and intentionally creating characters with a specific purpose and personality are not considered to be necessities. They are rules that can be broken, and Gardner points to many classic writers who have done just that. It focuses heavily on classical works, going all the way back to the earliest Greek playwrights, rather than on contemporary fiction.
The Writing Life
1. This book was essentially a reality check of the process of putting together a work of fiction. It was challenging for me to go through the process of perfecting chapter-length passages that I felt would be central to the story, and then either removing them completely or reducing them to one or two sentences. My teacher likes to tell me that writing is really about re-writing, and Dillard confirmed that I am not alone in the challenge of creating a work of fiction.
2. While not a work of practical advice, this book gave me some practical exercises to inspire creativity: Get up and go for a walk, find what it is that I love, look for the beauty that already exists around me instead of trying to conjure or create it, and look more to great literature, especially classics, for inspiration.
3. This book does not offer advice that contradicts the novel writing program.
Write Away
1. This book is both intelligent and inspirational. Characters are what drive the story and create the plot, and the setting is so important, both on a macro and micro level, as to influence characterization and the overall tone of the story. It takes the small, subtle intricacies of craft and technique and puts them into the larger context of how these can contribute significantly to the overall book. It also “demystifies†the seemingly lofty process of writing, which involves much more perspiration than inspiration.
2. Voice, something that my writing consistently lacks, is addressed constructively. It also contains great advice for compelling dialogue that adds to characterization, which is another area which needs improvement.
3. The book goes to great lengths to detail how to outline a book, which does differ somewhat from the novel writing six-act process.
A GREAT WEEPING IN RAMAH, Keri Ladner- Historical Fiction
in Art and Life in Novel Writing
Posted
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 the book’s description of a character-based plot as the contemporary way of writing plot. Books that I have read that are character-based do not contain the detailed, complex plot advocated by the novel writing program.
The Art of Fiction
1. The book helped me come back to the heart of writing. Writing for the sheer enjoyment of it, writing because I have something to say that I feel is important and communicating it in a way that interests and invigorates both me and the audience.
2.It helped me to recognize the need to move from passive voice to active voice. I did a search for all auxiliary verbs in my book, did a count of them, and changed at least ½ of all auxiliary verbs to active verbs. It also helped me to understand what is considered concrete, as opposed to abstract, description, and the importance of writing prose in concrete terms.
3.One substantial difference between The Art of Fiction and the novel writing course is that planning the course of the novel as well as its outcome, giving it a satisfying resolution, and intentionally creating characters with a specific purpose and personality are not considered to be necessities. They are rules that can be broken, and Gardner points to many classic writers who have done just that. It focuses heavily on classical works, going all the way back to the earliest Greek playwrights, rather than on contemporary fiction.
The Writing Life
1. This book was essentially a reality check of the process of putting together a work of fiction. It was challenging for me to go through the process of perfecting chapter-length passages that I felt would be central to the story, and then either removing them completely or reducing them to one or two sentences. My teacher likes to tell me that writing is really about re-writing, and Dillard confirmed that I am not alone in the challenge of creating a work of fiction.
2. While not a work of practical advice, this book gave me some practical exercises to inspire creativity: Get up and go for a walk, find what it is that I love, look for the beauty that already exists around me instead of trying to conjure or create it, and look more to great literature, especially classics, for inspiration.
3. This book does not offer advice that contradicts the novel writing program.
Write Away
1. This book is both intelligent and inspirational. Characters are what drive the story and create the plot, and the setting is so important, both on a macro and micro level, as to influence characterization and the overall tone of the story. It takes the small, subtle intricacies of craft and technique and puts them into the larger context of how these can contribute significantly to the overall book. It also “demystifies†the seemingly lofty process of writing, which involves much more perspiration than inspiration.
2. Voice, something that my writing consistently lacks, is addressed constructively. It also contains great advice for compelling dialogue that adds to characterization, which is another area which needs improvement.
3. The book goes to great lengths to detail how to outline a book, which does differ somewhat from the novel writing six-act process.