Karen Randau

[KarenRandau]

"The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner (a great primer for this commercial program)

• How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something?
   
  The name itself - not that I realized it at first, but it came to me eventually. Fiction is art. I thought of it as words on a page. If you put them together right, you communicated what you meant. In my new way of thinking of fiction, I have a deeper understanding of the things I already know: the need to paint the scene, choreograph the movements of not only characters but objects, to feel, touch, and smell everything in the scene. I think I recognize more mistakes in my own writing.
  
• What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel?
  (1) Gardner says in the first few pages not to introduce something about a character that you aren't going to mention again. I had done that. Actually I introduced a character that I never used again - and he was my best bet at a quirky character. After reading this book, I went back and gave the reporter found in Chapter 2 more of a role, but I plan to strengthen his role even more.
  (2) To accomplish an actual "show don't tell" scenario, avoid phrases like "she noticed" and "she saw," opting instead for vivid and sharp verbs. I'm guilty of over use of those phrases, having used them to filter the action to the POV character (I thought that's what I was supposed to do). I'll stop doing that.
  (3) Play with sentences. Having been a writer for many years, I already understood the need for sentences of varying length and construction. However, playing with sentences is different. It is part of the art. While playing with sentences may extend writing time, it may mean the difference between good and great.
  
• Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they?
   
  The only thing that comes to mind is plotting from the climax backwards, not that this conflicts with what AS teaches, but AS teaches to start with the marketing in mind - specifically the antagonistic force. Maybe these aren't conflicting so much as different starting points, but I didn't have a clear picture of a six-act structure as I got from the AS course.
  

 

"Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass (another good primer)

• How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something?
   
  This was the first of the books that I read from this list. It immediately caught my attention. When I went back to look through my underlines and column notes, I realized that Maass helped me figure out the meaning of conflict (I've been struggling with that throughout writing this novel). Maass showed me how to create conflict in ways other than people arguing.
  
• What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel?
   
  (1) I think I learned (I'll know after your review) how to create a strong hook in the beginning. After reading this book, I eliminated a half page of text and started in the middle of the action (as recommended also by AS).
  (2) As a person who avoids conflict, that was an especially tricky thing for me to get the hang of. I may still need to work on it.
  (3) Before reading this book, I tried to be more realistic - Maass recommended pushing the premise beyond what readers would expect. I pushed harder as a result.
  
• Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they?
   
  I didn't see anything that conflicted, only things that helped explain what you were teaching.
  

 

"Write Away" by Elizabeth George (a no nonsense primer, and humorous)

 

• How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something?
   
  I'm glad I saved this book for last. I found the book easy to read and the specific advice helpful for thinking through and writing the kind of book I would want to write or read. It helped me to learn the process of another left-brained person who has a large dose of right-brain, and how she engages the right side of her brain. I enjoyed her plotting process, how she develops ideas into novels, and the necessary components of a character.
   
  
• What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel?
   
  (1) Real people have flaws; so must fictional characters. To avoid giving a character problems, conflict, insecurities, complications, and growth is to rob the story. My manuscript didn't start out with those vital elements of character, and I've added them as a result of this course and reading this book.
  (2) Render your setting; don't merely report it. That means you know it, not necessarily because it is "what you know" (to which George says balderdash), but because you've researched it and been there to sense it. The details you offer should be details in motion.
  (3) I never thought of characters as part of the landscape, or of having their own landscape. The need to describe characters both internally and externally was clear to me, but thinking about this as part of the landscape is new. It will be interesting to see how this change in thinking matures my writing.
   
  
• Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they?
   
  I didn't see anything that conflicted, just more detail about how she goes about doing what your novel writing program teaches.
  

 

"The Writing Life" by Annie Dillard (a look at the struggle)

• How did the book help you as a writer? What overall aspects of it taught you something?
   
  Dillard uses metaphor and experiences from her own writing life to explain what it's like to be a full-time writer. While this isn't my type of book, it offered a few insights, primarily that the writing life can be lonely and difficult. When it does get hard - because of self-doubt, becoming frustrated, or simply fear - you need to understand that these are common to all writers, and you need to just sit down and write.
  
• What two or three major lessons did you learn from the book that you can apply to your writing and/or your novel?
   
  (1) Sometimes you have to throw out some of your favorite writing for the sake of the story.
  (2) If you're stuck and don't know why (and it lasts), it may be time to took a look at the structure, something Dillard describes as an x-ray of the structure in search of a hairline fracture.
  (3) You must say something meaningful if you want the world to notice, and you figure out what the worthy things are that people want to hear by observing life and people.
  
• Was there anything in the books that obviously conflicted with lessons and readings in our novel writing program. If so, what were they?
   
  She says not to write a novel with a movie script in mind (she says it smells bad). She wants literary for the sake of literature. Made me feel dirty, to be frank.