Dedicated to the classic books on fiction writing. Learn to write short stories, novels, and plays by studying the classic how-to books. I believe fiction writing is a Craft. In the hands of a writer who has mastered the Craft, it can become more than that. It can become Art. Art = Talent + Craft But the bedrock is Craft. There are fundamental techniques to be studied, unfamiliar tools to be mastered, tricks of the trade to be learned. And it all takes time. (Writing Mastery) (Writing Craft)
Author Les Edgerton explains the differences in structure between a short story and a novel, and he provides writers tips for how to expand their short stories into something more substantial.
You can view the article at Writer’s Digest.
Les Edgerton at Amazon
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Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
-- Steve Jobs
.jpg "Steven Paul Jobs")
Education: Reed College (attended)
Died: October 5, 2011 (aged 56); Palo Alto, California, U.S
Kurt Vonnegut the author of praised novels Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Breakfast of Champions, has given his readers, from his short story collection, Bagombo Snuff Box, eight rules on how to write a successful story. The list can be found in the Introduction of the collection.
"Now lend me your ears. Here is Creative Writing 101:
Suspension of disbelief is the reader's temporary acceptance of story elements as believable, regardless of how implausible they may seem in real life.
The tone of a literary work expresses the writer's attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience.
Point of view is the perspective (or type of personal or non-personal "lens") through which a story is communicated. Narrative point of view or narrative perspective describes the position of the narrator, that is, the character of the storyteller, in relation to the story being told.
Deadline: May 5, 2023
Writer’s Digest has been shining a spotlight on up-and-coming writers in all genres through its Annual Writing Competition for over 90 years. Enter our 92nd Annual Writing Competition for your chance to win and have your work be seen by editors and agents! Almost 500 winners will be chosen.
Prizes
One Grand Prize winner will receive:
The First place winner in each category will receive $1,000 in cash and publication of their winning piece on WritersDigest.com.
The Second place winner in each category will receive $500 cash.
The Third place winner in each category will receive $250 in cash.
The Fourth place winner in each category will receive $100 in cash.
The Fifth place winner in each category will receive $50 in cash.
The Sixth through Tenth place winners in each category will receive a $25 gift certificate for writersdigestshop.com.
All top winners will also receive:
All Honorable Mentions receive:
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When you are ready to submit your work to the WD Annual Writing Competition readers, you’ll want to have the following information available:
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DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15, 2022
They’re looking for short fiction stories! Think you can write a winning story in 1,500 words or less? Enter the 23rd Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition for your chance to win $3,000 in cash, get published in Writer’s Digest magazine, and a paid trip to their ever-popular Writer’s Digest Conference!
Prizes
One First Place Winner will receive:
The Second Place Winner will receive:
The Third Place Winner will receive:
Fourth through Tenth Place Winners will receive:
Eleventh through Twenty-Fifth Place Winners will receive:
How to Enter
The narrator is the story teller. The main character in the book can also be the narrator.
Style includes the multitude of choices fiction writers make, consciously or not, in the process of writing a story. It encompasses not only the big-picture, strategic choices such as point of view and choice of narrator, but also tactical choices of grammar, punctuation, word usage, sentence and paragraph length and structure, tone, the use of imagery, chapter selection, titles, etc. In the process of creating a story, these choices meld to become the writer's voice, his or her own unique style.
For each piece of fiction, the author makes many choices, consciously or subconsciously, which combine to form the writer's unique style. The components of style are numerous, but include point of view, choice of narrator, fiction-writing mode, person and tense, grammar, punctuation, word usage, sentence length and structure, paragraph length and structure, tone, imagery, chapter usage, and title selection.
Theme is what the author is trying to tell the reader. For example, the belief in the ultimate good in people, or that things are not always what they seem. This is often referred to as the "moral of the story." Some fiction contains advanced themes like morality, or the value of life, whereas other stories have no theme, or a very shallow one. re and when the story takes place.
Setting is the locale and time of a story. The setting is often a real place, but may be a fictitious city or country within our own world; a different planet; or an alternate universe, which may or may not have similarities with our own universe. Sometimes setting is referred to as milieu, to include a context (such as society) beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. It is basically where and when the story takes place.
The plot, or storyline, is the rendering and ordering of the events and actions of a story. Starting with the initiating event, then the rising action, conflict, climax, falling action, and ending possibly with a resolution.
Plot consists of action and reaction, also referred to as stimulus and response and has a beginning, a middle, and an ending.
The climax of the novel consists of a single action-packed sentence in which the conflict (problem) of the novel is resolved. This sentence comes towards the end of the novel. The main part of the action should come before the climax.
Plot also has a mid-level structure: scene and sequel. A scene is a unit of drama—where the action occurs. Then, after a transition of some sort, comes the sequel—an emotional reaction and regrouping, an aftermath.
Characterization is one of the five elements of fiction, along with plot, setting, theme, and writing style. A character is a participant in the story, and is usually a person, but may be any persona, identity, or entity whose existence originates from a fictional work or performance.
Characters may be of several types:
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FORTIFY YOUR STORY BY ADDING MEANINGFUL CONFLICT AT DIFFERENT LEVELS
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PREFACE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I
1
Significance of External Structure
2
Characteristics of Novelistic Structure
3
The Whole Composition
4
The Title
5
Length of Composition
6
Principal Divisions of a Novel
7
Volume Part and Book
8
Direct and Indirect Characterization
100
Relation to the Author
101
Reality and Ideality
102
Individuals and Types
104
Social Groups
105
47
106
Psychological Groups
107
91
112
The Chapter
9
The Paragraph
10
Minor Divisions 12 Prose and Verse
12
Dramatic and Nondramatic Form
13
Nondramatic Form
14
Dialogic Form in General
15
Soliloquy and Monologue
16
Duologue
17
Group Conversation Conversation
18
Concerted Speech
19
Documentary Form in General
20
Epistolary Form
21
Syntax
22
Vocabulary
23
Phonology
27
Significance of Consecutive Structure 26 Sequence 27 The Principal Masses 28 Sequence of Dramatic and Nondramatic Masses
28
Beginning Middle and
29
Movement and Situation
30
15
31
The Scene
32
Episode
33
Lines of Interest
34
The Line of Emotion
35
Points
36
Mass in Momentum
37
The Rate of Movement
38
20
39
Reciprocity
40
Analysis of Simpler Narratives
41
36
42
44
47
Necessity and Ideality of Narrative Plot
48
Action and Narration
49
Story 46 Story and Plot
51
The Plot Proper
52
The Single Action
53
Sequence of Simple Narratives
56
22
57
The Climax 52 The Catastrophe
58
Generalized Statement of Plot
59
Unity of Plot
60
Types of Plot
61
Motivation
62
Motivating Forces
63
The Narrator His Point of View
66
Temporal Point of View
67
Spatial Point of View
69
CHAPTER IV
78
Detailed Time Settings
79
General Place Setting
81
Detailed Place Settings
82
Circumstantial Settings
83
Reality Ideality and Truth
84
Vague and Exact Settings
85
Natural Social and Socialized Settings
86
Author and Dramatis Persona 73 Distribution
88
Further Economy
89
CHAPTER V
91
Number
92
Chapter Distribution 78 Grouping in General
93
Successive Groups
94
Foreground Middleground and Background Characters
96
Central Characters
97
Association of Characters
99
92
113
93
114
94
116
96
118
97
120
Objective and Subjective Aspects
122
Qualities of Style
123
99
124
Value of Style in the Novel
125
The Novelistic Type
126
Novelistic Qualities
127
Comprehensiveness
128
Objectivity
129
CHAPTER VII
130
Complexity
131
Secularity
132
Humor
133
Ideality
134
Historical Period
138
Nature in
144
PAGE
147
Popularity of Fiction
160
Force
165
CHAPTER IX
166
The Germ of the Work
167
The Plan
169
The Sources
170
Volitional Effect
172
The Time Perspective
173
Technic of the Process
174
Psychology of the Process
176
Collaboration 146 Fragments 166 166 167 169 170 173 174 176 180
180
CHAPTER X
181
History
182
The Essay
183
The Lyric
184
48
185
Other Types of Literature
193
CHAPTER XII
218
COMPARATIVE ÆSTHETICS
232
Classification of the Arts 189 Method of Study 190 The Drama 191 Painting 192 Sculpture 193 Music 194 Architecture 195 Landscape Gardening 2...
233
CHAPTER XIV
247
Language as External Material
248
The Value of Form 200 Individuality of a Work of
249
Unity General Design
250
Contrast
252
Proportion
253
The Comic and the Tragic
254
The Beautiful and the Unbeautiful
256
Artistic Truth
257
Artistic Illusion
258
Theories of
260
Theories of the Novel
262
Judgment of a Novel
263
Systematic Analysis of a Novel
265
The Epic
279
67
280
263
283
Notes on the History of Novelistic Criticism
286
Biography
302
102
319
107
321
Copyright
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