“This is the most practical, hard-nosed, generous, direct, and useful guide to writing fiction I’ve ever read. Thank you, John Dufresne, for this gift to writers—not just beginning writers, but all writers. Dufresne knows all the obstacles to good writing and to being a writer, from experience, and he’ll have none of that. His generous, wise, cajoling, stern, and compassionate voice will get you working right away. Buy this book and save your writing life.” —Brad Watson, author of The Heaven of Mercury [Back Cover]
Author(s): Dufresne, John
Edition: 1
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 298
City: New York
Tags: Fiction Writing
INTRODUCTION....XIII
The Process
GETTING IN SHAPE....3
AS A MATTER OF FACT ... 11
WRITING AROUND THE BLOCK....21
BECOMING A WRITER....31
PICK YOURSELF UP....47
SITTING ALONE IN A QUIET ROOM....57
GETTING BLACK ON WHITE....69
DOING IT AGAIN (And Again [And Again]).... 81
THE MEANING OF LIFE IS TO SEE....95
CLISHMACLAVER.... 109
The Product
GETTING HER UP THE TREE, GETTING
HER DOWN • Beginnings and Endings-119
THE QUEEN DIED OF GRIEF • Plot.. ..133
PLOTTERY • Plot_159
THE HEART OF FICTION • Character-169
THE METHOD • Character-183
“LET’S TALK,” HE SAID • Dialogue-197
MAY I ASK WHO’S CALLING, PLEASE?
• Point of View.... 221
YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING IF
YOU’RE NOWHERE • Place.... 243
THE ART OF ABBREVIATION
• The Very Short Story.... 257
Other Matters
READING TO WRITE....267
THE WRITER READS....273
SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS.... 289
GO FORTH AND WRITE....297
