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Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends by [Nancy Kress]

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Nancy Kress

Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends Kindle Edition

by Nancy Kress (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Get your stories off to a roaring start.
Keep them tight and crisp throughout.
Conclude them with a wallop.

Is the story or novel you've been carrying around in your head the same one you see on the page? Or does the dialogue suddenly sound flat and predictable? Do the events seem to ramble?

Translating a flash of inspiration into a compelling story requires careful crafting. The words you choose, how you describe characters, and the way you orchestrate conflict all make the difference—the difference between a story that is slow to begin, flounders midway, or trails off at the end—and one that holds the interest of readers and editors to the final page.

By demonstrating effective solutions for potential problems at each stage of your story, Nancy Kress will help you...

   • hook the editor on the first three paragraphs
   • make—and keep—your story's "implicit promise"
   • build drama and credibility by controlling your prose
Dozens of exercises help you strengthen your short story or novel. Plus, you'll sharpen skills and gain new insight into...

   • the price a writer pays for flashbacks
   • six ways characters should "reveal" themselves
   • techniques for writing—and rewriting
Let this working resource be your guide to successful stories—from beginning to end.

Length: 178 pages	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled	Page Flip: Enabled
Language: English

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Product description

About the Author

Although she began by writing fantasy, Nancy Kress currently writes science fiction, most usually about genetic engineering. She teaches regularly at summer conferences such as Clarion, and during the year at the Bethesda Writing Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In addition, she is the "Fiction" columnist for Writer's Digest magazine. She has won two Nebulas and a Hugo, and lost over a dozen more of these awards. Her work has been translated into Swedish, French, Italian, German, and Spanish, among others.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN : B005307M1W
Publisher : Writer's Digest Books (25 February 2011)
Language : English
File size : 1075 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Not Enabled
Print length : 178 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 263,230 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 88 in Creative Writing & Composition Textbooks
- 174 in Authorship
- 293 in Authorship Reference

Customer Reviews:
120 ratings

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Top reviews from Australia

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Amazon Customer

Clear and defined

Reviewed in Australia on 13 August 2019

Verified Purchase

Very impressed with the ease of reading through this book, and the subject matter is specific and clearly defined. Definitely worth the time and effort if a writer wants to understand and improve their work.

Helpful

Ann Onslow

About structure

Reviewed in Australia on 7 August 2015

Verified Purchase

So important to us fiction writers, especially getting the beginnings right.

Helpful

Ned Middleton

A thorough explanation of the subject.

Reviewed in Australia on 29 July 2014

This review is based on my own personal experience of writing in the hope it will assist others.

I have been writing about scuba diving and shipwrecks for several years (my first piece appeared in 1978!), and my books have won awards. That genre, however, involves research where I describe history, facts, figures and, of course, whatever is found underwater.

For many years (yes years!) I have been working on a novel and am, therefore, fully aware that writing about Fiction is not as easy as it might appear - even for a modestly successful writer of non-Fiction. Fiction is not about an ability to tell a story. Instead, it requires the weaving of intrigue into everyday life so that the reader is compelled to continue. For example, a Memoirs or Biography is the retelling of a series of events - year by year, as they happened to the subject of the work and there cannot be scenes with actions or conversations in which that person was not present. No matter how interesting that life may have been, it simply does not translate into fiction without the addition of suspense and intrigue and these are skills which must be learned.

Every book has a beginning, a middle and an end and these must all be planned, worked out (and worked on!) in order to make the work unputdownable. In this book by Nancy Kress we have an explanation of the fundamental requirements of each of these three elements written in an easy-to-understand manner from which I have learned a great deal.

Laid out under three basic headings (Beginnings, Middles and Ending, of course!), the content is confined to three chapters under each heading with the final one in each case being a most useful ‘Help’ section which really does work.

Might I suggest, therefore, any aspiring writer grabs notebook and pen and settles down to read this work from cover to cover making whatever notes are appropriate to either your own style or whatever work you are currently struggling with. I did exactly that and my Novel is much improved as a result.

Altogether, thoroughly recommended.

NM

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Ned Middleton

A thorough explanation of the subject.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2012

Verified Purchase

This review is based on my own personal experience of writing in the hope it will assist others.

I have been writing about scuba diving and shipwrecks for several years (my first piece appeared in 1978!), and my books have won awards. That genre, however, involves research where I describe history, facts, figures and, of course, whatever is found underwater.

For many years (yes years!) I have been working on a novel and am, therefore, fully aware that writing about Fiction is not as easy as it might appear - even for a modestly successful writer of non-Fiction. Fiction is not about an ability to tell a story. Instead, it requires the weaving of intrigue into everyday life so that the reader is compelled to continue. For example, a Memoirs or Biography is the retelling of a series of events - year by year, as they happened to the subject of the work and there cannot be scenes with actions or conversations in which that person was not present. No matter how interesting that life may have been, it simply does not translate into fiction without the addition of suspense and intrigue and these are skills which must be learned.

Every book has a beginning, a middle and an end and these must all be planned, worked out (and worked on!) in order to make the work unputdownable. In this book by Nancy Kress we have an explanation of the fundamental requirements of each of these three elements written in an easy-to-understand manner from which I have learned a great deal.

Laid out under three basic headings (Beginnings, Middles and Ending, of course!), the content is confined to three chapters under each heading with the final one in each case being a most useful `Help' section which really does work.

Might I suggest, therefore, any aspiring writer grabs notebook and pen and settles down to read this work from cover to cover making whatever notes are appropriate to either your own style or whatever work you are currently struggling with. I did exactly that and my Novel is much improved as a result.

Altogether, thoroughly recommended.

NM

9 people found this helpful

D. L. Ashcroft-nowicki

Useful Guide to new Authors.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2012

Verified Purchase

I bought this for a friend who is just beginning to write. I dislike giving advice to new writers because I feel they should develop their own style and am always afraid I might wrongly influence them. However I do recommend books like this one , coming from established authors with experience of giving advice. I learned through trial and error and would have given a lot to have had books like this available when I was a 'Newbie."

Good solid advice, clear and helpful exercises and a no nonsense approach. I highly recommend it to aspiring writers.
D.Ashcroft-Nowicki

6 people found this helpful

Miss Jennifer A. Hawkins

Very helpful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2015

Verified Purchase

Very useful book. I struggle with structure and my writing can just waffle on and go off on tangents, losing the thread of my intended story. This book is very helpful to me as it gives good ideas and advice for improving and building the structure of your story.

Amazon Customer

Accurate description, quick delivery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2020

Verified Purchase

Accurate description, quick delivery

Trifoldhasslebland

Great tips

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2018

Verified Purchase

amazing advice, it will really improve your writing

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Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends Kindle Edition

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