BARNES & NOBLE | Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress, F+W Media, Inc.

Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends

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Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends (eBook) Pub. Date: 3/16/2003 Publisher: F+W Media
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Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends Pub. Date: 3/21/2011 Publisher: F+W Media, Inc.

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Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends Pub. Date: 3/28/1999 Publisher: F+W Media, Inc.

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Overview

Translating that initial flash of inspiration into a complete story requires careful crafting. So how do you keep your story from beginning slowly, floundering midway, and trailing off at the end? Nancy Kress shows you effective solutions for potential problems at each stage of your story—essential lessons for strong start-to-finish storytelling.

Hook readers, agents, and editors in the first three paragraphs.

Make and keep your story's implicit promise to the reader.

Build drama and credibility by controlling your prose.

Consider the price a writer pays for flashbacks.

Reveal characters effectively throughout your story.

Get the tools you need to get your story off to an engaging start, keep the middle tight and compelling, and make your conclusion high impact. You'll also find dozens of exercises to help strengthen your short story or novel. Let this resource be your guide to successful stories—from the first word to the last.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781599632193
Publisher: F+W Media, Inc.
Publication date: 3/21/2011
Edition number: 2
Pages: 176
Sales rank: 370,814
Product dimensions: 6.00 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Meet 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, Spanish, began by writing fantasy, among others.

Introduction: The Story in Your Head 1

Part I Beginnings 5

Chapter 1 The Very Beginning: Your Opening Scene 6

Chapter 2 The Later Beginning: Your Second Scene 34

Chapter 3 Help for Beginnings: Early Revision 55

Part II Middles 60

Chapter 4 The Middle: Staying on Track 64

Chapter 5 Under Development: Your Characters at Midstory 86

Chapter 6 Help for Middles: Getting Unstuck 99

Part III Endings 112

Chapter 7 Satisfying Endings: Delivering on the Promise 113

Chapter 8 The Very End: Last Scene, Last Paragraph, Last Sentence 131

Chapter 9 Help for Endings: The Last Hurrah 132

Exclusive Q&A With Nancy Kress 158

Index 162

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DAnne

Posted July 6, 2009

I Also Recommend:

Essential Reading for Beginning Writers

Beginnings, Middles, and Ends gives in-depth tips and insights on how to create a well-crafted story. Paying careful attention to how each scene develops character and plot, Nancy Kress tackles the three stages of a story, breaking each into more manageable parts and addressing their particular difficulties.

Clear, concise sentences deliver the points without any obtuse abstractions that leave readers searching for a dictionary. With each chapter organized into headings, readers know from the beginning the point to be covered and can easily go back for quick references for particular problems. No tangents distract from the main points, and specific examples back each of the concepts. Kress also highlights important tips using bullet-points. At the end of each chapter, exercises offer readers a chance to stretch their creative writing skills while employing the concepts from the chapter. In terms of structure, style, and content, Beginnings, Middles, and Ends provides a reference that is easy to navigate and understand.

This book is not a stand-alone guide; as Kress mentions, Beginnings, Middles, and Ends does not have a section on style or description (two areas that the Elements of Fiction Writing series also offer). The book's focus covers, most importantly, how to keep people hooked on the story, including some advice on pacing, contrasting scenes, and developing character with lots of emphasis on revision. This is not one of those speed-writing, novel-in-a-month books, and makes no pretenses about the hard work necessary-in other words, if you want a feel-good, creative-muse-prep-talk writing book, you might want to look elsewhere. Novel writers might get a bit peeved too when they hear that the endings of novels are not "as important" as the endings of short stories.

All in all, however, Beginnings, Middles, and Ends fulfills what the title promises and more. It offers some essential advice for writers and is a must-read for anyone who wants to improve their writing craft.

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Posted October 10, 2010

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