Is Life Like This?: A Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months

by DUFRESNE,JOHN

• ISBN13: 9780393338836
• ISBN10: 0393338835
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2011-02-17
• Publisher: W W NORTON

Summary

John Dufresne's smart, practical, hard-nosed guide is for the person who has always wanted to write a novel but has been daunted by the sometimes chaotic, always challenging writing process. A patient teacher and an experienced writer, Dufresne focuses his expertise and good humor on helping aspiring novelists take their first tentative steps.

Author Biography

John Dufresne has written seven books, including, most recently, the novel Requiem, Mass. and one previous fiction writing guide, The Lie That Tells a Truth. He lives in Dania Beach, Florida.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 13
A Modest Proposal	p. 17
In the Beginning Were the Words	p. 30
This Is No Memoir; This Really Happened	p. 52
Desperate People; Desperate Measures	p. 71
Four Gates into the City	p. 96
Give Me a Place to Stand On	p. 123
Noveldom	p. 133
What About What It's About?	p. 152
What's That Voice I Hear?	p. 162
This Blessed Plot	p. 179
A Work in Progress	p. 197
The Shape of Things to Come	p. 202
Picture This	p. 214
Behind the Scenes	p. 228
This and That	p. 242
All the Lonely People	p. 266
The Plot Thickens	p. 276
Draftsmanship	p. 285
Craftsmanship	p. 292
Now What?	p. 307
What I Was Reading While I Was Writing	p. 311
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