Master Class in Fiction Writing: Techniques from Austen, Hemingway, and Other Greats Lessons from the All-Star Writer's Workshop

by Sexton, Adam

• ISBN13: 9780071448772
• ISBN10: 0071448772
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-07
• Publisher: McGraw Hill

Summary

Do you want to take your fiction writing to the next level? LEARN FROM THE MASTERS "Adam Sexton taught me how to read like a writer--and, in a way, how to write like a reader. For without first considering the experience of reading stories--seriously, thoroughly, the way Sexton does--you can't possibly write one worth reading." --Tara McCarthy,author of Love Will Tear Us Apart Many writers believe that if they just find the right teacher or workshop, their writing will reach new heights of skill. But why not learn from the best? In his popular workshops in New York City, creative writing instructor Adam Sexton has found that the most effective way for any writer to grasp on the elements of fiction is to study the great masters. Master Class in Fiction Writingis your personal crash course in creative writing, with the world's most accomplished fiction writers as your guides. You will learn: The art of characterization from Jane Austen Style and voice from Ernest Hemingway Dialogue from Iris Murdoch Description from Vladimir Nabokov The timeless techniques of plotting in the work of Joseph Conrad The ingenious structure of James Joyce Point of view from Toni Morrison Over the course of just ten chaptersyou can master all the components of great shortstory and novel writing. These are the most important lessons any writer can learn--a truly "novel" approach to writing that will enrich, inform, and inspire.

Author Biography

Adam Sexton teaches writing at the New School, New York University, and Gotham Writer's Workshop. He has also written on arts and entertainment for the New York Times, Village Voice, and Boston Phoenix.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
Jonathan Ames
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction	xix
Story Structure: ``Araby''	1	(36)
Introduction	1	(2)
Protagonists and Antagonists	3	(2)
``Araby''	5	(7)
The Title	12	(1)
The Opening: Scene or Exposition?	13	(3)
Conflict	16	(3)
The Activating Incident	19	(1)
Development	20	(2)
The Climax	22	(1)
Denouement	23	(2)
Variations on the Structural Paradigm	25	(7)
Planning and Improvisation	32	(2)
A Few Words about Theme	34	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Story Structure	35	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading: James Joyce	36	(1)
Characterization: Sense and Sensibility	37	(24)
Introduction	37	(2)
Structure, Revisited	39	(2)
Three Levels of Characterization	41	(7)
Creating Characters	48	(3)
Four Ways of Characterizing	51	(3)
Metamorphoses	54	(1)
Characterizing by Contrast	55	(2)
Crisis and Character	57	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Characterization	57	(2)
Recommended Film Adaptations of Jane Austen's Novels	59	(2)
Plot: The Secret Sharer	61	(18)
Introduction	61	(2)
Plot, Defined	63	(3)
The Captain's Conflict	66	(1)
Putting, and Keeping, the Plot in Motion	67	(3)
Actions and Consequences	70	(3)
Plot's Potential	73	(3)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Plot	76	(3)
Description: Rabbit, Run	79	(22)
Introduction	79	(3)
Observation	82	(2)
The Best Descriptive Writing Is Concrete	84	(4)
The Best Descriptive Writing Is Specific	88	(3)
The Best Descriptive Writing Is Original	91	(4)
The Best Descriptive Writing Is Careful	95	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Description	96	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading: John Updike	97	(4)
Dialogue: A Severed Head	101	(26)
Introduction	101	(2)
Propelling the Plot	103	(3)
Increasing Dramatic Tension	106	(1)
Conveying Information	107	(12)
Adding Veracity	119	(2)
Attributives	121	(2)
Getting the Knack of Dialogue	123	(2)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Dialogue	125	(1)
Also Recommended: Elegy for Iris	126	(1)
Point of View I---Participant Narrators: As I Lay Dying	127	(26)
Introduction	127	(3)
As I Lay Dying	130	(2)
First-Person: ``I'' and ``We''	132	(13)
Second-Person: ``You''	145	(3)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Point of View I	148	(2)
Suggestions for Further Reading: William Faulkner	150	(3)
Point of View II---Exclusively-Observant Narrators: Beloved	153	(28)
Third-Person: ``He,'' ``She,'' ``It,'' ``They''	153	(20)
Information and POV	173	(2)
Time and POV	175	(2)
Violating the POV Contract	177	(2)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Point of View II	179	(2)
Style, Voice: A Farewell to Arms	181	(18)
The Writer's Voice	181	(1)
Style	182	(3)
A Stylistic Spectrum	185	(2)
A Farewell to Arms	187	(2)
The Hemingway Style	189	(2)
A Style and Voice of Your Own	191	(2)
Styles, Plural	193	(2)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Style and Voice	195	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading: The Hemingway Style	196	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Ernest Hemingway	197	(2)
The World of Story: Lolita	199	(20)
Introduction	199	(2)
Lolita's Structure	201	(3)
Characterization in Lolita	204	(4)
Lolita's Plot	208	(1)
Description in Lolita	209	(2)
Dialogue in Lolita	211	(1)
Point of View in Lolita	212	(2)
Style and Voice in Lolita	214	(1)
Conclusion	215	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading: Mondo Lolita	216	(3)
Index	219