So You Want to Write : How to Master the Craft of Writing Fiction and Memoir

by Piercy, Marge

• ISBN13: 9780972898454
• ISBN10: 097289845X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-01
• Publisher: Consortium Book Sales & Dist

Summary

"This is a great book, no matter what stage of writing you're at!"-The Writer Magazine "Here is a must-have for would-be writers. Put this on the shelf right beside Strunk and White."-Booklist "Addresses all the elements of successful writing."-Tampa Tribune "Advice on getting your work published is worth the cost of the book alone."-St. Petersburg Times A featured selection of the Writer's Digest Book Club; chosen by The Writer Magazine as a Best Book of the Year; compared by the American Library Association to Strunk and White's classic The Elements of Style; acclaimed by critics, students and teachers and adopted by universities across the country, the unique collaboration between a major American novelist and a publisher is back in a revised second edition, bigger and better than ever. The most useful and entertaining writing book on the market, the updated second edition has new exercises and expanded essays, covering every aspect of writing and publishing fiction and memoir: How to begin a piece so that a reader can't put it down How to create compelling characters How professional writers use dialogue How to narrow a strategy for telling the story of your life How to write about painful material without coming off as a victim Included are hundreds of insider tips, such as: The seven important things when writing about loved ones The 10 most destructive things writers do What no one will tell you about rejection letters FAQs about agents and how much writers really earn What to do if your work is continually rejected Marge Piercy is a New York Times best-selling novelist and memoirist. Ira Wood is a novelist and publisher. Their workshops, given nationally, address overcoming the inner and outer barriers to creativity.

Table of Contents

An Introduction to the Second Edition	13	(4)
Sharpening Your Innate Skills	17	(10)
Beginnings	27	(20)
Characterization	47	(28)
How to Avoid Writing Like a Victim	75	(4)
The Uses of Dialog	79	(16)
Plot In The Novel	95	(22)
Personal Narrative Strategies	117	(12)
Choosing And Manipulating Viewpoint	129	(12)
Descriptions	141	(12)
When You Have Research To Do	153	(8)
A Few Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction	161	(16)
Writing Short Stories	177	(14)
Titles	191	(6)
Writing Humor: Learning Survival Techniques	197	(20)
A Scandal In The Family	217	(8)
Work And Other Habits	225	(12)
Fame, Fortune, And Other Tawdry Illusions	237	(12)
The 10 Most Destructive Things Writers Can Do	249	(8)
Practical Information	257	(14)
Frequently Answered Questions	271	(14)
Appendix I	285	(12)
Appendix II	297	(12)
Index	309	(14)
Acknowledgments of Excerpts	323	(2)
A Note About The Authors	325

Excerpts

"Revised and updated with over 100 new pages, seven all new chapters, and 30 new exercises, this expanded second edition of Piercy and Wood's widely acclaimed hands-on workshop explains all the elements essential to writing novels, short stories, and memoirs and delivers the information you need to get them published."--BOOK JACKET.