The Writer's Digest Guide to Good Writing

by Clark, Thomas; Woods, Bruce; Blocksom, Peter; Terez, Angela

• ISBN13: 9780898796407
• ISBN10: 0898796407
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-03-01
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books

Summary

This retrospective anthology organized by decade contains essays providing advice & information for writers, by writers.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
1920s	p. 3
Why I Rejected Ten Thousand Manuscripts, March 1921	p. 4
How to Plot a Story When You See It, December 1923	p. 9
The Author and His Style, January 1924	p. 13
Poetry and Verse: A Distinction, December 1926-January 1927	p. 16
The "Had Horrors", July 1927	p. 25
Three Secrets of Successful Fiction Writing, February 1928 (impressions, mingling, sympathy)	p. 31
1930s	p. 33
How to Write Mystery Stories, The Writer's 1930 Yearbook	p. 34
Write With Simplicity, The Writer's 1931 Yearbook	p. 38
The Working Philosophy of a Playwright (as told to Bernice Breen), April 1931	p. 41
Creating "Lovable" Characters, March 1938	p. 44
Within Quotes, August 1938 (dialogue)	p. 46
Accent on the Unusual, December 1938 (articles)	p. 55
Down With Modesty, August 1939 (characterization)	p. 60
1940s	p. 66
Setting the Pace, July 1941	p. 67
Plots the Triple-O Way, The Writer's 1945 Yearbook	p. 74
What Happened?, March 1945	p. 79
The Ten Deadly Sins, August 1946	p. 84
Write It Simply, March 1946	p. 90
How to Become a Character, The Writer's 1949 Yearbook	p. 97
1950s	p. 104
Only One "Must", February 1950	p. 105
1 Brain + 1 Brain + 1 Brain = Viewpoint, July 1951	p. 109
How to Plot a Novel, January 1954	p. 115
How to Break Up a Conversation, May 1954	p. 123
Research in Reverse, March 1956	p. 128
An Article Is Like a Sideshow, November 1958	p. 134
How I Write	p. 140
Seventy-Five Years of Writing Advice selected by the Editors of Writer's Digest	p. 141
1960s	p. 169
What Way I Write!, October 1960	p. 170
The Short Story From a Purely Impersonal View, The Writer's 1961 Yearbook	p. 173
The Importance of Plot in the Novel, December 1965	p. 179
Organizing Your Material, March 1966	p. 181
Themes in the Traditional Novel, May 1966	p. 191
Keep It Brief and Blend It In, July 1969	p. 198
1970s	p. 206
Eight Types of How-to Articles and How to Write Them, November 1970	p. 207
Sensory Detail in Your Writing, May 1972	p. 215
Ten Rules for Suspense Fiction, February 1973	p. 220
The Horror Market Writer and the Ten Bears, November 1973	p. 224
Take Five: The Most Common Mistakes Among Beginning Freelancers, February 1976	p. 229
Writing Science Fiction: Think Like an Alien, Write Like an Angel, February 1976	p. 234
Where Do You Get Your Ideas?, September 1976	p. 243
The Poetry of Concrete, October 1976	p. 251
1980s	p. 256
To Make a Short Story Long . . ., September 1980	p. 257
The Seven Beacons of Excellent Writing, April 1984	p. 266
Your Future as a Writer, May 1986	p. 276
How to Write Blockbuster Novels, October 1986	p. 283
Writing About Science, January 1989	p. 291
Eight Ingredients of Powerful Nonfiction, September 1989	p. 300
1990s	p. 308
Romantic Encounters, October 1991	p. 309
The Big Finish, February 1992	p. 315
Truth and the Writer (Young and Old), The Writer's 1961 and 1990 Yearbooks	p. 323
Index	p. 335
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