Creating Short Fiction by Damon Knight

Damon Knight, a great writer and teacher, blessed us with this book Creating Short Fiction. He goes into detail of every aspect of writing a short story or any fiction for that matter.

He begins by exploring techniques of developing your talent as a writer. There's also a great section on turning ideas into story. The aspects of fiction are divided into three divisions: Beginning a story, controlling a story, and finishing a story. He then goes through the concepts of being a writer. There are many exercises throughout to help you become more aware of where your weaknesses lie.

I'd recommend this book to any aspiring writer. It's also a great read for you seasoned writers.

Feel free to share your own thoughts on this book. You can look inside the book at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Short-Fiction-Classic-Writing/dp/0312150946/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261439163&sr=8-1

Dissecting A Novel

In an effort to better understand novel structure, I've sat down and began dissecting a novel. I've read for years that this is a good process to help a new writer get a feel for writing their own but have continued to put it off.

I recently read Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell, which is a great book for any writer. He describes a method of dissecting a novel to learn plotting. So, before I begin my revision on my NaNo Novel, I decided to give it a shot.

He suggests doing six different novels. I have my novels chosen and have begun my first. Will I do the other five? It depends on what I learn from the process.

Here's what you do: You read the book for pleasure, and then you take index cards and map out each scene. For each scene, you write the setting, point-of-view character, a two-line scene summary, and scene type. You also include thoughts on the ending. Does it make you want to read on? Why or why not?

Now that you have your cards complete, you can divide them into the three-act structure. You can identify your point of no return. You have a better view of the book as a whole broke down into sections.

I'll let you know what I learn.

Has anyone else ever done this? Would you like to share your methods of dissecting a novel?

Disappearance

I want to take a moment to apologize to my followers for not posting last week.

I jumped out of National Novel Writing Month straight into house shopping. I've found my new home and am now going through the steps of purchasing and will hopefully be moving in in January. Bear with during this time. I will try to get some new content posted as soon as possible.

Thank you for understanding.

Finding Time to Write

Most people find it hard to fit writing and the multiple tasks that go along with it into their daily routine.

If only there were more hours in a day. Wouldn't it be nice to have extra arms? The ultimate multitasking: Let your left brain get busy on one project, while your right brain is busy doing something else.

Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in a day and we can only do one thing at a time. So how do you fit it all in?

A fellow blogger, Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz, has taken the time to interview and post the thoughts and scheduling methods of eight authors. Take a look at how the pros do it.

Visit: http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/