Writing Fiction: An Introduction to the Craft

Part title......Page 1
About the author......Page 2
Title page......Page 3
AUTHOR\'S NOTE......Page 7
CONTENTS......Page 9
BEFORE YOU START......Page 15
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO WRITE?......Page 17
UNDER-CONFIDENCE......Page 18
OVER-CONFIDENCE......Page 22
HOW THIS BOOK WORKS......Page 23
GOOD WORK HABITS......Page 25
GOING PUBLIC......Page 29
THE CHANGING NATURE OF FICTION......Page 36
WHAT SHOULD FICTION DO?......Page 41
FINDING IDEAS......Page 44
IDEAS AND CHARACTERS......Page 49
WRITING TRIGGERS......Page 50
THE SCOPE OF YOUR IDEA......Page 51
THE SIGNIFICANT AND THE MUNDANE......Page 53
NEW, UNIQUE, DIFFERENT......Page 54
DEVELOPING IDEAS......Page 55
IDEAS AND THEME......Page 57
TYPES OF CHARACTERS......Page 59
CHARACTER AS A PLOTTING AID......Page 60
CHARACTER AND CONFLICT......Page 62
CHARACTER IS ACTION......Page 63
REVEALING CHARACTER......Page 65
BELIEVABILITY......Page 71
CHARACTER AND CONSISTENCY......Page 73
BASING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS ON REAL PEOPLE......Page 74
five DIALOGUE......Page 77
DIALOGUE AND CHARACTERISATION......Page 78
DRAMATISING SCENES......Page 82
REVEALING PLOT INFORMATION......Page 85
SOME DOS AND DON\'TS......Page 87
LISTEN......Page 89
six POINT OF VIEW......Page 90
DETERMINING THE POINT OF VIEW......Page 91
THIRD-PERSON POINT OF VIEW......Page 92
SECOND-PERSON POINT OF VIEW......Page 96
FIRST-PERSON POINT OF VIEW......Page 99
SHIFTING AND COMBINING POINTS OF VIEW......Page 111
NARRATIVE DISTANCE......Page 112
SOME DEFINITIONS......Page 113
PLOT AND CHARACTER......Page 114
PLOT AND CONFLICT......Page 116
\'PLOTLESS\' FICTION......Page 117
TO PLAN OR NOT TO PLAN......Page 119
WHEN SHOULD YOU PLAN?......Page 122
HOW TO PLAN......Page 123
TESTING A PLAN......Page 125
TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS......Page 126
TRADITIONAL STRUCTURES......Page 127
SOME VARIATIONS......Page 128
INNOVATIVE FICTION......Page 131
WHAT INFLUENCES STRUCTURE?......Page 134
BUILDING BLOCKS......Page 135
ten SETTING......Page 147
CHARACTERS AND SETTING......Page 148
EVOKING THE SETTING......Page 149
FORESHADOWING......Page 153
THE WORDS ON THE PAGE......Page 154
FAMILIAR PLACES......Page 155
OTHER WORLDS AND TIMES......Page 156
THIS IS NOT A SHORT STORY......Page 158
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORY......Page 159
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL SHORT STORIES......Page 162
A STORY AT WORK......Page 164
ANALYSIS......Page 172
MAKING A STORY LONGER......Page 178
ORGANISATION IN A SHORT-STORY COLLECTION......Page 179
THE NOVEL IN THE MARKETPLACE......Page 181
CHILDREN\'S NOVELS......Page 183
HOW LONG SHOULD A NOVEL BE?......Page 184
HOW CHAPTERS WORK......Page 186
WHY READ ON?......Page 187
A CONVENTIONAL STRUCTURE FOR YOUR FIRST NOVEL......Page 189
thirteen THE WORDS ON THE PAGE......Page 191
ORDER OUT OF CHAOS......Page 192
BEG, BORROW OR STEAL?......Page 193
WORDS......Page 194
SENTENCES......Page 198
PARAGRAPHS......Page 201
TENSES......Page 202
SYNTAX DETERMINS CONTENT DETERMINES SYNTAX.........Page 203
TONE......Page 206
WRITER\'S BLOCK......Page 209
MAIN PROBLEM AREAS......Page 211
SOME COMMON WEAKNESSES IN CRIME FICTION......Page 220
A JUDGE\'S REPORT......Page 221
CONCLUSION......Page 223
FURTHER READING......Page 225
SOURCES......Page 227