Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends [Paperback]

Nancy Kress (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2011 | ISBN-10: 1599632195 | ISBN-13: 978-1599632193 | Edition: 2

Get Your Readers' Attention—And Keep It—From the First World to the Final Page

Translating that initial flash of inspiration into a complete story requires careful crafting. So how do you keep your story from beginning slowly, floundering midway, and trailing off at the end? Nancy Kress shows you effective solutions for potential problems at each stage of your story—essential lessons for strong start-to-finish storytelling.

• Hook readers, agents, and editors in the first three paragraphs.
• Make and keep your story's implicit promise to the reader.
• Build drama and credibility by controlling your prose.
• Consider the price a writer pays for flashbacks.
• Reveal character effectively throughout your story.

Get the tools you need to get your story off to an engaging start, keep the middle tight and compelling, and make your conclusion high impact. You'll also find dozens of exercises to help strengthen your short story or novel. Let this resource be your guide to successful stories—from the first word to the last.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Although she began by writing fantasy, Nancy Kress currently writes science fiction, most usually about genetic engineering. She teaches regularly at summer conferences such as Clarion, and during the year at the Bethesda Writing Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In addition, she is the Fiction" columnist for Writer's Digest magazine. She has won two Nebulas and a Hugo, and lost over a dozen more of these awards. Her work has been translated into Swedish, French, Italian, German, Spanish, began by writing fantasy, among others."

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books; 2 edition (March 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599632195
• ISBN-13: 978-1599632193
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to write, you need this book August 14, 2002

By chemikalguy

Format:Paperback

The further into this book I read, the more impressed I become with Nancy Kress.

Many people don't understand the mechanics involved in writing a story. She "sits" the reader down and explains the best way to start a story from the first sentence. She then goes into the first scene, and even into the second scene! She explains the things necessary to include in a good opening, and also gives examples of poor ones. I find this approach to be the best way to hammer home the ideas.

She then goes into 'middles,' and later 'ends' of stories, and explains the best ways not to [upset] off your reader, by having a story, for example, where you spend six hundred pages falling in love with the main character, only to have him killed off on the last page for no reason. You pulled the old "bait and switch"!Your next book, having not even been published, just lost a reader!

I would rather have this book, than almost any other in my rather large collection.

128 of 136 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Helpful, Very Practical, No Nonsense December 16, 2001

By A. Wolverton VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

After reading "Beginnings, Middles and Ends," any beginning writer will have many of the tools needed to put together a good story or novel. Kress takes the reader through a step-by-step process that makes you think, "It's so simple. Why didn't I think of that?" It's so simple because Kress has expertly targeted the areas that most writers have trouble with and has offered workable solutions. Her writing is very clear and readable. The examples and exercises alone are worth the price of the book. If you are interested in writing fiction and can only buy one book, this is the one.

85 of 90 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best in this series July 4, 2000

By Eldonna Bouton

Format:Paperback

My favorite in this series, this book is the definitive source in describing how important each part of your book is to the overall story. I ended up re-writing the first three chapters of my novel based on the author's excellent advice. She gives specific examples of how to grab the reader from the very first sentence, keep him/her reading the first few pages, and holding their attention all the way to the climax. A must for any writer's library.