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Editorial Reviews
Review
An excellent study, first of its kind. -- Josh Allen, Queens College
An original approach; useful; excellent and lucid introduction. -- Wendy Coural, Cabrillo College
Bell does the best job I have come across so far of explaining what the traditional linear structure of a story is and why a story should have it. -- Jeff Minerd, co-editor, Writer's Carousel
Here are terrific examples of line-by-line reading of terrific stories. Bell offers the student reader terrific examples of line by line readings of terrific stories. I'm impressed -- Elizabeth Evans, University of Arizona
It's the first book I've seen that gets to the heart of the matter and won't let go....Useful to classroom writers and writing students of every stripe. -- Alan Davis, editor, American Fiction
Madison Bell has chosen fine stories by writers whose work is not shopworn by having gone from one anthology to another for years....His extremely detailed and often brilliant commentary can often take more pages than the story itself....This is the best book of its kind that I have seen since Lionel Trilling's The Experience of Literature. -- Clarence Brown, Trenton Times
Madison Smartt Bell's Narrative Design is one of those books you might need to take with you to your writerly desert isle. It offers all of the essential instructions for writing fiction, as well as providing wonderful examples of the end product, and then supplying brilliant analysis of them. His is a thorough, fascinating, forgiving, good-hearted, unique, and - most impressively - useful book. -- Antonya Nelson, author of Living to Tell Them and Nobody's Girl
Offers concrete advice for organizing fiction. -- Laurie Champion, Sul Ross State University
This is the book I've wanted someone to offer for twenty years. Structure is by far the most effective tool to teach beginning fiction writers. -- Sam Blate, Montgomery College
This is the most insightful, outright useful, most inventive guide to writing that I've seen. -- Howard Norman, author of The Bird Artist
Product Description
With clarity, verve, and the sure instincts of a good teacher, Madison Smartt Bell offers a roll-up-your-sleeves approach to writing in this much-needed book. Focusing on the big picture as well as the crucial details, Bell examines twelve stories by both established writers (including Peter Taylor, Mary Gaitskill, and Carolyn Chute) and his own former students. A story's use of time, plot, character, and other elements of fiction are analyzed, and readers are challenged to see each story's flaws and strengths. Careful endnotes bring attention to the ways in which various writers use language. Bell urges writers to develop the habit of thinking about form and finding the form that best suits their subject matter and style. His direct and practical advice allows writers to find their own voice and imagination.
See all Editorial Reviews
An excellent study, first of its kind. -- Josh Allen, Queens College
An original approach; useful; excellent and lucid introduction. -- Wendy Coural, Cabrillo College
Bell does the best job I have come across so far of explaining what the traditional linear structure of a story is and why a story should have it. -- Jeff Minerd, co-editor, Writer's Carousel
Here are terrific examples of line-by-line reading of terrific stories. Bell offers the student reader terrific examples of line by line readings of terrific stories. I'm impressed -- Elizabeth Evans, University of Arizona
It's the first book I've seen that gets to the heart of the matter and won't let go....Useful to classroom writers and writing students of every stripe. -- Alan Davis, editor, American Fiction
Madison Bell has chosen fine stories by writers whose work is not shopworn by having gone from one anthology to another for years....His extremely detailed and often brilliant commentary can often take more pages than the story itself....This is the best book of its kind that I have seen since Lionel Trilling's The Experience of Literature. -- Clarence Brown, Trenton Times
Madison Smartt Bell's Narrative Design is one of those books you might need to take with you to your writerly desert isle. It offers all of the essential instructions for writing fiction, as well as providing wonderful examples of the end product, and then supplying brilliant analysis of them. His is a thorough, fascinating, forgiving, good-hearted, unique, and - most impressively - useful book. -- Antonya Nelson, author of Living to Tell Them and Nobody's Girl
Offers concrete advice for organizing fiction. -- Laurie Champion, Sul Ross State University
This is the book I've wanted someone to offer for twenty years. Structure is by far the most effective tool to teach beginning fiction writers. -- Sam Blate, Montgomery College
This is the most insightful, outright useful, most inventive guide to writing that I've seen. -- Howard Norman, author of The Bird Artist
Product Description
With clarity, verve, and the sure instincts of a good teacher, Madison Smartt Bell offers a roll-up-your-sleeves approach to writing in this much-needed book. Focusing on the big picture as well as the crucial details, Bell examines twelve stories by both established writers (including Peter Taylor, Mary Gaitskill, and Carolyn Chute) and his own former students. A story's use of time, plot, character, and other elements of fiction are analyzed, and readers are challenged to see each story's flaws and strengths. Careful endnotes bring attention to the ways in which various writers use language. Bell urges writers to develop the habit of thinking about form and finding the form that best suits their subject matter and style. His direct and practical advice allows writers to find their own voice and imagination.
See all Editorial Reviews
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Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
TO TEACH CREATIVE WRITING, or to be taught it, is a paradox. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
narrative vector, child downstairs, present time line, main climax, public mirror, craft consciousness, past definite, tree ear, dramatized scene, narrative design, linear design, full scene, falling action Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Helen Ruth, Little Red, Virgil Boyd, Morrison Long, Jane Blakemore, Monsieur Bayonne, Cousin Mamie, Uncle Loren, Brandy Brown, Wife of Nashville, Civil War, John Lee, Mary Kay, New York City, Peter Taylor, The Philosophy of Composition, Betty Crocker, Hear That Long Train Moan, Reuben Bean, Annabel Lee, Miss Liberty, Signs of Life, Tristram Shandy, Vaux Hall, Baton Rouge New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
TO TEACH CREATIVE WRITING, or to be taught it, is a paradox. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
narrative vector, child downstairs, present time line, main climax, public mirror, craft consciousness, past definite, tree ear, dramatized scene, narrative design, linear design, full scene, falling action Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Helen Ruth, Little Red, Virgil Boyd, Morrison Long, Jane Blakemore, Monsieur Bayonne, Cousin Mamie, Uncle Loren, Brandy Brown, Wife of Nashville, Civil War, John Lee, Mary Kay, New York City, Peter Taylor, The Philosophy of Composition, Betty Crocker, Hear That Long Train Moan, Reuben Bean, Annabel Lee, Miss Liberty, Signs of Life, Tristram Shandy, Vaux Hall, Baton Rouge New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 39
books:
See all 39 books this book cites
3
books
cite this book:
- The Beans of Egypt, Maine by Carolyn Chute on page 95, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Rainbow Stories (Contemporary American Fiction) by William Vollmann on page 95, and Back Matter
- Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Signs of Life by Madsen Michael on page 97, and page 104
- My Romance: A Novel by Gordon Lish on page 17, and page 86
See all 39 books this book cites
- Lavoisier in the Year One: The Birth of a New Science in an Age of Revolution (Great Discoveries) by Madison Smartt Bell in Front Matter
- Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction by Brenda Miller on page 26
- Doctor Sleep (An Evergreen book) by Madison Smartt Bell in Front Matter
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
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91% buy the item featured on this page: Narrative Design: Working with Imagination, Craft, and Form $12.89 |
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4% buy Narrative Design: A Writer's Guide to Structure |
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3% buy The Best American Short Stories 2008 $5.60 |
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2% buy Master Class in Fiction Writing: Techniques from Austen, Hemingway, and Other Greats $11.53 |
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