Writing to the Point: A Complete Guide to Selling Fiction (Paperback)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 63 pages
• Publisher: Unifont (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886211000
• ISBN-13: 978-1886211001
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,516,104 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good, but limited, May 2, 2003

By A Customer

Mr. Budrys claims to have the secret to writing fiction that will sell. His secret is very useful but short enough to include here:
Beginning: Must consist of introducing a character, in a particular context, with a problem. And if there are important yet unique/unusual aspects of the character that will be revealed later in the story they must be foreshadowed in the beginning.
Middle: Must involve the character attempting to solve the problem and encountering unexpected failure. During this attempt he begins to learn more about the problem and himself. The character must undergo stress which causes hitherto concealed facets of him to be revealed-that must fit in. The character must try to overcome the problem a total of 3 times on a rising scale of effort, commitment, and depth of knowledge of the problem and one's self. At the last possible moment, with maximum effort and staking everything, he achieves victory. This must be done by wagering everything in a do-or-die situation. Conversely the villain, coming closer to his goal experiences defeat snatched from the jaws of victory-because of some flaw in character.
End: Validation and foreclosure by someone who has no other vested interest in the story. They step forward and say "He's dead, Jim" or "Who was that masked man?" This serves to close the story in the reader's mind.

This short book repeats this pitch over and over and includes some unrelated info that is marginly useful but unrelated to the above points.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Start selling your fiction., June 1, 2000

By A Customer

This must be the best book on writing that I've read. I remember clearly the first time I encountered it. I bought it one day on impulse, when I was down after having a story rejected. I gave the first couple of sentences a quick look, and I was hooked. This book has such insight, it changed my whole perception of fiction. What Budrys does, is teach you not how to become a writer, but how to become a *storyteller*. You will find in this book no talk of dialogue, or tenses, or sentence structure, only of creating a good *story*. Algis Budrys is a great writer, and he's an amazing teacher of writing. Right after I bought this book, I sold my first story. I sold two more the following month. Algis, thank you!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Start selling your fiction., June 1, 2000

By A Customer

This must be the best book on writing that I've read. I remember clearly the first time I encountered it. I bought it one day on impulse, when I was down after having a story rejected. I gave the first couple of sentences a quick look, and I was hooked. This book has such insight, it changed my whole perception of fiction. What Budrys does, is teach you not how to become a writer, but how to become a *storyteller*. You will find in this book no talk of dialogue, or tenses, or sentence structure, only of creating a good *story*. Algis Budrys is a great writer, and he's an amazing teacher of writing. Right after I bought this book, I sold my first story. I sold two more the following month. Algis, thank you!