Fiction Writer's Workshop: The Key Elements of a Writing Workshop: Clear Instruction, Illustrated by Contemporary and Classic Works, Innovative E

by Josip Novakovich

Book Overview

Master the Elements of the Writing Workshop The great paradox of the writing life is that to be a good writer, you must be both interested in the world around you and comfortable working in solitude for hours on end. Fiction Writer's Workshop, Second Edition , is designed to help you foster a strong sense of independence--of being and thinking on your own, of becoming self-evaluative without being self-critical--in order to accomplish what others...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582975361
• ISBN13: 9781582975368
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

An excellent intermediary guide book

Once you have read an introductory book like Brayfield's Bestseller or Kings 'On writing' this is the book to buy and use. Novakovich covers there basic elements: Setting /Character/Plot/PoV/Dialogue & Scene/Begins and endings / description/ vice and revision. He uses numerous examples form published literature and each chapter concludes with a number of good exercises. One topic Novakovich does not cover is writers block. Maybe that is because he provides the solutions. Writers block is either due to lack of ideas or anxiety about one's writing. Novakovich provides the solutions - a chapter on the sources of fiction and a reference book to dip into every time one feels a anxious. The beauty of Fiction Writers Workshop is the exercise - do them - and that all aspects are covered in one short book. That is also its disadvantage. Successful writing is complex, it requires fluent and adaptive use of a number of skills. To become fluent you will need to read and practice each in greater depth than can be provided in one book that covers them all. Don't make the mistake I made of going in depth on one skill first. It can lead to imbalance. Start with Fiction Writers Workshop and you will gain a balance. Readers of this review can review it - tick the box 'useful' or 'not useful'. There is something I have noticed in those reviews. If reviews are critical then people are less likely to tick the box - 'useful' and more likely to tick the box 'Not useful'. What they are in fact saying is 'It was a nice review'. For a writer that is the worst kind of review. It leads you up the garden path. An author needs is honest candid review. I'm not being nice about Fiction Writer's Workshop. It is that good. just Jack

The man with the plan

This book is quite possibly the most helpful of any books or classes I have taken. Clear cut methods and his keep-it-simple-stupidness have helped me take my fiction to another level. The examples given are great and wonderfully chosen; Novakovich is a master of literature. This book, used correctly, will improve your writing greatly, and better still, you may surprise even yourself!

About the Book-------

Fiction Writer's Workshop FROM THE PUBLISHER In a clear and lively style, with rich literary references from classic and contemporary fiction, Novakovich teaches you how to: uncover ideas worth writing about; evoke a vivid sense of place and time; invent believable characters for your fiction; support your story with strong organization and structure; tell your story from the best viewpoint; direct your dramatic action; open and close with power and grace; choose expressive details; write with a commanding narrative voice; and transform your first draft into finished, polished fiction. At the end of each chapter, a dozen or more unique writing exercises (each with a clear "objective statement" to focus your efforts) will help you put what you learn into action, while exploring new ideas, approaches and genres. After you complete each exercise, "check" questions will help you review what you've done - so that you may revise or rewrite. Encouraging real improvement over negative self-criticism, Novakovich helps you gain a more productive sense of where you can write one more line that will add life to what you already have down - or where you can delete a line that may obscure your readers' view. He helps you develop day-to-day self-discipline. And perhaps most important, he respects and encourages your development of personal style. "I will give you a lot of advice," he says, "but you need not take it." As a writer, Novakovich knows that the strongest fiction emerges from your own choices and directions. Fiction Writer's Workshop gives you clear, firsthand understanding of the elements of fiction . . . so you can make more informed choices and your fiction more successful. Private Bookshelf Tutor! Fiction Writer's Workshop is absolutely an amazing book. It gives examples that help tremendously in understanding all the aspects of fiction writing. There are some great sections in this book! Fiction Writer's Workshop really IS a workshop. It goes through and shows you (with examples and exercises) how to create a real setting for your story, and how to fix a 'blah' setting. The book teaches you how to make a character feel alive to your readers, by giving them vivid qualities and emotions. Fiction Writer's Workshop helps you to create a distinctive plot, and even teaches you how to choose correct wording when you deal with dialogues. I'm very impressed with this work by Josip Novakovich. Even an experienced fiction writer would benefit from giving this book a thorough reading. It will get your creativity flowing, get you moving when you are at a block, and help you to improve your skills, or revise a manuscript.

Great Help

This is a great book to help the struggling writer, or the writer that just wants to hone his skill. Just like the title indicates, this book is a giant practicum in writing. Joseph Novakovich is able to put a creative writing class into a book with ease. Each chapter is a self-contained lesson that focuses on a topic, from settings to dialogue and everything in between. Novakovich focuses on each topic with in-depth detail. He provides specific examples from his own work as well as others to get his ideas across. He has found a way to simplify the idea of writing such that it may be easily explained. I felt that Novakovich covered dialogue, setting and description better than any other help-book that I have read. In fact, my problem has always been with "show, don't tell". I was finally able to learn the difference thanks to Novakovich. But, he doesn't stop with just the lecture part of the lesson. At the end of each chapter is a series of exercises to build your writing muscles. The exercises focus on the material in the chapter that he just covered so you actually learn the ideas by performing them. He also follows each exercise with an explanation of what you should be looking for in your "answer" allowing you to see if you did indeed grasp his teachings. I have read many books trying to improve my story telling ability. The "Fiction Writers Workshop" is the best one that I've come across to date, and I believe that my writing has improved greatly from the lessons Novakovich provided.

A complete course!

Fiction Writer's Workshop is absolutely an amazing book. It gives examples that help tremendously in understanding all the aspects of fiction writing. There are some great sections in this book! Fiction Writer's Workshop really IS a workshop. It goes through and shows you (with examples and exercises) how to create a real setting for your story, and how to fix a "blah" setting. The book teaches you how to make a character feel alive to your readers, by giving them vivid qualities and emotions. Fiction Writer's Workshop helps you to create a distinctive plot, and even teaches you how to choose correct wording when you deal with dialogues. I'm very impressed with this work by Josip Novakovich. Even an experienced fiction writer would benefit from giving this book a thorough reading. It will get your creativity flowing, get you moving when you are at a block, and help you to improve your skills, or revise a manuscript.