Writing Fiction: An Introduction to the Craft Revised edition Garry Disher 2001

Dustjacket synopsis:
"Do you dream of the novel you want to write, but give up after a few pages? Are there short stories languishing in your bottom drawer? Maybe your characters or dialogue are not convincing; or you want to achieve a different point of view and don't know how? Perhaps you have wonderful material - anecdotes, memoirs, sketches - and just can't work them into fiction?

"The art of writing ficton successfully requires not only talent but craft. This book is a guide to that craft - for writers who want to understand and master the basics.

"The principles and practices Garry Disher discusses arise from his own deep exprience as an author and teacher, and are illustrated with examples from other international fiction writers. His book presents a candid view, across forms and genres, of the challenges in crafting good fiction, giving both beginners and practising writers the confidence to meet those challenges and develop their talent."

First Paragraph

This is a handbook about the craft of fiction writing for new and developing writers. It can't conjure your talent, vision and imaginaton, or teach you how to write, but it can encourage the awareness that may help you to be observant, develop your own voice and become a better writer.

BEFORE YOU START

A handbook on writing cannot help you unless you invest time and effort in developing your talents. For example, it's unwise to set out to be a writr of fiction without first being a reader of it. Yet, as writing teachers know, many beginner writers do not reach much or are unfamiliar with contemporary writers and styles of fiction. Writers of fiction who are also thuoghtful readers of it are better able to make informed assessments of their own work, forge their own writing styles and try a range of structureal approaches.

From the Allen & Unwin paperback edition, 2001.

This page and its contents are copyright © 2001 by Perry Middlemiss, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Last modified: December 7, 2001.