The Elements of Fiction

Title:

Author:

Mosley, Walter

Format:

eBook

Electronic Format:

AXIS 360 EBOOK

EPUB

Provider:

Baker and Taylor

Language:

English

Publication Date:

2019

Subject:

Language Arts & Disciplines, Literary Criticism, Reference

LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES/Writing/General, LITERARY CRITICISM/Books & Reading, REFERENCE/General

Description:

Following his essential writing guide, This Year You Write Your Novel, award-winning author Walter Mosley delivers an eloquent treatise on the craft of fiction writing—part writing guide, part study of the mechanics of the genre.

ISBN:

9780802147646

Summary

The renowned novelist and author of This Year You Write a Novel shares a "compact but insight-rich" guide to fiction writing ( Publishers Weekly ). In his essential writing guide, This Year You Write Your Novel , Walter Mosley supplied aspiring writers with the basic tools to write a novel in one year. In this complementary follow up, Mosley guides the writer through the elements of not just any fiction writing, but the kind of writing that transcends convention and truly stands out. For writers who want to approach the genius of Melville, Dickens, or Twain, The Elements of Fiction is a must-read.Mosley demonstrates how to master fiction's most essential elements: character and char-acter development, plot and story, voice and narrative, context and description, and more. The result is a vivid depiction of the writing process, from the blank page to the first draft to rewriting, and rewriting again. Throughout, The Elements of Fiction is enriched by brilliant demonstrative examples that Mosley himself has written here for the first time.

Author Notes

Walter Mosley was born in Los Angeles, California on January 12, 1952. He graduated from Johnson State College in Vermont. His first book, Devil in a Blue Dress, was published in 1990, won a John Creasy Award for best first novel, and was made into a motion picture starring Denzel Washington in 1995. He is the author of the Easy Rawlins Mystery series, the Leonid McGill Mystery series, and the Fearless Jones series. His other works include Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, 47, Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, and Twelve Steps toward Political Revelation. He has received numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award, and PEN America's Lifetime Achievement Award.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Multi-award-winner Mosley (This Year You Write Your Novel), best known for his "Easy Rawlins" mystery series, explores life with genre-defying mastery. With conversational bounce, this guide provides writers with methods and tips to find clarity and emotion. The foundation of a novel is its voice, writes Mosley, and most authors struggle with this aspect, often second-guessing themselves during early drafts. Mosley advises them to knuckle down, complete a version, thereby determining the narrative voice through discovery. This discipline requires considerable effort but is certain to immerse writers in line-by-line craft--learning, so to speak, by swimming. In today's media saturation too many aspiring writers focus on marketing and promotion instead of facing the blank page, he writes. Perhaps the most valuable features are examples from Mosley's own works covering theme, character development, physical description (people and settings), and that constant creative bugaboo known as plot. Finally, Mosley is firm--rightly so--on the necessity for "taking a breather," letting the completed draft cool off before final editing. VERDICT A no-nonsense guide worthy of shelf space with Strunk and White's The Elements of Style and E.M. Forster's timeless Aspects of the Novel.--William Grabowski, McMechen, WV