How Fiction Works
by Oakley Hall
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Book Summary Information
Author: Oakley HallEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-12-15
ISBN: 1582972931
Number of pages: 228
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Book Reviews of How Fiction Works
Book Review: Excellent for Learning the Art & Craft of Writing Fiction (Novels and Short Stories)
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is an updated version of Oakley Hall's "The Art & Craft of Novel Writing." Moreover, it covers short-story writing as well.
HOW FICTION WORKS comprises chapters on craft elements such as specification, sensory details, language, indirection, point of view, characterization, and plot. To illustrate his points on the craft of fiction writing, Hall presents numerous examples from masters such as Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Joseph Conrad as well as great contemporary writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cormac McCarthy, and Anne Tyler.
I browsed through his highly acclaimed earlier book The Art and Craft of Novel Writing, published in 1989, but selected HOW FICTION WORKS, published in 2001, as it's an updated version -- includes examples from the writings of Philip Roth, Don Delillo, Charles Frazier, and others. Moreover, it covers writing short stories (my current focus) as well as novels.
I disagree with the reviewer who wrote, "I hated, hated, hated the book . . . . (because) by the final third of the book, the author is into total self promotion and it gets on ones nerves."
What's in the final third of the book? In the author's words: "Here follow two short stories of my own. They were written when I was a beginning writer." Hall includes a commentary on the shortcomings of the second story: ". . . a social protest story and the characters are political constructs. The young author here let his symbols jump all over him." This sounds more like self-denigration.
Oakley Hall's giving examples from his own writing strengthens the book. Only on the jacket are his impressive credentials mentioned: published 21 novels, served as director of the MFA program at the University of California at Irvine for more than two decades, and directed the Squaw Valley Writers' Summer Conference for three decades.
Excellent book for self-teaching.
Summary of How Fiction Works
Oakley Hall, writing teacher emeritus, invites readers as his apprentices to study the inner workings of fiction, the foundation upon which all good stories depend. Inside, readers will find the elements of fiction examined and illuminated, with insights into how each element must interact to create a distinctive story. Hall covers every fictive technique, from plot and characterization to word choice, voice and style. The key to Hall's teaching method is his brilliant use of examples. Throughout the book, he emphasizes the importance of reading and evaluating fiction with an eye toward craft. To this end, he offers more than one hundred excerpts from literature, illustrating through analysis and advice how fiction works. With Hall's guidance, readers will learn to craft fiction that is tuned like a precision timepiece.Art History Books
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