Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print
by Dave King, Renni Browne
Book Summary Information
Author: Dave King, Renni BrowneEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-04-01
ISBN: 0060545690
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780060545697
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print
Book Review: Fitzgerald Had It Right The First Time
Summary: 1 Stars
Ever had someone point out a "minor flaw" and then not been able to look past the flaw ever again? Leaving the cap off the toothpaste? A speaker repeating a common word? A certain dislike of a fashion trend? This book calls out all those subtle items in your writing and makes it impossible to ignore them. Are they really flaws? If you're writing a book to sell to the authors, then I suppose so. This book is all about "fashion" (and two editors opinions on it) regarding writing.
What makes a book "good"? The writing in it. What makes the writing "good"? Ask all the people who buy the book. It seems condescending to use examples from best sellers as "bad" writing--almost as if the authors think that writing a book people will love is bad.
Pretty much every book on the best seller list (and books considered classics, too -- Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, Austen, Twain, Dickens) copiously break these rules. Even the writers they use as "good" examples regularly break these rules.
And to add insult to injury, the authors attempt to "improve" F. Scott Fitzgerald and fail miserably. The original is quite obviously better than their "edited" hack. Read the original on page 6 and then their "fixed" version on page 17 -- they've lost some of the power of the passage. If you like the "fixed" version better, then, by all means, buy this book. If not, carry on with your writing based on all those books you've read and loved.
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Summary of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print
Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here at last is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the techniques of the editing trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories.In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited.
There's not much of the old-style editing going on at publishing houses today. Renni Browne, veteran of William Morrow and other publishers, founded the Editorial Department in 1980 to teach fiction writers the techniques professional editors (many of whom have gone independent) use to prepare a manuscript for publication. In this book, she and senior editor Dave King share their accumulated expertise in a series of brilliantly compact lessons. One page from their simply and markedly improved version of a scene from The Great Gatsby alone would make a compelling advertisement for their techniques. Very highly recommended. --MTB
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