It is also worth bearing in mind that some of the best nonfiction writers, notably Gay Talese, make copious use of the fiction writer's tools.
Read MoreReview: The New Penguin Book of American Short Stories
Reviews
Review: Story Craft
An especially useful idea is the ladder of abstraction, which is equivalent, in cinematic terminology, to the level of detail in a scene, from close-up to long shot.
Read More
Review: Index, A History Of The: A Bookish Adventure
This book has two indexes, one computer-generated, the other compiled by an indexer, so you can compare the two.
Read MoreReview: Audio for Authors
These days it’s as difficult as it is daft for writers to ignore the benefits of using audio applications.
Read MoreReview: American Short Stories course
in Reviews
For many years I’ve liked American nonfiction writing in periodicals such as Harpers, The Atlantic and The New Yorker, and it’s been interesting (for me at any rate) to learn that I also enjoy American fiction.
Read More
Film, by Dean Shareski Some rights reserved
Review: A Taste of Film
in Reviews
Yesterday I spent a very interesting three hours on a course called A Taste of Film.
Read MoreWhy are positive reviews so boring?
It’s a sad fact of life that the most entertaining reviews are the ones that are highly critical of the thing being reviewed.
Read More
Click to see this on Amazon
Quick look: The 12 Week Year for Writers
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
This is a book about strategy and meeting objectives rather than a how-to-write guide.
Read MoreShort-form writing (book review)
When your word count is restricted, you have to make every word count.
Read MoreRecalling my Discovery of Sherman Alexie
in News & views, Reviews
I always try to follow my intuition. Thus it was that, with deadlines pressing on me, and pressure from all sides, I decided to ignore my intellectual protestations and listen to my inner voice.
Read MoreReview: Ex Libris, by Matt Madden
This is quite unlike any other graphic novel I’ve read, and here are the reasons.
Read MoreThe very first article on this website...
… was a review of a book called The Well-Fed Writer. That was in 2010, and the book seems to be still available. Do I still agree with it’s suggestions?
Read MoreReview of a graphics novel introductory course
in Reviews
Why graphic novels?
Read More
Reviewer's desk, by Terry Freedman
How I review books on writing
in Reviews
My views on what constitutes a book on writing are fairly catholic. Indeed, it would me more accurate to denote the books I review as books for writers, rather than books on writing. The latter tend to have titles like “How to write fiction”, or “How to write magazine articles”.
Read MoreEnjoying the hard stuff: review of a course in hardboiled fiction
in Reviews
The least sensible thing one can do in circumstance like this is to read stuff which has absolutely no bearing on any it.
Read MoreReview: 99 Ways to tell a story
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book, Reviews
The book works in so many ways that it’s hard to know where to start.
Read More
Review: The Rise and Fall of Oscar Wilde
in Reviews
I enjoyed the course, but would have preferred it to have been longer.
Read More
Click the cover to see this on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: A Little History of Literature
As for non-students whose memories of Eng Lit conjure up trying to make sense of Shakespeare, you may discover that “A Little History of Literature” will help you to erase such memories!
Read More
Review: Creative writing for social media
Good Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) practice may decree that the ideal blog post length is between 1760 and 2400 words, but I prefer to write for people rather than an algorithm.
Read More
Click the cover to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: Exercises in Style
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book, Reviews
Anyone interested in the craft of writing should read this book. It’s not a primer, or dictionary, or anything of that nature. But it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Read More