Author in Progress

Buy the Book:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
bookshop.org Shop
Books-A-Million
Published by: Writer's Digest Books; Illustrated edition
Release Date: November 1, 2016
Contributors: Therese Walsh, Editor, Donald Maass, Jane Friedman, Heather Webb, others
Pages: 342
ISBN13: 978-1440346712

 
Overview

This no-holds-barred guide to what it really takes to get published is brought to you by contributors to the popular Writer Unboxed blog, which has been in Writers Digest’s “Top 101 Websites for Writers” since the blog’s inception in 2007. My chapter, "A Drop of Imitation: How to Learn from the Masters," draws inspiration from the multi-arts influences I grew up with and sits alongside entries from writing gurus like Donald Maass, David Corbett, Lisa Cron, Jane Friedman, Heather Webb, and so many more.

Add on Goodreads

 

Praise

“I've read well over fifty books on writing in the interest of continuous learning over a fifteen-year period of time, and this is the most comprehensive, practical, helpful one.”
—Nikki Hanna, writing teacher, Amazon reviewer

Excerpt

LEARN FROM THE MASTERS
By Kathryn Craft

That byline you just read is a bit of a lie. This essay is collaboration, because even as I type, I’m not alone. My teachers look on from assigned seats in rows along one wall of my office. Except for those who insist on sitting on my shoulder. And those who have moved right into my head.

I am talking about the authors whose works have taught me how to write.

Our devotion to including acknowledgments in books pays homage to a venerable arts tradition of fostering relationships between mentors and those who seek them. If you too would like to learn from the masters, here are ways to seek their guidance, on the cheap and on the sly.

ANALYZE WRITING YOU LOVE
I want to write novels that seduce the reader on the very first page, how about you? So I began my study with first paragraphs. Because at the time I was a chauffeur mom with the odd half hour between my sons’ various sports obligations, I did this the old-fashioned way: in a library. Right down the shelf I went—King, Kingsolver, Kinsella—opening books to see what techniques drew me in. This simple exercise, which can also be done at home with Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature, is fun and invaluable—you’ll learn as much about yourself as you will the craft.

When you have more time on your hands, try breaking down an entire novel. I did this with Kristin Hannah’s On Mystic Lake, which seemed similar in style to the stories I was interested in writing (I’m hoping it bodes well that Hannah went on to become a prolific and best-selling author). How did she hook the reader with her first paragraph? What did she reveal about her protagonist on her first page? When did she end her first chapter? When did the protagonist set her story goal? What were her major emotional turning points? If a scene really grabbed me—why? What did the best passages of dialogue achieve, especially by what was not said? I filled a spiral-bound notebook with my observations.

Author Michael Chabon took such studies a step further. In his Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands, Chabon says he wrote entire novels that imitated the styles of authors he admired. Such meticulous care to his writing education may be why he won a Pulitzer…

 

Amazon Excerpt