Architecture of the Novel: A Writer's Handbook
Books / Paperback
Books › Language Arts & Disciplines › Writing › General
ISBN: 1582435979 / Publisher: Counterpoint, August 2010
Vandenburgh, who has written two novels and a memoir, and leads writing workshops, has an uncanny ability to convey the precise moments in composing a novel where dilemmas, fears, confusion, procrastination, and other delaying tactics arise, defining for the writer where the difficulty lies--in the struggle between story and plot, for example--and in doing so reassuring struggling writers of the universal challenges all writers face and offering hope that through perseverance, their novel will emerge. Discussion of plot, story, and how to lay out narrative time are followed in the book's second part with an ABC of narrative structure. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Jane Vandenburgh, the author of two highly acclaimed novels and a recent memoir, offers aspiring writers the tools to create powerful and unique novels filled not only with good writing but also dynamic storytelling.Architecture of the Novel is an ambitious blueprint for writers, one that reveals the underlying machinery that propels a plot that is dynamic, coherent, and interesting.Architecture of the Novel derives from the many years Vandenburgh has spent teaching the craft of fiction writing. Her method points to the elemental nature of narrative: A story consists of its events, which are told in scenes. These scenes naturally place themselves along the arc of the story in an order that provides suspense and mystery, drawing characters toward the inevitability of their fictive destinies.Profoundly practical yet encouraging to writers at all levels, Architecture of the Novel offers the maps and mechanics to successfully guide writers toward the story that must be told.
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