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Beginnings, Middles and Ends (The elements of fiction writing)
 
 
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Beginnings, Middles and Ends (The elements of fiction writing) (Paperback)

by Nancy Kress (Author) "There's a story in your heador maybe just the start of a story ..." (more)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Beginnings, Middles and Ends (The elements of fiction writing) + Characters and Viewpoint (The elements of fiction writing) + Plot and Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot that Grips Readers from Start to Finish (Write Great Fiction)
Price For All Three: £26.97

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Product details

  • Paperback: 149 pages
  • Publisher: Writer's Digest Books; New edition edition (May 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0898799058
  • ISBN-13: 978-0898799057
  • Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 1.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 88,306 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #4 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > K > Kress, Nancy
    #33 in  Books > Reference > Writing > Fiction

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Product Description

Product Description
Covering the main elements of fiction writing, Beginnings, Middles & Ends demonstrates effective solutions for potential problems, from how to hook the editor in the 1st few paragraphs to building drama and credibililty in prose.'
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There's a story in your heador maybe just the start of a story. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A great reference book, 26 Feb 2004
By Ms. Giulia Fancelli "Julia" (Bishop's Stortford, Herts, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have bought this book for the reason I suppose anybody else did, and for the reason *you* who read this review are staring at this page. I'm a writer and I would like to have a book published. Mostly, I bought this book because I wanted suggestions to improve. I wasn't disappointed.

The Author gives good samples of how to make an opening attractive for a possible publisher, how to make a middle compelling, how not to ruin your story with a bad ending. The Author says everything you need to know to structure in the best way your story and explain also how you must deal with first and second draft and so on.

I think that this is a great refernce for anybody who wants to become a better writer. Definitely, I suggest this book as a first How-to book to read. Of course it must be integrated with other reads, such as the great "Characters and Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card. This book doesn't want to be complete, but it makes the job it promises pretty well, giving to you good tips on how to structure your book or short story.

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44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Makes you think about your writing, 2 Mar 2002
By A Customer
This is the second book from the Elements of Fiction Writing series that I've read (the first was Characters and Viewpoint, which is also excellent).

Beginnings, Middles, and Ends is a readable and informative guide to creating stories that hang together from the opening paragraph to the final page. There's advice here for both novelists and short-story writers (but most of the material is general, with specifics noted where necessary).

Kress provides so much excellent guidance for each stage (beginning, middle, end) that it's impossible to choose one part as being more useful than any other. In fact, the crucial message for me was the interconnectedness of these three things: the implicit promise that's set up in the beginning, developed in the middle, and paid off at the end.

Within that, there are all sorts of nuggets that will, for example, help you write opening paragraphs to grab the reader's (or editor's) attention, and craft endings that don't leave the reader feeling let down. There's also some more general advice on approaches to revision, dealing with writers' block, etc.

All in all, this will be a welcome addition to any aspiring writer's "craft of writing" shelf.

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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!, 12 April 2006
By Lala B (Ireland) - See all my reviews
This is a brilliant book - succint advice on how to craft a story or novel in a step by step format. Highly highly recommended!
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