Start reading Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

 
 
 

Try it free

Sample the beginning of this book for free

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Read books on your computer or other mobile devices with our FREE Kindle Reading Apps.
Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends
 
 

Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends [Kindle Edition]

Nancy Kress
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: £9.86 What's this?
Print List Price: £9.99
Kindle Price: £6.45 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £3.54 (35%)
Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £6.45  
Paperback £6.79  


Product Description

Product Description

Get your stories off to a roaring start. Keep them tight and crisp throughout. Conclude them with a wallop.

Is the story or novel you’ve been carrying around in your head the same one you see on the page? Or does the dialogue suddenly sound flat and predictable? Do the events seem to ramble?

Translating a flash of inspiration into a compelling story requires careful crafting. The words you choose, how you describe characters, and the way you orchestrate conflict all make the difference - the difference between a story that is slow to begin, flounders midway, or trails off at the end - and one that holds the interest of readers and editors to the final page.

By demonstrating effective solutions for potential problems at each stage of your story, Nancy Kress will help you...
  • hook the editor on the first three paragraphs</li
  • make - and keep - your story’s “implicit promise”
  • build drama and credibility by controlling your prose
Dozens of exercises help you strengthen your short story or novel. Plus, you'll sharpen skills and gain new insight into...
  • the price a writer pays for flashbacks
  • six ways characters should “reveal” themselves
  • techniques for writing - and rewriting

Let this working resource be your guide to successful stories - from beginning to end.

About the Author

Although she began by writing fantasy, Nancy Kress currently writes science fiction, most usually about genetic engineering.

She teaches regularly at summer conferences such as Clarion, and during the year at the Bethesda Writing Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In addition, she is the Fiction columnist for Writer's Digest magazine


Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 478 KB
  • Print Length: 164 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0898799058
  • Publisher: Writers Digest Books (1 Jan 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B005LIYZKM
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #97,781 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  •  Would you like to give feedback on images?


More About the Author

Nancy Kress
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Visit Amazon's Nancy Kress Page


Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Reviews

4 star
0
3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 60 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
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.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
47 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It was a wonderful read. I've always wondered what book that would perfectly stand out as a helpful material for young writers who seek to build on their craft. Now, I've seen and read one. I can now teach creative writing with a new perspective of perception of stories. Nancy Kress will always remain in my shelf.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?

Popular Highlights

 (What's this?)
&quote;
Andthis is importantthe ending feels satisfying only because the beginning set up the implicit promise in the first place. &quote;
Highlighted by 5 Kindle users
&quote;
In your first scene, however, your main goal is to keep your reader interested. You do that through focusing not on overall meaning but on the four elements that make a first scene compelling: character, conflict, specificity and credibility. &quote;
Highlighted by 5 Kindle users
&quote;
As a writer, you must know what promise your story or novel makes. &quote;
Highlighted by 5 Kindle users

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Privacy Statement Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Delivery Information Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Returns & Exchanges