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What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers
 
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What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers (Paperback)

by Anne Bernays (Author), Pamela Painter (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Frequently Bought Together

What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers + Your Writing Coach: From Concept to Character, from Pitch to Publication - Everything You Need to Know About Writing Novels, Non-fiction, New Media, Scripts and Short Stories + On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Price For All Three: £18.17

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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; Reissue edition (1 Nov 1991)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0062720066
  • ISBN-13: 978-0062720061
  • Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.4 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 5,894 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #34 in  Books > Reference > Writing

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Product Description

Product Description

With more than twenty-five years of experience teaching creative writing between them, Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter offer more than seventy-five exercises for both beginners and more experienced writers. These exercises are designed to develop and refine two basic skills: writing like a writer and, just as important, thinking like a writer. They deal with such topics as: discovering where to start and end a story; learning when to use dialogue and when to use indirect discourse; transforming real events into fiction; and, finding language that both sings and communicates precisely. "What If?" will be an essential addition to every writer's library, a welcome and much-used companion.

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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110 of 113 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent : useful chapters in bite sized pieces!, 2 May 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers (Paperback)
The great thing about this book is that the chapters are so short and give you exercises to do right now without a lot of prerequisite preparation. I have written a few stories just based on the exercises. They unearth valuable memories that can be used to enliven stories.

The authors also point out that *everybody's* life is printworthy. If you take the time to remember the large tangle of interesting experiences you've had, many can be used in fiction.

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93 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best exercise book I've found, 30 April 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers (Paperback)
I've done a lot of reading on writing fiction, and this is by far one of the best. While other books talk about how to go about writing, this one gives you exercises designed to guide you to putting those ideas into practice. It's guarenteed to improve your writing! My writing group has used it for about a year and the members love it.
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44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, 4 Jan 2007
By Lucy H. Pearce - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As a writer and teacher of creative writing I find this a gold mine for starter activities and longer writing exercises. It lets you try out approaches and techniques rather than being a how to guide to creative writing- and most importantly shares with you the results of other writers (both famous and unknown) who have done the exercises.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars How to keep the brain in writing mode.
This is a very different type of writing book it actually keeps your brain ticking along. Another must have for the would be writer.
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5.0 out of 5 stars What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers
I was given this as a gift by a friend who knew I was about to begin my degree in Creative Writing, and it has helped a great deal. Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Better than what I thought
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4.0 out of 5 stars Useful and worth buying.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!
I teach creative writing in the UCLA Writer's Program (online) and always recommend this book to my students as one of the two best books (along with Janet Burroway's... Read more
Published on 23 Dec 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!
I teach creative writing in the UCLA Writer's Program (online) and always recommend this book to my students as one of the two best books (along with Janet Burroway's... Read more
Published on 23 Dec 1998

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