Review by FuQingQuan -- Creating Literary Stories: A Fic...
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FuQingQuan
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- Latest Review: Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide by William H. Coles
Review by FuQingQuan -- Creating Literary Stories: A Fic...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide" by William H. Coles.]
2 out of 4 stars
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‘William H. Coles and his Bitter Polemic’.
With a few rare exceptions, gifted creative writers cannot explain their art and craft. The rules that they adhere to in their scribblings can suddenly evaporate into an incoherent rant about good, bad and valuable writing. Unfortunately, in Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer’s Guide, William H.Coles, joins this group with a poorly conceived and edited production.
In summary, the Table of Contents contains everything that an aspiring writer would expect. Amongst other things, they need to know about character, narrative, writing in scene, point of view and dealing with time etc.. The book is divided into two parts and an Appendix added. Briefly, Part 1 is an introduction to the general constituents of writing, Part 2 offers more detailed analysis whilst the Appendix is largely pompous drivel ostensibly written to help writers in pursuit of excellence in ‘literary’ storytelling.
The author sets his agenda early by declaiming against genre fiction, memoir, nonfiction, autobiography and creative nonfiction - he considers them to be inferior art forms. If it’s not ‘literary’ (in the tradition of Austen, Homer [sic], Maupassant and Melville), it’s neither worth reading nor writing. The author continues to rant periodically / consistently throughout the book:
• If the writer does not possess lofty ambitions and aspire to produce enlightenment, then their stories will be forgettable.
• Genre fiction (with it’s repetitive plots, cardboard characterisations, sentimentality and predictability), sells more.
• ‘Good’ writing requires nothing short of excellence.
If an aspiring writer finds this approach off-putting, they will not be pleased by the way it is presented:
• The reader is often patronised. For example, they are given definitions of such ‘obscure’ terms as: Literary, Fictional, Imagination, Desire and Comedy.
• The text lacks a logical flow / structure and often reads as rapidly jotted thoughts that need to be explained before they are forgotten.
• Writing stories about experienced emotions in order to reach a catharsis is not literature. Etc. etc.
Despite all of this, William H. Coles does manage to include some helpful hidden gems – of particular note are his insights into ‘in-scene’ writing and variations on dialogue to invite the reader in and continue to captivate them with consistent characterisation and rhythmic tricks. Also, the reader’s irritation may lead them into a deeper questioning and understanding of how and why they write.
Creating LITERARY STORIES: A Fiction Writer’s Guide is a poor book that would be vastly improved by a good editor. Unfortunately, 2 out of 4.
******
Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
2 out of 4 stars
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‘William H. Coles and his Bitter Polemic’.
With a few rare exceptions, gifted creative writers cannot explain their art and craft. The rules that they adhere to in their scribblings can suddenly evaporate into an incoherent rant about good, bad and valuable writing. Unfortunately, in Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer’s Guide, William H.Coles, joins this group with a poorly conceived and edited production.
In summary, the Table of Contents contains everything that an aspiring writer would expect. Amongst other things, they need to know about character, narrative, writing in scene, point of view and dealing with time etc.. The book is divided into two parts and an Appendix added. Briefly, Part 1 is an introduction to the general constituents of writing, Part 2 offers more detailed analysis whilst the Appendix is largely pompous drivel ostensibly written to help writers in pursuit of excellence in ‘literary’ storytelling.
The author sets his agenda early by declaiming against genre fiction, memoir, nonfiction, autobiography and creative nonfiction - he considers them to be inferior art forms. If it’s not ‘literary’ (in the tradition of Austen, Homer [sic], Maupassant and Melville), it’s neither worth reading nor writing. The author continues to rant periodically / consistently throughout the book:
• If the writer does not possess lofty ambitions and aspire to produce enlightenment, then their stories will be forgettable.
• Genre fiction (with it’s repetitive plots, cardboard characterisations, sentimentality and predictability), sells more.
• ‘Good’ writing requires nothing short of excellence.
If an aspiring writer finds this approach off-putting, they will not be pleased by the way it is presented:
• The reader is often patronised. For example, they are given definitions of such ‘obscure’ terms as: Literary, Fictional, Imagination, Desire and Comedy.
• The text lacks a logical flow / structure and often reads as rapidly jotted thoughts that need to be explained before they are forgotten.
• Writing stories about experienced emotions in order to reach a catharsis is not literature. Etc. etc.
Despite all of this, William H. Coles does manage to include some helpful hidden gems – of particular note are his insights into ‘in-scene’ writing and variations on dialogue to invite the reader in and continue to captivate them with consistent characterisation and rhythmic tricks. Also, the reader’s irritation may lead them into a deeper questioning and understanding of how and why they write.
Creating LITERARY STORIES: A Fiction Writer’s Guide is a poor book that would be vastly improved by a good editor. Unfortunately, 2 out of 4.
******
Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
