Review by kamika116 -- Creating Literary Stories: A Fict...
-
kamika116
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 31 Jul 2019, 06:04
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kamika116.html
- Latest Review: Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide by William H. Coles
Review by kamika116 -- Creating Literary Stories: A Fict...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide" by William H. Coles.]
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
William H. Coles is an American writer with an impressive resume. He wrote ten books and thirteen short stories. Many earned him literary awards or recognition, such as the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction in 2010. Now, he decided to share his knowledge with those wanting to explore the world of literary fiction. ‘Creating Literary Stories. A Fiction’s Writer’s Guide’ is not addressed only to aspiring writers. Established authors will also find here a handful of useful information that can help them to master their craft.
Using examples from classical literature throughout the whole book, Coles explains how to construct an immersing fictional world and how literary fiction differs from other genres. From the very first pages, he underlines traps waiting for authors and how to avoid them, one example describing a temptation to create from ‘ego and self- organized reasons’. Coles highlights the importance of the imaginative element in this type of writing as literary stories, according to the author, cannot be merely re-telling what happened.
The book consists of two parts. In the first one, the author outlines and then takes us step-by-step through each element of literary fiction such as characters, narration, conflict, setting, theme. We find out that the plot in literary fiction is character-driven. The author stresses the role of action in story development. He devotes a lot of time to explain how to build memorable characters with strong inner desires, believable motivations and well-constructed dialogues. He discusses the complexity and nuances of narrative and various points of view to then explain what distinguishes one from the other. The author emphasizes that literary stories must carry purpose and meaning. In his own words ‘Great stories are about something. Every story should engage the reader, and provide recognition or enlightenment so the reader will never again see the world exactly as it seemed before the story was read.’ In the second part, the author provides practical guidelines on how to create a compelling story. He instructs the reader how to identify construction issues- such as poor dialogues or excessive sentimentalism- and gives tips on how to improve the weakness and avoid cliches. He illustrates his arguments with examples of common mistakes made by other writers.
I find the content of this guide accurate and complex, however, I think the execution sometimes lacks clarity. In my opinion, certain parts of the book could have been delivered in a simpler manner. The language, especially in the first part, is hard to follow at times and sentences too wordy. To balance that out, the examples used are transparent and extremely helpful in understanding the author’s points. Personally I enjoyed the second part of the book more as it was delivered in a much more concise and clear manner.
Overall, ‘Creating Literary Stories. A Fiction’s Writer’s Guide’ is a solid practical manual for all writers. William H Coles has created a writing guide full of excellent tips that every author will find useful. There are quite a few grammatical and punctuation errors as well as repetitions. For that reason, plus the aforementioned overconstructed sentences and lack of clarity in delivery, I rate this publication 3 out of 4.
******
Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
William H. Coles is an American writer with an impressive resume. He wrote ten books and thirteen short stories. Many earned him literary awards or recognition, such as the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction in 2010. Now, he decided to share his knowledge with those wanting to explore the world of literary fiction. ‘Creating Literary Stories. A Fiction’s Writer’s Guide’ is not addressed only to aspiring writers. Established authors will also find here a handful of useful information that can help them to master their craft.
Using examples from classical literature throughout the whole book, Coles explains how to construct an immersing fictional world and how literary fiction differs from other genres. From the very first pages, he underlines traps waiting for authors and how to avoid them, one example describing a temptation to create from ‘ego and self- organized reasons’. Coles highlights the importance of the imaginative element in this type of writing as literary stories, according to the author, cannot be merely re-telling what happened.
The book consists of two parts. In the first one, the author outlines and then takes us step-by-step through each element of literary fiction such as characters, narration, conflict, setting, theme. We find out that the plot in literary fiction is character-driven. The author stresses the role of action in story development. He devotes a lot of time to explain how to build memorable characters with strong inner desires, believable motivations and well-constructed dialogues. He discusses the complexity and nuances of narrative and various points of view to then explain what distinguishes one from the other. The author emphasizes that literary stories must carry purpose and meaning. In his own words ‘Great stories are about something. Every story should engage the reader, and provide recognition or enlightenment so the reader will never again see the world exactly as it seemed before the story was read.’ In the second part, the author provides practical guidelines on how to create a compelling story. He instructs the reader how to identify construction issues- such as poor dialogues or excessive sentimentalism- and gives tips on how to improve the weakness and avoid cliches. He illustrates his arguments with examples of common mistakes made by other writers.
I find the content of this guide accurate and complex, however, I think the execution sometimes lacks clarity. In my opinion, certain parts of the book could have been delivered in a simpler manner. The language, especially in the first part, is hard to follow at times and sentences too wordy. To balance that out, the examples used are transparent and extremely helpful in understanding the author’s points. Personally I enjoyed the second part of the book more as it was delivered in a much more concise and clear manner.
Overall, ‘Creating Literary Stories. A Fiction’s Writer’s Guide’ is a solid practical manual for all writers. William H Coles has created a writing guide full of excellent tips that every author will find useful. There are quite a few grammatical and punctuation errors as well as repetitions. For that reason, plus the aforementioned overconstructed sentences and lack of clarity in delivery, I rate this publication 3 out of 4.
******
Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
