Reddit Reddit reviews The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers

We found 13 Reddit comments about The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers
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13 Reddit comments about The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers:

u/wskv · 8 pointsr/writing

I interpret it along the lines of John Gardner's idea being the narrative dream. Here is something from The Paris Review that digs into it, but he also covers it in The Art of Fiction.

u/Mithalanis · 7 pointsr/writing

I will always recommend John Gardner's The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers - he gives a wonderful overview of fiction writing, offers writing exercises, points out common errors that beginner writers make (as well as how to correct them), and discusses some basic writing theory. There's a lot to learn from that book, and a lot to revisit.

u/mmafc · 5 pointsr/writing

Here's Noah Lukeman on the semicolon in A Dash of Style:

> The primary function of the semicolon is to connect two complete (and thematically similar) sentences, thereby making them one. . .[G]rammatically the semicolon is never necessary; two short sentences can always coexist without being connected. Artistically, though, the semicolon opens a world of possibilities, and can lend a huge impact. In this sense, it is the punctuation mark best suited for creative writers.

Lukeman quotes John Trimble:

> The semicolon is efficient: it allows you to eliminate most of those conjunctions or prepositions that are obligatory with the comma--words like whereas, because, for, or, but, while, and.

And he quotes Lewis Thomas:

> Sometimes you get a glimpse of a semicolon coming, a few lines farther on, and it is like seeing a wooden bench just at a bend in the road ahead, a place where you can expect to sit for a moment, catching your breath.

John Gardner is a master of punctuation. He uses the em dash, parentheses and semicolons like a champ. To me it evokes a voice that's closer to how thoughts emerge than does the simple declarative statement, which makes my brain happy. One man's luscious thought is another's tortured prose. Here's an excerpt from The Art of Fiction:

> Thus it appears that to make us see and feel vividly what his characters see and feel--to draw us into the characters' world as if we were born to it--the writer must do more than simply make up characters and then somehow explain and authenticate them (giving them the right kinds of motorcycles and beards, exactly the right memories and jargon). He must shape simultaneously (in an expanding creative moment) his characters, plot, and setting, each inextricably connected to the others; he must make his whole world in a single, coherent gesture, as a potter makes a pot; or, as Coleridge puts it, he must copy, with his finite mind, the process of the infinite "I AM."

u/lost_generation · 5 pointsr/writing

I heard someone say once that you need to understand the rules before you can break them the right way. Anyway, I found these books helpful. I would never adhere to their advice exactly, but I did learn a lot from all of them and combine it with my own personal style:

John Gardner - The Art of Fiction

A bit dated, but it still does a good job of laying out what it means to write fiction. He has some good suggestions for exercises at the end.


Anne LaMott - Bird By Bird

Half craft, half inspirational. I'm not usually big on sappy, inspirational shit, but I loved this book and found it very helpful.


James Bonnet - Stealing Fire From the Gods

Focuses on the elements of great stories in film and books.


John Trimble - Writing With Style

This is a great overview of the technical side of writing well. The best I have found.


The main thing though: READ A LOT OF FICTION. You should read much more than you write. No one ever became a great writer by sitting around and reading about writing, but it can help you zero in on what to look for in the fiction of others.

Hope that helps.

u/MakeItHilts · 4 pointsr/writing

The best book I've read about fiction storytelling is The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fiction-Notes-Craft-Writers/dp/0679734031/ref=pd_sim_14_4/181-9489318-3098806?ie=UTF8&dpID=512pUzVt5EL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL320_SR206%2C320_&refRID=00V0DM1NAD4BBQB3C05P

Gardner was a legendary, I think, writing teacher and author. The short story-writer Raymond Carver used to credit his old professor with his understanding of writing, the discipline and the whole approach to the task of being a writer. Anyway, it's great!

u/speedy2686 · 3 pointsr/writing
u/raubry · 2 pointsr/writing

Good advice by all.

Two essential books - in my opinion:

The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner. Most libraries/library consortia should have a copy. Even if you don't read the whole book, jump to the chapter near the end titled "Exercises". Pure gold. It's about building your chops and doing your scales. When you're ready, you'll have more tools in your toolkit. OK, enough of my crappy metaphors...

For pure inspiration/support, I haven't seen anyone beat Brenda Ueland's If You Want To Write. I used to think Writing Down the Bones was the best, but so far Ueland's book - although older-fashioned - seems to stand the test of time better.

I just discovered Joy Writing by Kenn Amdahl. I love everything he writes - such as There Are No Electrons, Algebra Unplugged, and Calculus for Cats - so I figure he has some good info on writing. This might become a classic.

u/dfshultz · 2 pointsr/writing

I didn't invent it. Over the past few years I've read a stack of books on craft about as tall as myself. It begins to get hard to remember who says what. If you had asked me where I should go to find out more about "psychic distance", I would have guessed Words Overflown By Stars. But I just picked my copy of The Art of Fiction by Gardner from the shelf, and you're right, he talks about psychic distance. Maybe he invented the term (I don't know).

u/JefferyRussell · 2 pointsr/writers
  1. The Anatomy of Story by John Truby.

  2. The Art of Fiction by John Gardner

  3. A writing journal :)

u/1369ic · 2 pointsr/writing

John Gardner's The Art of Fiction gets technical in ways that hurt my brain. He doesn't get into the motivation-reaction units, but if you're into right-branching sentences and all that, there's plenty in there. Personally, I write by ear, so parts of that book were like algebra to me.

u/Brometheus24 · 1 pointr/writing

First off, it's really awesome that you're starting at a young age!

For grammar and style, this is the go-to for me and most of the writers I know: https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481432677&sr=8-1&keywords=elements+of+style

For prose and fiction writing in general, check this one out: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fiction-Notes-Craft-Writers/dp/0679734031/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481432751&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+fiction

I will say that there are moments in The Art of Fiction where the writer, John Gardner, has some very snobby opinions about types of fiction he doesn't like (genre fiction, mostly). But, ignoring those moments, it's a great resource.

u/tkfu · 1 pointr/nba

Good luck to you! Finding a consistent voice is one of the hardest parts of writing, but there's nothing to be done except practice. This is a book I find myself recommending a lot, despite the fact that I don't edit much fiction. It's got a wealth of practical, everyday advice on how to make readable, engaging writing.