You're obviously not writing a memoir here, but this book is still Don't lose track of your notes and/or future ideas for inclusion by . Watch out for self-indulgent and cheap substitutes for actually taking an honest to god break, of whatever duration. The Hope my dreams of writing a book will come true.
Table of contents
- The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner
- See a Problem?
- 7 Things You Must Give Up to Become a Successful Writer
- “Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!” — Henry Miller
This is what can happen when you read a book like this—-you read the high-brow opinions of others who love it and think, if this was assigned for a class, you would be the person in the back thinking, "What am I missing? So, maybe it's my own fault I couldn't look past the pomposity of it all to respect Gardner the way others tell me I should. Because, while I may have limped through this one, the amount of underlining and bookmarking I did clearly illustrates I learned a few things like: Readers need to suspend their disbelief and remain there through the action of a story; if they don't, you've done something erred in some way to muck that up.
Clumsily inserted details must either be revised into neatly inserted details or be revised out of the fiction. No "umms" or stammers. Jan 20, Grace rated it it was ok Shelves: Notes on Craft for Young Writers" promises to be an intense and informative read on creating solid and effective fiction geared for new or fairly new writers. Instead, "The Art of Fiction" is half literary theory and assumptions that all readers of this book are college educated people and the other half is equally as pompous diatribe on the fundamentals of writing: I am college educated.
My degree is in Writing and I studied rhetoric and literary theory.
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I found Gardner's critiques of various authors' styles and works to be engaging and thought provoking. I could follow his academic style of writing. However, the whole time I read, I couldn't help but think of how this book, touted as "notes on craft for young writers" would turn off and completely discourage young writers who did not attend college.
In the back of my mind, I wondered if this was his intention. Maybe Gardner wanted to keep the, in his mind, uneducated from writing by discouraging them with this book. Another thing to consider while reading this text is that it is 26 years old.
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The creative writing class has drastically changed in two and a half decades. The college writing class experiences he mentions throughout the first half of the book were definitely not the experiences I had as while pursuing my degree. Over all, I did glean some interesting insights about the writing process and it was good to have a refresher on plot and point of view. For that, I will consider the time spent reading this text to be well worth it and incredibly successful. I doubt I would recommend this book to anyone, unless they were willing to work through some thick material and an even thicker tone.
Of the very slim shelf of books on writing that are worth a damn, "The Art of Fiction" is by far the best. Passionate, evangelical, profound, deeply moving and extremely useful, it's meant for advanced writing students. But everyone interested in writing can benefit from reading it -- beginner, advanced and professional. Even book lovers who have no interest in becoming writers will become better readers for having come in contact with Gardner's wisdom. How powerful is this book? After I gave my Of the very slim shelf of books on writing that are worth a damn, "The Art of Fiction" is by far the best.
After I gave my father a copy to read, he called me up in tears, saying he felt that he had wasted his life by not becoming a writer!
The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner
Astoundingly, many younger, college-age reviewers on Amazon. And they chafe at Gardner's promotion of a thorough grounding in the classics. These, apparently, are the same students who believe they should be given at least a B, simply for showing up and doing the work. Dec 20, Lewis Weinstein rated it really liked it Shelves: Jan 20, sarah gilbert rated it it was amazing Shelves: It may be wonderful praise, may be a cautionary tale, that I began this book as a lark undertaken in the midst of two classes on memoir nonfiction is, I've always believed, my life's work and serious work rewriting my food memoir's first chapter, and before I'd half-finished Gardner's book, I began a novel.
See a Problem?
As inspiration, this is either all of it or a great chill; every sentence in this book is written with the clear undertone, "writing a novel is hard, hard work. It requires an authentic junk mind," he writes in one of his jaw-dropping parentheticals. One wants, upon reading these first few pages, to have an authentic gem of a mind. One is constantly assessing whether her mind, indeed, is worth treasuring, in every page. Beyond the inspirational sentences and the deeply funny critiques of whole segments of the writing population and, upon special occasion, a particular writer or work , this book is unusual and ideal in its teaching.
I feel that I have a very firm grasp now on the energeic novel, the proper and alternative forms of a denouement, the many different sorts of writing styles a tale, a yarn, etc. In short, I was not just given the kernel of a novel through Gardner's exercises, but I was taught sentence by sentence how to take all my expensive education and my far dearer experience and turn it upon the tools of novel-writing.
Can you learn the craft of writing by reading a book? Off I go, to write. Despite Gardner's claim that this is "the best book of its kind," I didn't find it helpful at all. Most of Gardner's ideas are surprisingly shallow considering how pretentiously and obnoxiously he writes. In describing how to write prose fiction, Gardner constantly encourages his readers to emulate Shakespear, Homer, Dante, Mellville and Joyce--despite the fact that Shakespear was a playwright, Homer and Dante wrote epic poems, and Melville and Joyce are virtually unreadable and torturous to Despite Gardner's claim that this is "the best book of its kind," I didn't find it helpful at all.
In describing how to write prose fiction, Gardner constantly encourages his readers to emulate Shakespear, Homer, Dante, Mellville and Joyce--despite the fact that Shakespear was a playwright, Homer and Dante wrote epic poems, and Melville and Joyce are virtually unreadable and torturous to the average person.
Apr 16, Cassandra rated it really liked it Shelves: But the true artist is impatient with such talk. Circus knife-throwers know that it is indeed possible to be perfect, and one had better be. Perfection means hitting exactly what you are aiming at and not touching by a hair what you are not.
He is also teaching me a hundred times more about what it means to be a really good author than all the "just-follow-your-dreams-and-be-yourself" mush one is fed incessantly these days. I am devouring this book. Mar 02, Natasha Oliver rated it really liked it Shelves: John Gardner let's you know in his preface that he is writing this book for the serious writer who he defines as the literary writer , so my fellow sci fi and fantasy writers genre , we are not his target audience. However, that does not mean we can not learn from him.
I do not recommend this to the writer who is beginning their journey. By beginning, I mean who has never written a novel-length manuscript unpublished of course or at least a novella. I think Gardner presents too much detail an John Gardner let's you know in his preface that he is writing this book for the serious writer who he defines as the literary writer , so my fellow sci fi and fantasy writers genre , we are not his target audience.
I think Gardner presents too much detail and too much content, and at this point in your journey you will probably be overwhelmed. I simply refer to the other reviewer comments who provide suitable alternatives for an introductory to fiction writing. I have rated this book as highly as I did because if you can wade through the loquacious prose, the elongated tangential didactics,--which by page 50 gets to be annoying--the obvious pedagogical diction and the references to Faulkner, Melville, Gaas, and plenty other writers whom I've not read out of cognizant choice--though they are clearly renown for a reason there is so much to learn from his book.
This paragraph was meant as an example--and I'm being generous.
Take heart, he does reference more "popular" fiction: Spider Man, early comic books, and Sam Delaney although briefly , so it's not a complete rebuff of fiction that sells. Why I rec'd this book: If you are serious, then you are willing--albeit begrudgingly--to come out of your comfort zone and learn even from those who have a tendency to look down their nose at you at least it's not in your face.
Examples of what I've learned: Realistic and what voices are more commonly linked to each type of fictional story. Lastly, while yes you can get most of the above from some of the other books on writing, you won't get the seriousness dare I say abrasive truths of what it means to be a writer and then what it takes to write well. This is not meant to be "inspiring" so you won't be uplifted and told repeatedly throughout that "yes, you can write that novel" ; it is meant to be eye-opening. Aug 28, John rated it really liked it. This book on fiction writing is commonly recommended.
I was less impressed by it than I had expected and hoped to be. I found it hard to maintain interest. Gardner's concept of 'psychic distance' as part of POV; the concept of 'frigidity' when the writer accidentally lets slip that he really doesn't care about a character and 'profluence', the reader's sense that the story is progressi This book on fiction writing is commonly recommended. Gardner's concept of 'psychic distance' as part of POV; the concept of 'frigidity' when the writer accidentally lets slip that he really doesn't care about a character and 'profluence', the reader's sense that the story is progressing.
There are some interesting tips on sentence construction. Otherwise, Gardner repeats common wisdom about fiction writing which is encountered everywhere: The discussion of plotting isn't very helpful, nor are the discussions of suspense and writing style. Unlike virtually all modern fiction writers, Gardner doesn't like the third person limited POV, and prefers omniscient.
This is a highly idiosyncratic position, which will not be helpful to beginning writers. Gardner relentlessly talks about the morality of writing. He seems to have specific metaphysical -- though not traditionally religious -- ideas about the universe, and believes fiction should support these ideas, that there is something wrong with fiction that doesn't, and something morally wrong in the writer who writes that sort of fiction.
This book has some interesting and unique material in amongst a lot of less useful material and a lot of rambling, dull prose. I'm upping my rating to four stars. As time passes, things that Gardner said in this book keep popping into my mind, and seeming wiser and more important than they did when I first read the book. It's a better book than I thought it was. Mar 29, Rachael Sherwood rated it really liked it Shelves: I typically walk away from books about writing with a few new tips or tricks and maybe a new idea. This book is very different.
As the title reflects, it explores fiction as both craft and art. At first I worried that Gardner was kind of pretentious--his style is certainly very academic. He uses classic lit for his examples, and sometimes I was annoyed by his assumption that his reader would be familiar. I'm fairly well read in the classics, but I haven't read everything dude. I've seen people say that this book is only for those who write literary fiction, but I disagree and I think Gardner would too.
Regardless of your genre, if you are interested in advancing your writing as craft and art, this is a good read.
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I've been working on the exercises at the end of the book and some of them are hard! Aug 29, Ryandake rated it it was amazing Shelves: Jul 02, Nic rated it it was ok Shelves: Since the s, when I got "serious" about writing creatively, I've been hearing John Gardner praised to the skies. I suspect he was one of the first writers to really elevate teaching to an art, beating the plethora of "how to write" books that now flood the shelves.
7 Things You Must Give Up to Become a Successful Writer
And while it's de riguer to speak ill of the dead, I am finding this text both condescending and needlessly dense. Many of his ideas are right on, but I have heard them more accessibly expressed in the past thirty years than they Since the s, when I got "serious" about writing creatively, I've been hearing John Gardner praised to the skies. Many of his ideas are right on, but I have heard them more accessibly expressed in the past thirty years than they are here.
Jan 05, Joseph rated it it was amazing. I've had a lot of writer's tell me about Gardner's book, but I never got around to reading it until now. I'm glad I did. While an esteemed teacher of writing, as well as a well respected writer in his own right,Gardner freely admits there are no absolutes in creating fiction.
All things are at least theoretically possible. I like his honesty and the relatively modest task he sets out for those who choose to teach creative writing. Not surprising, is his assertion that a key to good w I've had a lot of writer's tell me about Gardner's book, but I never got around to reading it until now. Not surprising, is his assertion that a key to good writing is practice; becoming so at home with those techniques that have worked in the past, that one can move confidently into the challenge of creating something out of nothing, knowing that if he fails it will be due to a lack on insight or inspiration.
Stephen King is a prolific writer who has sold hundreds of millions of books, many of which have been made into movies and comics. Jacobs is a journalist, lecturer, and editor at large for Esquire magazine. You know what all these successful writers have in common? Hemingway always wrote in the morning, as soon as the sun rose. Stephen King writes 2, words a day, rain or shine.
Jacobs writes ever-more-detailed outlines-that-turn-into-books while walking on a treadmill. Focus on creating and sticking to a great writing system. What does a good writing system consist of? These three are interlinked, but they are also separate, like the three legs of a three-legged stool. You need all three to create a solid system that will propel you to writerly stardom. All writers need material. And lucky for us, writing material is virtually limitless!
You just need to know where and how to gather it. For more ideas on this topic, check out this article:. It ought to go without saying, but sometimes folks need a reminder:. Well, aside from literally just sitting down and typing or writing longhand, if you prefer , here are a few tips to help you create a system and environment that compels you to write, instead of dithering about how to get going:.
These are just suggestions. You may want to imitate one, some, or all of these ideas, but whatever you decide, just pick one and get started. Writing is a craft, and like any other craft, it has rules and recognized levels of proficiency. Not everyone who picks up a pen or types words on a keyboard is a good writer.
You just have to get better at writing. And there are so many things you can do to get better at writing. And you can just read a lot of good writing and write a lot and become a better writer by osmosis. But there are problems with this kind of mentality:. If you want to get good at anything, you need to learn how to learn. This is true in writing too. You need mindful, deliberate practice to improve. Of course, all writers need to get a few basic things down first: Another important skill all writers need to hone is the ability to think clearly. Writers are teachers, which means we need to be able to think logically from point A to point Z, and show others how we came to that conclusion.
Learning how to hone your craft is a topic that I could probably write hundreds of articles on, so for now, I will leave it at that. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money. I'd type a little faster.
“Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!” — Henry Miller
You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts still called "leaves" imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time--proof that humans can work magic.
They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go.