I love craft books that focus on writing fiction, but I’ve read so many that I reached a saturation point. Or so I’d thought.
Earlier this month, Donald Maass released his newest book, Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Story Telling. I’m a fan of his books, but I had no intention of buying this one. What could it teach me that the others on my bookshelf haven’t already?*
Well, apparently plenty.
Upon studying the bestselling lists, Donald noticed an interesting trend. Literary novels lasted weeks on the lists; genre novels survived only a week or two (with a few exceptions). He wanted to know why the difference, so he analyzed a multitude of books from the two groups. The findings led to what I can honestly say is his BEST book, ever.
One thing I love most about Donald’s books is his exercises. These techniques challenge our stories and our writing. Some of the questions can be applied during the planning phase, others during revisions (or you can use them all during your revisions). For example:
- Pick a small moment, when something tiny happens. Write down every feeling your protagonist has about that. Go deeper. What does it mean or epitomize? How does it sum up life? Weave a passage. Something small becomes big. (Chapter 3: The Inner Journey)
- What does your protagonist believe beyond all else? Create a story event that forces him to accept the opposite. (Chapter 5: Standout Characters)
- Pick a weak scene. What are three setting details that only your POV character would notice? How does this place feel, or make your character feel? Create a passage of subjective opinion regarding the place itself. Delete all other description. (Chapter 6: The Three Levels of Story)
As you have probably guessed, Donald doesn’t believe in easy. He believes in challenging us to become better writers. No scratch that. He believes in challenging us to become great writers. This book isn’t for the lazy writer. This book is for the writer who is willing to work hard and sweat. Are youup for the challenge?
One of the things I liked least about his other books is the lengthy excerpts he uses to demonstrate his points. I tended to skim over them, as did many people I’ve talked to. In Writing 21stCentury Fiction, you’ll still find excerpts, but they are shorter, fewer in number, and from various genres (including YA, yay!).
Have you read any of Donald’s writing craft books? Do you enjoy learning new techniques to challenge your writing, or do you learn by analyzing the novels you read?
* I bought the book because Donald is doing a workshop based on the book in my city next year.