Review of Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide
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Oyeleye Oyedeji
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Review of Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide
[Following is a volunteer review of "Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide" by William H. Coles.]
CREATING LITERARY STORIES: A Fiction Writer’s Guide by William H. Cole is a book that sets apart the genre of literary fiction from other genres of prose. It has always been the case that this genre has been and is being confused with other genres like a memoir, creative fiction, romantic fiction, etc. The book presents a study of what literary fiction is and what it is not. Beyond presenting and making crystal clear what literary fiction is, there is the expatiation on and demonstration of what it is in detail and how to create prose fiction worthy of the genre. It exposes how to go about creating a very creative literary fiction work that does not bend or lean towards other genres thereby guiding how to avoid creating other genres of prose and mistake it for literary fiction just because the prose created bears one feature a literary fiction would have.
CREATING LITERARY STORIES: A Fiction Writer’s Guide, William H. Cole weaved in some very helpful features into the fabric of each chapter, and I love the presence of these features. One of such features is the straightforwardness of the writing. I know this is expected of any book that instructs, but putting in perspective the fact this is a book of writing stories, it will be easier to appreciate this feature. The book instructs on writing literary fictional stories, and to effectively illustrate, there is the need to supply extracts. This supply of extracts, if care is not taken can take huge chunks of the book leaving space for just a little explanation. In this book, it is not the case. The book is quite balanced.
Another feature is the apt use and laconic quality of the extracts and examples used in the book. William did a good job using short but properly fitting extracts and examples and buttress points. The extracts provide a sort of short break from reading about technicalities and also help put points explained in contexts for an easier grasp of concepts. For having this feature, I could use the book to teach a writing class.
For me, the book is perfect save for few typographical and syntactic errors that make some parts hard to read. This would have been a bother if not for the fact that the book is textbook-like. To me, the book is not professionally edited.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The reason is that the book is efficient at what it was written for, which is to serve as a guideline or textbook. The book efficiently instructs with befitting models, juxtaposition, and expatiation.
I recommend this book for teachers who teach writing classes, students from ages 11 upward, and any adults who want to sharpen or develop their writing skills. It is a befitting read for them. Reading this book will open their eyes to the secrets of writing literary fiction.
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Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
CREATING LITERARY STORIES: A Fiction Writer’s Guide by William H. Cole is a book that sets apart the genre of literary fiction from other genres of prose. It has always been the case that this genre has been and is being confused with other genres like a memoir, creative fiction, romantic fiction, etc. The book presents a study of what literary fiction is and what it is not. Beyond presenting and making crystal clear what literary fiction is, there is the expatiation on and demonstration of what it is in detail and how to create prose fiction worthy of the genre. It exposes how to go about creating a very creative literary fiction work that does not bend or lean towards other genres thereby guiding how to avoid creating other genres of prose and mistake it for literary fiction just because the prose created bears one feature a literary fiction would have.
CREATING LITERARY STORIES: A Fiction Writer’s Guide, William H. Cole weaved in some very helpful features into the fabric of each chapter, and I love the presence of these features. One of such features is the straightforwardness of the writing. I know this is expected of any book that instructs, but putting in perspective the fact this is a book of writing stories, it will be easier to appreciate this feature. The book instructs on writing literary fictional stories, and to effectively illustrate, there is the need to supply extracts. This supply of extracts, if care is not taken can take huge chunks of the book leaving space for just a little explanation. In this book, it is not the case. The book is quite balanced.
Another feature is the apt use and laconic quality of the extracts and examples used in the book. William did a good job using short but properly fitting extracts and examples and buttress points. The extracts provide a sort of short break from reading about technicalities and also help put points explained in contexts for an easier grasp of concepts. For having this feature, I could use the book to teach a writing class.
For me, the book is perfect save for few typographical and syntactic errors that make some parts hard to read. This would have been a bother if not for the fact that the book is textbook-like. To me, the book is not professionally edited.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The reason is that the book is efficient at what it was written for, which is to serve as a guideline or textbook. The book efficiently instructs with befitting models, juxtaposition, and expatiation.
I recommend this book for teachers who teach writing classes, students from ages 11 upward, and any adults who want to sharpen or develop their writing skills. It is a befitting read for them. Reading this book will open their eyes to the secrets of writing literary fiction.
******
Creating Literary Stories: A Fiction Writer's Guide
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Latest Review: Twisted But True by Darren Burch
