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Just about every sentence contains a gem of advice. For example, Stein writes:
The best way to make a person come alive is by rendering the person’s appearance with some specific detail. [For example] … The garage attendant’s hat was parked perilously on an excessive amount of hair.
He then goes on to analyse why this sentence works.
The book is rich with real-life examples, because the author seems to have worked with just about everybody!
I have to confess that I was a little concerned that only fifty percent of the book would be relevant to me, because I don’t write fiction (unless you count my to-do list). However, my fears were misplaced, for two reasons.
Firstly, even in the parts specifically intended for fiction writers, Stein often explains how you could use the same approach in non-fiction. A good example of this is in the section about getting rid of adjectives and adverbs. Another example is when he discusses the technique known by film makers as jump cutting.
Secondly, even if you read only the bits targetted at non-fiction writers you would still gain a great deal of value from it.
For example, there is an excellent section on applying fiction techniques to non-fiction, which makes this book the perfect complement to Story Craft and the essays of Gay Talese.
This morning I was reading the section on metaphorically presenting the reader with an envelope. You have a choice: you can either stuff it with so much detail that the reader doesn’t have to do anything apart from reading. And if the reader becomes bored enough he or she won’t even do that. Or you could present the reader with just enough detail to kickstart their imagination. Again, some brilliant examples are given, including the opening lines of Wigan Pier by George Orwell.
Indeed, the examples are very enriching in themselves. One moment it’s a few lines from a short story, the next it’s a paragraph from a novel or a non-fiction book.
The book closes with a chapter on a better way of revising fiction, followed by a similar chapter on non-fiction.
But you don’t have to read the book chronologically, you can just dip in at random, as I have done.
All in all, an excellent investment for the serious writer.
You may also be interested in following my ‘experiments in styles’, in which I take the same simple story each week and rewrite it in a completely different style or genre.