The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova Read it!

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes
(And How To Avoid Them) by Jack M. Bickham Read it!

How To Write Mysteries by Shannon O'Cork Read it!

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King Read it!

The Writer's Guide to Creating a Science Fiction Universe by George Ochoa & Jeffrey Osier Read it!

Plot by Ansen Dibell Read it!

Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress Read it!

Bestseller: Secrets of Successful Writing by Celia Brayfield Read it!

How To Write Attention-Grabbing Query & Cover Letters by John Wood Read it!

Creating Short Fiction by Damon Knight Read it!

Fast Fiction by Roberta Allen Read it!

Paragons: Twelve Science Fiction Writers Ply Their Craft by Robin Scott Wilson, editor Read it!

Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law by Jonathan Kirsch Read it!

Speculations Magazine edited by Susan Fry Read it!

The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler Read it!

Discovering the Writer Within: 40 Days to More Imaginative Writing by Bruce Ballenger & Barry Lane Read it!

Wolfie's Whistle by Lisa Kelly Read it!

Telling Lies for Fun & Profit by Lawrence Block Read it!

How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card Read it!

Grammatically Correct: The Writer's Essential Guide to Punctuation, Spelling, Style, Usage and Grammar. by Anne Stilman Read it!

Writing for Magazines: Twelve New Things Writers Must Do Today to Make Money. by Meg Weaver Read it!

March 2001
Meg Weaver, Writing for Magazines: Twelve New Things Writers Must Do Today to Make Money.
More Info/Order

Meg Weaver is eminently qualified to provide writers with advice on writing for magazines. Her thousands of articles have appeared in magazine publications all over the world, and she currently operates Wooden Horse Publishing, "a news and market resource website for nonfiction periodicals writers."

This electronic book promises practical advice on marketing your articles, and it delivers on that promise magnificently. Not only does Ms. Weaver tell you how to develop new strategies for identifying relevant markets and pitching your articles with the greatest chance of success, she explains why these strategies work in a publishing world that has changed significantly over the past decade.

From deciphering enigmatic guidelines, to identifying what editors and their readers really want, to fine-tuning your article and query letter, Weaver explains it all--while giving readers a very telling glimpse into the world of periodical publishing. Her suggestions make sense because she demonstrates the imperatives of magazines in today's market.

Ms. Weaver also illustrates her points with lots of real-world examples. She shows as well as tells us how to get the most out of mission statements, query letters, and magazine staff. And she includes an appendix of 90 periodicals publishers with contact and other information.

Many of us are making our first tentative forays into reading electronic books. Many readers are even hesitant about trying out the medium, so I feel compelled to touch on the topic here. I found this book to be very easily readable onscreen. The author has obviously done her own research concerning font, layout, and general principles for screen readability, and come up with a combination that works. The electronic format lends itself especially well to books like this one, with references and links to outside Web information. Don't let the e-book format make you hesitate about purchasing and reading this book. You should find yourself pleasantly surprised.

If you feel your future as a writer is in the periodicals market, this book is definitely a must-read.

"Before circulation stalled, magazine publishing was simple: editors published the best articles, circulation grew, and money flowed. Now, they must have articles that complement their magazine's image in order to attract profit-making promotions...

Today, a magazine is not a vehicle to showcase reading material, or even to deliver readers to advertisers. The magazine itself has become an entity - a product - whose image must be maintained, at any cost.

Writers who want to be successful must understand this and write to meet the editors' new needs. It's a little more difficult than before but it can be done, if you know what you're doing."

- Meg Weaver, Writing for Magazines: Twelve New Things Writers Must Do Today to Make Money

reviewed by: Sherry Ramsey

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Anne Stilman offers up a handy guide with many practical applications in her book, Grammatically Correct. This presentation of an abundance of tips was, no doubt, gleaned from her more than 10 years as a professional editor. She also teaches seminars in copyediting and technical writing, and has been a guest lecturer for writers' organizations.

The book is structured into five sections with numerous subsections that cover punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, style, usage, and grammar. It also comes equipped with a very helpful (and comprehensive) index for quick reference. The book's style is clear and uncluttered, affording the reader not only an informative, but also a pleasurable read. The sections are well-stocked with examples and "test-yourself" exercises, providing the tools for a deeper understanding of the writing mechanics explained.

Grammatically Correct can be used not only as a handy reference or educational guide, but also as an excellent editing tool. Simply read a section of the book in which you feel your writing is weaker, then apply the skills you've reinforced to a current piece during your editing process. I've tried it, and it works! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wishing to brush up on their grammar or writing style, as well as for anyone who'd like a helpful device for that grueling process called "editing".

"A perspective I have tried to maintain throughout is that knowing the rules of the language does not mean applying them rigidly and unthinkingly. For one thing, these rules are not carved in stone - a glance at any style guide of another era would show how significantly attitudes to language can and do change. More importantly, writing is a combination of science and art. The guidelines outlined in this handbook are concerned with the former: They are the tools you need in order to be able to express your ideas unambiguously and elegantly. To go beyond mere correctness, however, you must know when to accommodate your style to the expectations of your audience; when to bend a little convention to capture a certain effect; when to go with common idiom instead of the rule book. Anyone armed with a pen or a keyboard can write. Good writing is achieved by those who understand innovation, creativity and the needs of their readers."

- Anne Stilman, Grammatically Correct: The Writer's Essential Guide to Punctuation, Spelling, Style, Usage and Grammar

reviewed by: Julie Serroul

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Science fiction and fantasy readers might be called a demanding bunch. They know what they like, they know what they want, they're intelligent and receptive to new ideas, and they can generally spot a speculative fiction impostor a mile off. If you want to write in this field, you'd better know what you're doing, and Orson Scott Card helps you become an expert with this excellent book.

It probably isn't going too far to call Card an icon in the field of modern science fiction. Until he did so in 1987, no writer had ever won both the Nebula and Hugo awards for best science fiction novel two years running. He is also a writing teacher, reviewer, playwright, and editor, and his advice in this book is as sound as you will find.

The book is divided into five sections: The Infinite Boundary, World Creation, Story Construction, Writing Well, and The Life and Business of Writing. As you might guess, much of the content goes beyond advice strictly for speculative fiction writers, but Card never forgets them as his primary audience. He is a competent and insightful guide as you venture into the world of the strange and unfamiliar.

Card makes reference to and uses examples from a wide range of writing throughout the book, from Indiana Jones movies to Beowulf, Octavia Butler to Tolkien. The longer sections are visually broken up into easily navigated divisions, and the style is friendly, familiar and helpful. Card also uses examples and anecdotes from his own life and writing, a personal touch that makes the book eminently readable.

How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy is an invaluable resource whether you are a newcomer to speculative fiction or a longtime fan and practitioner. Read it! You'll come away richer.

"The best storytellers are the ones who write, not to get rich and famous, but because they love good stories and long to share them with other people...The community built by speculative fiction is a particularly important one, because it includes, as audience and storytellers, many of the people who are most open to change and most accepting of strangeness. They are the visionaries, the cutting edge of society, the people who in their hearts are explorers and pioneers--and they draw some of their visions and receive some of their experiences from the work we offer them. It's a labor worth doing, and worth doing well."

Orson Scott Card, How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy

reviewed by: Sherry

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Have you ever wished you could sit down with an established author and have them tell you all the ins and outs of the writing life, how they do what they do, and how you can do it too? Then curl up with Telling Lies for Fun and Profit and let Lawrence Block talk your ear off.

Author of over 50 novels and countless short stories, and longtime columnist for Writer's Digest, Block freely shares insights into his writing life and his personal life, and how the two have intertwined over the years. Along the way he generously offers writing advice on topics from reading like a writer, to developing plots, to strengthening your writing. Few writers could come away from this book without learning something to help them improve their craft.

The book is a compilation of articles from Block's years as fiction columnist for Writer's Digest, and is divided into four main sections: "The Liar's Trade: Fiction as a Profession"; "Nose to the Grindstone, Shoulder to the Wheel: Fiction as a Discipline"; "Oh, What a Tangled Web: Fiction as a Structure"; and "One Damned Word After Another: Fiction as a Craft." By turns light-hearted, serious, and occasionally even poignant, Block looks at fiction writing from every perspective, and always with an eye to helping other writers learn from his experience and sometimes his mistakes.

Any writer interested in learning the craft, improving their skills, or just understanding more about the process of writing and being a writer, will profit from a reading of this book. And what's more, Lawrence Block is just plain fun to spend some reading time with.

From the book...
"Personally, I've always detested rewriting. When once I get to the end of a piece of work, whether it's a quickie short-short or a ten-pound novel, I bloody well feel finished. When I write The End, I mean it.

Years ago I hardly ever did any rewriting. I was churning out appalling quantities of pulp novels and my first drafts were publishable as they stood. I had enough natural facility so that my prose and dialogue got by. Plot and characterization barely existed in those books, so revision wasn't necessary to rectify inconsistencies in those departments.

My attitude at the time was a cavalier one. "I never rewrite," I was apt to say, "because I make it a point to get it right the first time around. It does seem easier that way."

Ah, the brashness of youth..."

- Lawrence Block, Telling Lies for Fun and Profit

reviewed by: Sherry

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Feeling blocked, blue or bored with your writing ideas (or lack thereof)? Then grab a pen and take a look at Discovering the Writer Within. Ballenger and Lane have the perfect prescription for getting the words flowing.

As the subtitle suggests, this inspiring book presents a 40-day writing program designed to unlock your creativity and imagination. The authors ask you to set aside half an hour for each day's freewriting session, and the sections are structured so that many exercises build on what you have done before. This contributes greatly to a feeling of accomplishment as the writer moves through the book, but you're not constrained to do it this way. The authors encourage jumping around between the sections if the mood strikes. The focus is on freeing your writing, not adding further limitations.

Each day's section contains an initial writing prompt or prompts; "Seeing what you said," in which you are encouraged to consider the exercise you just completed; "Writer to Writer," a short topical essay by one of the authors; and "Follow Through," which suggests more ways to build on the exercise. Exercises range from brainstorming on a given topic to freewriting about a photograph to going out into the world and eavesdropping. I can practically guarantee that you will not be bored with these writing workouts!

Even if your writing is proceeding smoothly, without obstacles or lapses, Discovering the Writer Within can push you to a new level. The exercises encourage thinking about things you may not have considered before, and for writers, keeping an open and imaginative mind is one of the key elements in producing fresh, intriguing writing. This is one prescription you should get filled without delay.

From the book...
"Forty days is the period of time most mental institutions hold patients before committing them. When you're through writing this book, you can decide whether you want a room at the Writer's Hotel, or whether you want to wander penless through the world. Whatever you decide, you will have learned something."

- Bruce Ballenger & Barry Lane, Discovering the Writer Within

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"Wolfie has a problem. He is a wolf with no howl. Can he overcome his fear and join the other wolves on Howling Hill?"

With this brief introduction, Lisa Kelly invites children and adults alike into this delightful read-along picture book. Readers are immediately drawn to Wolfie and his problem, for who among us has not experienced the feeling of not fitting in where we think we should?

I sat down to read Wolfie's Whistle for the first time with my six-year-old daughter, and she caught my eye with a look of excited anticipation after I read these few opening lines. I knew then that she was hooked. As the tale progressed, as Wolfie offers to help his friend Jenny the Giraffe and receives encouragement and advice in return, she stayed glued to the screen. Reading an electronic book together was a somewhat new experience for us, and we both enjoyed seeing the characters come to life in Lee Fleming's brightly-colored and engaging illustrations. When the book was finished, her final endorsement was a request that I read it again. What more can I say? Wolfie's Whistle is a charmer.

Wolfie's Whistle is also a picture book with subtle messages. It encourages children to seek out help with problems, and look inside themselves to find courage to attempt something new. It illustrates the value of friendship and faith in one's abilities. But first and foremost it tells an interesting and appealing story that children will enjoy.

My only criticism of the book stems from the fact that on a 14-inch computer monitor, one can't view the entire illustration and read the text at the same time. This is more a layout consideration than a criticism of the book itself, and perhaps something we must learn to deal with as reading to our children transforms into a digital endeavor.

Read our recent interview with Lisa Kelly here.

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Storytelling has been around for a long time. And although forms, formats, tastes and technology are always changing, there are some storytelling principles that are almost universal. If you learn these principles, you'll tell a good story.

That's the message of The Writer's Journey. Vogler's work is an extension and expansion of Joseph Campbell's concepts in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which proposes that life principles and patterns are embedded in the structure of the most successful stories. Campbell and Vogler both suggest that every good mythic story passes through a number of stages, the "Hero's Journey", and that these principles can be applied to modern writing to great effect. Vogler outlines the stages that the Hero's Journey may follow to produce a solid, mythic structure-based tale, discussing "Archetypes", "Mentors", the "Call to Adventure", the "Ordeal", and other steps along the way.

Vogler cautions, however, that the stages of the Hero's Journey do not amount to a formula. They are rather a form, that can be applied to an endless variety of stories in an endless variety of ways. To illustrate, he applies the form to such diverse films as Titanic, Star Wars, The Lion King, Pulp Fiction, and others. The main focus of The Writer's Journey applies the Hero's Journey form to writing for the screen, but it is thoroughly applicable to all forms of storytelling.

Vogler travels each step of the Hero's Journey in a separate chapter that explains what is happening in story terms at that particular stage, examines numerous variations on the theme, and poses questions at the end of the chapter to allow the reader to apply what he's read. He makes frequent reference to many modern and popular films to show the principles at work. The book closes with a detailed application of the Hero's Journey model to four modern films, an excellent illustration of Vogler's principles in action.

From the book:
"The stages, terms, and ideas of the Hero's Journey can be used as a design template for stories, or as a means of troubleshooting a story so long as you don't follow these guidelines too rigidly...don't mistake the map for the journey. You don't drive with a map pasted to your windshield. You consult it before setting out or when you get disoriented. The joy of a journey is not reading or following a map, but exploring unknown places and wandering off the map now and then. It's only by getting creatively lost, beyond the boundaries of tradition, that new discoveries can be made."

-Christopher Vogler, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

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This month we take a look at something a little different: Speculations, a bi-monthly market resource magazine for writers of speculative fiction.

As any writer working in the speculative fiction field knows, markets can come and go with amazing speed. Speculations strives to provide up-to-the minute data on markets that have folded, opened, are heavily stocked, temporarily out of commission, or in any of the myriad other states of being that publications can inhabit from time to time. Market reports are brief but pithy, and include shortest, average, and longest response times. Speculations also provides news on contests, anthologies, conferences, writers' organizations, and the publishing industry in general.

In addition to all of this, issues contain numerous articles, some on writing in general, some more specific to the speculative fiction genres (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all the permutations thereof). The latest issue (October 1999) contains such articles as "On Agenting and Stuff" by Algis Budrys, "Personal Horror" by Tim Waggoner, an interview with Warren Lapine of DNA Publications, and several others. Well-known SF writer Mike Resnick answers questions in his advice column. And guess what? There are NO ADS!

The Speculations website can be found at www.speculations.com if you'd like to get a taste of the magazine firsthand. They provide periodical "freebies", which are scaled-down versions of the actual magazine, and feature some sample articles. You can have a "freebie" mailed out to you or download it from the website.

Perhaps the best feature of Speculations is its specificity; writers in the sf/f/h field often find themselves left out in the cold by the more mainstream writers' magazines, just getting in the back door as "fiction writers". Speculations celebrates the wonder and magic of writing in the speculative fiction genre, as well as providing the bottom line on the hard realities of marketing the same.

From the Speculations website:

"...Speculations is a magazine for writers who wish to break into or increase their presence within the science fiction, fantasy, horror, or "other" speculative fiction genres. Towards that end, we publish instruction, advice, editorials, columns, genre-specific articles, questions and answers with the experts, resource guides, interviews with editors, publishers, and agents, and--of course!--the best market information available anywhere."

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Sooner or later (so we all hope), we as authors are going to be confronted with some aspect of publishing law: copyright & idea protection, agency concerns, or those elusive publishing contracts. Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law is an extremely helpful starting point for understanding the rights, obligations, and legal considerations of the publishing industry.

The book is divided into eight chapters, covering copyright and trademark issues, agent relationships, co-authorship, contracts, electronic rights, and much more. A chapter of "Briefs" offers short summaries of legal issues that are not dealt with in any of the preceding chapters, and a library of useful sample forms rounds out the book.

Kirsch, an author as well as a practicing lawyer, strives throughout the book to keep the language simple and accessible to those without legal training, avoids "legalese" where possible, and explains specific terminology in understandable terms. He also cautions, at the outset of the book, that it is not a replacement for legal counsel, but rather an aid in understanding when legal counsel is advisable or necessary.

Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law is not a dry dissertation, but a lively and well-written book. It is peppered with sidebars full of helpful hints and summaries of actual incidents that illustrate the points under discussion, and information on specific legal issues is easy to pinpoint. A very useful addition to any writer's bookshelf!

"The contract for my very first novel was an old-fashioned document printed on long sheets of legal-sized paper, dense with boilerplate...Like most new authors, I was so delighted to be published at all, and so hungry for the advance, that I promptly signed the contract without bothering to read it.
...Yet the publishing agreement is the single most important document in a book deal... "

- Jonathan Kirsch, Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law

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This month our book review looks at a slightly different type of book. Paragons is a collection of science fiction stories, each accompanied by an essay on writing by the story's author. This book is an excellent illustration of how working writers view their work, themselves, and the writing process.

For those of you who do not consider yourselves fans of science fiction, I urge you not to discount this book out-of-hand. Both the stories and the essays are grouped according to topics of concern for all writers, regardless of genre: plot, character, setting, theme, point of view, and style. And the stories demonstrate the wide breadth of science fiction, from the pitfalls of amateur time-travelling in Nancy Kress's "The Price of Oranges", to the mind of a would-be killer in James Patrick Kelly's "Monsters", to technology gone awry in Joe Haldeman's "Feedback" and Greg Bear's "Sisters". Non-sf readers might be surprised to find that science fiction covers far more ground than they previously thought.

The editor, Robin Wilson, provides a short introductory essay to each of the six sections, then lets the stories and the authors speak for themselves. While most books on writing do provide many excerpts and illustrations for the points they are making, the close juxtaposition of these complete stories and essays offer the possibility of a much deeper understanding of the story elements and how the authors have deliberately, and sometimes serendipitously, used them.

Along with discussing particular aspects of each story, the authors dispense large chunks of practical general writing advice in their essays. Lucius Shepard, in his essay "God Is In The Details", says "...always remember that the perceptions of your point-of-view character are the lens through which you must create your setting; if you do not know him extremely well, you will at best do an inconsistent job of creating the world in which he lives." Much of the advice is like this, broadly applicable to writing in almost any field. Paragons is excellent reading for any aspiring writer.

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"You have five minutes to write a story about a grudge. Five minutes to write a story about falling. Five minutes to write a story about a laugh. Go!"

The above is from the dust jacket of Roberta Allen's wonderful and inspiring book, Fast Fiction. And if that little quote makes you itch to start writing, you'll love what the rest of the book has to offer.

Allen includes over three hundred writing prompts for five-minute writing sprints, from one-word topics like those above to visual images and questions to consider about them. And she explains, in detail, how you can polish the resulting nuggets of stories into jewels of short short fiction, or use them to develop longer works. The book is likewise divided into these three sections; "The Short Short Story", "The Exercises" and "Writing Longer Stories and Novels".

The section of writing prompts alone is worth the price of the book. The applications are numerous. They make great block-breakers, because they give the writer direction, they're non-threatening (who can't write for five minutes, after all?), and they get the brain working at something other than the piece that's causing trouble. They also make wonderful exercises for creative writing groups.

And with the fast-rising demand for shorter fiction by web markets, Allen's exercises could help you jump-start several salable pieces. The best part about the book is that the author not only gives you the prompts to get you started, she discusses what to do with the results to turn them into something more. With Fast Fiction on your bookshelf, it should be a long, long time before you're stuck for something to write about.

"I can tell you in advance that you will not be spending your time and energy wondering what to write and how to write it. The five-minute exercises will take care of that. The words will flow faster than you can imagine. You have already accumulated more stories in your mind than you will ever find time to use. These stories will surprise you. They are not the ones you expected to write. They live in a deeper place in your mind--in your unconscious. Like an oilman, you will dig deep inside your well and bring forth riches."

-Roberta Allen, Fast Fiction: Creating Fiction in Five Minutes

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If you want to know about writing short fiction, do not miss this book. And don't make the mistake of thinking that because it is written by Damon Knight, founder of Science Fiction Writers of America and lifelong SF writer, its advice is genre-specific. It isn't. Knight's advice spans all the boundaries and deals with the practical matters that any writer of short fiction must confront and consider.

And unlike many books on writing, this one is actually fun to read. I felt, through much of the book, as if I were taking a stroll with Knight and just chatting about writing. His style is informative without being condescending, and very engaging. Some people are natural teachers, and this books testifies that Damon Knight is one of those people.

The text is peppered with diagrams and exercises, and includes one of Knight's own stories, annotated to illustrate many of the points the book covers. The book is divided into six main sections: "Developing Your Talent As A Writer"; "Idea Into Story"; "Beginning A Story"; "Controlling A Story"; "Finishing A Story"; and "Being A Writer". Each section is subdivided into many smaller parts, and the flow from each section to the next is superbly handled. Knight addresses each aspect of story construction in detail without ever losing sight of how each part relates to the story as a whole.

To illustrate his points, the author quotes from many and varied works, from Mark Twain to Somerset Maugham, from Dashiell Hammett to Edgar Allan Poe. Although his own writing experience has been in the field of science fiction, Knight is obviously well-read and a master at revealing how the basic structures of well-built stories work in any genre. This book is an excellent learning tool and a joy to read.

"A successful story, like a healthy organism, is all one thing, not just a collection of parts. Everything in it fits together, flows together, harmonizes. If every story were successful, there would be no reason other than academic curiosity to talk about the component parts of stories. It's when something goes wrong, or when you're trying to master a new skill, that you need to know what the components are and how they work...

Try to improve your writing one piece at a time--work on your characterization, for instance, or dialogue, or plotting, until you have made some progress; then turn to another aspect and work on that. If you try to learn everything at once, you will paralyze yourself (like the caterpillar who was asked in what order he moved his legs), by too much conscious attention to the rules."

-Damon Knight, Creating Short Fiction

Read a short interview with Damon Knight at Amazon.com

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Yes, it really is an entire book dealing only with writing letters. Well, there are a few proposals thrown in, too. If you want the editor's first impression of you and your work to be a favorable one, this is the book for you.

Wood, an editor himself, says that most cover and query letters are almost right. They're just a little off the mark. He also suggests that the contents of this book will help you improve your writing sales. In it, he offers what writers most feel the lack of: feedback from someone on the other side of the editor's desk.

The book is divided into eight straightforward chapters, such as "The Art of Correspondence", "The Article Query: The Ten Query Commandments" and its counterpart, "The Ten Query Sins", "The Cover Letter", and chapters on novel and nonfiction queries, proposals, and synposes. The last chapter deals with specific letters outside the bounds of the preceding chapters.

Wood provides samples of all the letter types, both the good and the bad, making it very easy to learn by example. He also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of these samples, not simply saying "do this" and "don't do that", but explaining why. The book proposals and synopses are presented in the same manner.

The book is easy-to-read and very clearly presented throughout, and the tone is helpful and friendly. It is a reference that every writer should at least peruse once before submitting his or her work. The author's claim that following his advice will lead to increased sales is very likely true. And who among us couldn't use a little help sometimes?

"By the time you finish this book, I guarantee that your writing sales will improve. And I don't mean a little--I mean a lot...Most query letters aren't that far off the mark; a few minor adjustments are usually all that's needed to fine-tune your technique--and start earning money. Consider this book your toolbox and owner's manual; all you have to do is make the calibrations."

-John Wood, How To Write Attention-Grabbing Query & Cover Letters

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Celia Brayfield, author of Pearls, White Ice, The Prince, and Harvest, takes an in-depth look at the phenomenon of "bestsellers" in this thoughtful, probing, and informative book.

Part "how-to" book and part philosophical examination, Bestseller delves into the hows, whys, and whats of bestselling novels. Brayfield looks at the evolution of the bestselling novel and how societal changes have influenced it, and vice versa. She also examines who our readers are, and what they demand from a book. Those that meet these demands go on to be bestsellers.

In subsequent chapters, Brayfield discusses the three initial choices the writer must make (location, character, and theme), and guides us through the necessary evils of research and planning. She outlines the techniques that will keep the reader turning pages, and provides a straightforward chapter titled, "What Every Story Needs." Frequent excerpts from popular novels illustrate many of the techniques discussed. The last section of the book considers writing as a process and the publishing industry.

Brayfield does more in this book than attempt to outline what works and what does not. She also examines why, which sets this book apart from many other writing books. By understanding our readers and our society, Brayfield posits, we have a much better chance of providing them with the kinds of stories they hope to find when they walk into a library or bookstore. Although filled with practical writing advice, Bestseller also makes us think about books in the context of our world, hopefully leading us to a deeper understanding of how what we do as writers can make a difference in the lives of our readers.

"All popular culture tells stories, and the stories which are told are about ideas which are important to very large numbers of people. They are stories which are superficially about fictional characters, invented places and fantastic scenarios, but which in fact are about ordinary life. They pretend to be nothing but entertainment, but in fact address the hopes and fears of the whole human race. They present themselves as modern stories, even stories about the future, but when analysed and compared with the literature of the past, they are revealed as very old stories; most of them have been told for as long as people have used language, certainly long before the invention of writing. They are myths...Modern mythology is what entertains us on a Saturday night."

-Celia Brayfield, Bestseller: Secrets of Successful Writing

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If you're a reader of Writer's Digest magazine or of science fiction, you're probably familiar with author Nancy Kress. Her monthly "Fiction" column in Writer's Digest is invariably packed with solid, useable, practical advice on fiction-writing techniques, and she delivers the same help in Beginnings, Middles & Ends.

Another of the Writer's Digest Elements of Fiction Writing series, this book takes the reader along the path of a story or novel, from the opening scene to the last sentence, and through every bump and pothole along the way. Kress examines in detail the problems of making early revisions, staying on track through the middle of the story, and character development. She also devotes an entire chapter to "Help for Middles: Getting Unstuck", a difficulty that challenges a large percentage of authors, and offers another on the importance of delivering on your promises to provide a satisfying ending for your tale.

As she does in her monthly columns, Kress provides concrete examples from many published works, and follows a hypothetical plotline throughout the book to illustrate her points. She also provides interesting and thought-provoking exercises at chapter ends, to strengthen and reiterate the chapter's advice. As is usual in this series, chapters are broken down into small sections with bold subtitles, making it easy to locate help for specific problems.

One of Nancy Kress's great strengths in providing advice is her encouraging tone. The reader feels that Kress has been there, experienced the same problems and worked out the answers, and wants to help you do the same. The subject-matter of Beginnings, Middles & Ends seems a lot to cover in one book, but the author does so comprehensively, practically, and in a friendly and accessible style. A useful book for any fiction writer.

"Learning about writing won't help you write better unless you actually apply what you learn to a story in progress...There's no substitute for practice...
What is teachable, and what this book can help you with, is craft. Craft is the process of getting the story in your head onto the page in a form that readers can follow, remain interested in, and enjoy...Craft can help you narrow--if not completely eliminate--the gap between the story in your head and the story on the page."

-Nancy Kress, Beginnings, Middles & Ends

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Since plot is, after all, the foundation of almost any story, it is not unusual to find an entire book devoted to its intricacies. What is more unusual is to find the subject covered in such an easygoing, practical, and helpful style. Dibell's book would be an invaluable addition to any writer's library.

Part of Writer's Digest's The Elements of Fiction Writing series, Plot breaks down the concept of plotting a story into easy chapters, such as "Grand Openings", "Early Middles", and "Patterns, Mirrors, and Echoes". Dibell works his way through the various elements involved in plotting, both explaining their significance and offering tips on how to accomplish them successfully. It is also easy to find help on a particular problem, as each chapter is broken down into related sections with subheadings.

Dibell discusses viewpoint, subplots, and scene-building, as well as pacing, transitions, and various other plot considerations. He utilizes examples from many popular published works to illustrate his points and keep the text interesting and fresh. The book not only tells, it shows, in an engaging and encouraging style. If you follow Dibell's advice and apply it to your own writing, you will certainly avoid the pitfalls of plotting and emerge with a strong and vibrant storyline.

The author closes with a chapter titled "Beyond Plot", which discusses strategies for stories of a more literary or experimental type, in which plot is not as central a consideration. He posits that even in these types of stories, there must seem to be movement in order to hold the reader's interest, and discusses mosaic structure, collage, and revelation as appropriate strategies.

Overall, Plot is a friendly, informative, and valuable discussion of the ways in which we can make our stories move, evolve, and come to life to keep our readers turning pages right up to the end.

"...It's important to recognize that all the false starts, the fizzled conclusions, the saggy, random middles, the corners you paint your characters into, and all the rest of the trolls that pop up from under what seemed safe bridges are a normal part of fiction writing...That's what this book is about: learning to put a name to the problem and then deciding which, of the whole array of possible choices, is the one that's appropriate for your story, whether short fiction or long."

-Ansen Dibell, Plot

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Today's average science fiction reader is intelligent, skeptical, and well-versed in the hard realities of science. SF writers, to meet the high expectations of today's readers, must build their stories on a strong foundation of scientific knowledge. Do you need a science degree to write SF? No, but you could definitely use this book.

Ochoa and Osier set out to provide the SF writer with enough scientific knowledge to present a believable and scientifically detailed story, whether it concerns alien life, space travel, nanotechnology or genetic manipulation. They make a clear distinction between imaginary science, one of the cornerstones of SF, and wrong science, the death knell of an SF story.

While the book is absolutely loaded with information to set the SF writer on the right track, it has another very strong aspect; it's extremely interesting! If you want to write SF, there's a 99% chance you're interested in SF, and the book is a great read from that perspective alone. Even if your story is not about aliens, the chapter on alien biochemistry and planetary influences on the development of life is fascinating. And if your story is set in Earth's future, knowing a little about space stations, a very real future possibility, couldn't hurt.

There is some fairly detailed science here, but Ochoa and Osier have obviously worked hard to make the book readable and understandable. There are tables and sidebars, such as "How Hot is a Star?" and "A Tour Through A Genetics Laboratory", which contain specific information, but the authors are careful to define all their terms and make it easy for the SF writer to apply the information to their own work. Chapters are divided into short sections with bold subheadings, making it easy to find information on specific topics. And while the book is not a complete scientific resource, it can certainly point the SF writer in the right direction for further research.

"If your SF story contains a glaring misconception or is peppered with small errors, you will break the narrative spell you are trying to create. Your readers will become doubtful about the voice telling the story...Of course, mere accuracy does not guarantee that a story will be published or please its audience. But an inaccurate story does not even give itself the chance."

-George Ochoa & Jeffrey Osier, The Writer's Guide to Creating a Science Fiction Universe

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No beginning fiction writer should be without a copy of this book. That's a strong endorsement, but one which this practical, informative, and entertaining book fully deserves.

Browne and King, both professional editors, guide the fiction writer through twelve chapters of specific, essential, example-packed advice. They deal with such practical matters as point of view and character and exposition, as well as the more subtle issues of sophistication and voice. Each chapter deals with a specific aspect of writing, so it is easy to quickly find help on the issue of greatest concern. Excerpts from many published works are used to illustrate the techniques and pitfalls described. Besides pointing out writing errors, the authors go the extra step to provide examples of how to fix those errors, invaluable to beginning writers.

Each chapter ends with two valuable additons: a checklist to be applied to the reader's own manuscript, with hints for finding errors and correcting them; and several exercises to reinforce the material covered in the chapter. Answers are provided, so the reader can assess his or her own ability to pick up on and correct particular errors.

The tone of the book is friendly and instructive, concise and practical. Even established authors could benefit from the advice of the authors, since all writers can use an editor. Why not be your own? With this book, you can.

The only way, really, to learn editing is to learn it from an editor.

Which is what you'll be doing with this book. We aren't going to tell you how to plot your novel or develop your characters. What we're going to do is teach you the craft of editing. The mechanics of dialogue, point of view, interior monologue, the tricks to striking the most effective balance between narrative summary and immediate scenes; the techniques whose adoption brands your manuscript as the work of a professional instead of an amateur.

...once that first draft is finished, you can use the principles in this book to increase--dramatically--the effectiveness of the story you've told and the way you've told it.

-Renni Browne & Dave King, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

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In How to Write Mysteries, mystery writer Shannon OCork shares wisdom and advice about all aspects of writing for this popular genre.

OCork begins with a useful discussion of subgenres within the mystery field. Then, using examples from published works and a hypothetical plotline created specifically for this book, she explores such topics as characters, clues, and the stylistic requirements of successful mystery writing. Throughout the book, OCork sets off her main points in bulleted paragraphs, which is helpful to the reader in finding advice on specific questions and summing up explanations.

The final section of the book deals with submissions, marketing, and agents, and the particulars of selling in the mystery market.

OCork writes in a friendly and helpful style, very readable and encouraging. She is speaking to kindred spirits, the writers who see small mysteries all around, the writers who have what she calls "the murderous spirit".

"The mystery writer is, by nature, the sweetest writer of them all. The mystery writer is in touch with his killer instinct...Pure of heart, but in touch with the sinister, we write...and write well. Evil is punished at last. The innocent are freed from their oppression and life's terrible obstacles are cleared away. Goodness triumphs when all is blackest, just as the villain's knife flies toward the beauty's throat.
Ah, how good."

-Shannon OCork, How To Write Mysteries

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Jack Bickham, author of more than seventy-five published novels and numerous books on writing, shoots from the hip with a no-nonsense list of do's and dont's.

Each short chapter addresses one of the writing mistakes Bickham has identified, such as "Don't Duck Trouble" and "Don't Drop Alligators Through the Transom". The writing is lively and peppered with examples, and the author's tone is straightforward, personal and practical.

Most writers will find themselves on at least one of the pages of this book, and Bickham provides solid, clear advice on how to stop falling into the writing traps he identifies. The short-chapter format also makes it easy for the reader to zero in on a particular problem area for fast and specific advice.

"My hope is that be seeing a common error stated boldly in the section heading, you will look harder at your own copy to see if you might be committing the same mistake...my message is positive--always. In every section you'll find a common mistake described, but you'll also find how to avoid that error, or build in a strength as a replacement for a previous weakness."

- Jack M. Bickham, The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes

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Well-known science fiction writer Ben Bova teaches by example in this practical, interesting, and informative book.

Bova specifically addresses four main fiction elements: Character, Background, Conflict and Plot, and provides for each element a discussion on theory, a short story of his own for illustration, and an examination of how the theory comes into practice in the story.

At the end of each section, Bova also provides a checklist of the points discussed. These checklists are particularly useful for a novice writer attempting to evaluate his or her own story, and are applicable to almost any genre.

The last section of the book addresses considerations particular to novel writing, advice on marketing your fiction, and a chapter on style and inspiration.

Bova's style is friendly and encouraging throughout, and the practical examples and checklists make this book a worthwhile read for all writers.

"Since the time when storytelling began...people have developed workable, usable, successful techniques for telling their tales...The techniques have changed very little over the centuries because the human brain has not changed…

Homer used these techniques. So did Goethe and Shakespeare.

And so will you, if and when you become a successful storyteller. I hope this book will help you along that path."

- Ben Bova, The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells

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