Creating Short Fiction
2) Creating Short Fiction, by Damon Knight, 200 pages
This is an absolutely wonderful book on writing short stories from a guy who ought to know enough about it to fill several books. Damon Knight taught at the Clarion workshop for over thirty years, and in that time learned a lot about teaching, and a lot about learning.
Damon's writing about writing is clear, humorous, honest, and helpful, his insights are astute, and he doesn't pull punches. When he has biases, which all writers have, he admits to them openly. Also, it doesn't seem dated at all, and writing books tend to age quickly. Add the fact that Damon has a lot of respect for genre fiction, which sets him apart from many writers-about-writing, and you have a book suddenly very dear to my heart.
This book is really one of the best I've read, and it's one of the few I would unhesitatingly recommend, no matter your style or genre. Even novelists will find helpful information here. His discussion of the often opaque question of viewpoint was one of the clearest and most illuminating I have yet read.
In short, worth seeking out.
Part of the 50bookchallenge
link
This is an absolutely wonderful book on writing short stories from a guy who ought to know enough about it to fill several books. Damon Knight taught at the Clarion workshop for over thirty years, and in that time learned a lot about teaching, and a lot about learning.
Damon's writing about writing is clear, humorous, honest, and helpful, his insights are astute, and he doesn't pull punches. When he has biases, which all writers have, he admits to them openly. Also, it doesn't seem dated at all, and writing books tend to age quickly. Add the fact that Damon has a lot of respect for genre fiction, which sets him apart from many writers-about-writing, and you have a book suddenly very dear to my heart.
This book is really one of the best I've read, and it's one of the few I would unhesitatingly recommend, no matter your style or genre. Even novelists will find helpful information here. His discussion of the often opaque question of viewpoint was one of the clearest and most illuminating I have yet read.
In short, worth seeking out.
Part of the 50bookchallenge
link