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Handbook of Short Story Writing
Here's a collection of the most helpful articles from WRITER'S DIGEST magazine covering every aspect of short story writing. Every writer, from beginner to professional, will find guidance, encouragement, and answers to such concerns as how to make characters believable, developing dialogue, writer's block, viewpoint, the all-important use of conflict, and much more.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 23, 2018
I really enjoyed reading through this book. Overall, it has a good progression of articles, beginning with getting started, and ending with marketing. In between are glimpses of character development, how to write dialogue, different formats and tips for short stories, as well as general writing tips that will help authors of any length of stories (actually, the first half didn’t seem specific toward the short story writer at all).
Because this book was a compilation of articles by various authors, I found that if I didn’t like one article, I just had to get to the next one and then got something really helpful. I liked the diversity that it had.
There were a lot of great tips in here geared toward the beginning writer (and by “beginning writer,” I think it would apply to those who have not taken years of writing courses before they get “beyond” the usefulness of this book).
Because this is a secular book, it obviously has examples from all genres. If I were to purchase my own copy, there are some words I’d cross out as well as some examples I’d try to edit out. So, for a young conservative Christian writer, this may not be the best option unless they have someone older to proof it for them.
For the context of what this book is, I’m giving it five stars. To be consistent with my review system, content knocks off a star. It is one of the better books I’ve read on the writing craft (even though it's technically dated), and I anticipate reading the second book!
Because this book was a compilation of articles by various authors, I found that if I didn’t like one article, I just had to get to the next one and then got something really helpful. I liked the diversity that it had.
There were a lot of great tips in here geared toward the beginning writer (and by “beginning writer,” I think it would apply to those who have not taken years of writing courses before they get “beyond” the usefulness of this book).
Because this is a secular book, it obviously has examples from all genres. If I were to purchase my own copy, there are some words I’d cross out as well as some examples I’d try to edit out. So, for a young conservative Christian writer, this may not be the best option unless they have someone older to proof it for them.
For the context of what this book is, I’m giving it five stars. To be consistent with my review system, content knocks off a star. It is one of the better books I’ve read on the writing craft (even though it's technically dated), and I anticipate reading the second book!
April 28, 2016
This guide has some good advice (particularly "Making the Scene," "Mistreat your Characters," and "A Writer Never Quit"), but a lot of it is dated--the final article advises the writer to have a carbon copy of her manuscript in case she has to retype it. Also several articles came across as weirdly sexist. And many insisted that a "real" writer not bother with "slick" (commercial) stories and only write "quality" (literary) stories. Ugh.
March 2, 2010
Surprisingly relevant for being forty years old.
March 8, 2014
چیزهای جزئی که به نظرمان کم اهمیت می رسند و جلوی نوشتن مان را می گیرند را بهمان گوشزد می کند. تصورات قالبی مان را می شکند و کار و کار و کار...
May 31, 2019
The Goodreads blurb is “Some of the best advice available on how to create character, use description, create a setting and plot a short story.” The Amazon blurb is “Here's a collection of the most helpful articles from WRITER'S DIGEST magazine covering every aspect of short story writing. Every writer, from beginner to professional, will find guidance, encouragement, and answers to such concerns as how to make characters believable, developing dialogue, writer's block, viewpoint, the all-important use of conflict, and much more.”
Definitely some advice although not until the third section (Characterization). The first two sections read more like Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write, basically cheering sections for those unsure and/or starting out (which is to be expected. This was the handbook for the Writer’s Digest Fiction writing course).
I can believe that the separate chapters were Writer’s Digest articles. They both read as such and, from a business perspective, why solicit for something already owned?
Is it helpful? Yes. I was suprised at how much new (to me), useful information the book contained (once I got past the rah-rah sections).
There’s enough in here to keep writers developing their craft going for quite a while. I do recommend it.
I’ve written more on my blog.
Definitely some advice although not until the third section (Characterization). The first two sections read more like Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write, basically cheering sections for those unsure and/or starting out (which is to be expected. This was the handbook for the Writer’s Digest Fiction writing course).
I can believe that the separate chapters were Writer’s Digest articles. They both read as such and, from a business perspective, why solicit for something already owned?
Is it helpful? Yes. I was suprised at how much new (to me), useful information the book contained (once I got past the rah-rah sections).
There’s enough in here to keep writers developing their craft going for quite a while. I do recommend it.
I’ve written more on my blog.
January 31, 2024
“The Writer’s Digest: Handbook of Short Story Writing” - Edited by Frank A. Dickson and Sandra Smythe. Preface by Joyce Carol Oates.
This book is not your usual handbook I have come across. Each chapter is written by a different person. I’ve added my favourite parts:
This book gives practical advice on ideas, characters, dialogue, plotting, viewpoint, the scene, description, flashback, transition, conflict, revision and marketing.
“ ‘Art hallucinates Ego mastery,’ says Freud.
‘We must be true to our dreams,’ Kafka wrote.”
5 ways you can stay creative:
1. READ: “.. read widely enough to maintain a broad-spectrum knowledge of general publishing trends.”
2. MAKE NOTES
3. ROUTINE: “..sit there anyway!” “..you keep at it..” “…it will work if you give it a try.”
4. You can keep in touch with other writers: “Writing can be lonely, discouraging business and everyone engaged in it occasionally needs a few sympathetic cohorts to help build up the fires of their enthusiasm when the embers begin to burn low.” “You can’t make a career belonging to a writers club!”
5. You can keep your pathway cleared: “Use your fallow period wisely—and when it’s over you’ll find you are ready to move forward swiftly, with the zeal and freshness of a beginner coupled with the maturity of an experienced writer.”
6. “Fallow periods are a necessary, valuable part of every writers life. The way they are used—or misused—can make the difference, later on, between failure and the kind of success you dream of having.” - Jean Z. Owen
If you want to become a professional writer - determination and self-discipline!
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
“Fiction writing is the most intimate of all arts..” - Thomas H. Uzzell.
“Brainstorming by Yourself” - Dennis Whitcomb.
“F. Scott Fitzgerald said ‘A writer wastes nothing.’ “
“Empathy creates living characters in fiction” - Brian Cleeve.
“WATCH FOR WARTS” - Clayton C Barbeau.
“If the characters didn’t have any warts, he’d better give them some. It’s the only way his characters will cease being stereotypes or puppets and becoming living persons.”
“Creating a Lovable character: …. It is human nature to admire goodness..” - James Hilton.
Collaborators Anonymous - Robert Portune:
“Once you realise that your reader is the best collaborator you have, that his supply of memories and experiences will put the finishing touches on your sketch, then you’ll begin to develop the technique of choosing the elements of a scene that suit your purpose best.”
Keep it brief and blend it in - Don James.
“Description may be essential, but the word is out: keep in brief and blend it in.”
Writing with description - Ruth Engelken.
“Descriptions of ears, hair, neck, arms, feet, stance, body build, tone of voice, and type of gesture have all been used as character clues by one writer or another. Studying the prose of accomplished writers reveals the fact that most ordinary subject may be made extraordinarily interesting.”
“There is no such thing as a dull subject.”
Making the scene - F. A Rockwell.
“An expert has been defined as ‘someone who knows no more than you do, but who has it better organised and uses slides.”
“.. work like P G Wodehouse’s method of creating best-sellers. Start with an exciting scent and build your whole story around it, or whether you map out your plot first and then break it down into scene, each scene must contain:
1. Sharply delineated characters.
2. Clash or conflict that keeps building actively as something happens.
3. A time boundary (The When.)
4. A place boundary (The Where.)
5. An emotion boundary. (Its own specific mood in the story.) It day help you to study dictionary definitions of word: Scene.
SCENE-TEST YOUR STORY - Fred Grove:
1. MEETING - of the two forces involved in the conflict. Remember the 2 forces or persons must clash. There must be emotion.
2. PURPOSE: make every scene have a purpose.
3. ENCOUNTER: containing these possible elements: attempts—to interrogate or seek information; to inform, or convey information; to overcome by argument or logic, to convince; to persuade; to influence, impress, to compel.
4. FINAL ACTION: Win, lose or quit.
5. SEQUEL OR AFTERMATH: (a. state of affairs; b. State of mind)—which leads into your next scene.
Developing a Short Story from a Premise - Dennis Whitcomb
“You might want to start your story by writing out of premise similar to one of these:
1. Overwhelming ambition leads to dishonesty and finally results in discovery and punishment.
2. Love conquers irresponsibility.
3. Bragging leads to humiliation. “
“Your premise doesn’t have to be universal truth. It just has to be a statement which you can prove by your story. E.g., write a story about one of these premises:
- Ambition leads to success
- Ambition leads to failure
- Ambition leads to murder
- Ambition leads to death
- Ambition leads to dishonesty
- Ambition leads to responsibility ..”
“The premise should contain these 3 things: character, conflict and resolution.”
SO WRONG TO TELL THE TRUTH - John D Fitzgerald.
“If you can’t lie and exaggerate you can’t write fiction.”
“Make the complication even worse. Keep making it worse and worse until the solution becomes apparent to you.”
“Discovery and change is letting a character discover something he did not know or did not realise before, which results in his changing his mind.”
DRAMATISING CONFLICT IN THE SHORT STORY - Robert C Meredith and John D Fitzgerald.
HOW TO USE THE FLASHBACK IN FICTION - Susan Thaler.
“Flashback implies a digression from the present to some other point in time, it can, if skilfully applied, also bring an important sense of immediacy to any story.”
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW USING FLASH BACK IN FICTION - Mariana Prieto
“The flashback can keep the story fresh and interesting. But it must be deftly mixed in. Like in pieces in an intricate mosaic, we must fit the flashback in so that it blends with the rest of the story.”
“Beware, do not let the flashback be so long that it out balances the rest of your story.. become FLOPBACKS..”
“..short story should begin at a high point, dramatic scene, if possible..”
TRANSITIONS - Robert C Meredith and John D Fitzgerald.
1. “In writing, it’s effective to indicate a transition merely in terms of the physical appearance of the manuscript. One accomplishes this by leaving a space between the paragraphs twice as great as the customary one..”
(Which I already knew!)
2. “Let the reader anticipate a transition through use of dialogue, e.g. ‘Don’t forget our lunch engagement at Baltimore tomorrow,” she reminded Helen before driving home.’ “
3. “Let the reader anticipate a transition through use of narration, e.g., ‘After reminding Helen of their lunch engagement at Baltimore the following day, she drive on home.’ “
4. “In giving a reader a clue that the transition is going to take place, also let reader anticipate the setting of the next scene.”
5 suggestions for writing Transitions by Val Thiessen.
Emotion, Object, Weather, Name and Time.
IN THE BEGINNING by Jack Webb.
“In five seconds you can lose any reader, any editor, on the fact of the earth. Or, you can catch him. Catch him, as Sabatini did, with this sentence: ‘He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.’ - Rafael Sabatini, Scaramouchie. “
THE STORY’S MIDDLE - Katherine Greer.
“The writer must have the same sharp eye for proportion and tempo as they lead their characters through the body of the story..”
HOW NOT TO FIZZLE THE FINALE - F A Rockwell.
“To avoid this finale-fizzle, many successful writers have been using the write it backwards method ever since Edgar Allan Poe told authors to write the end first.”
“Be sure to plan your destination, the best route and necessary detours, as soon as you get an idea for a story, character or premise… Use inspirational impetus to work out the ending: 1) Satisfies, 2) fits the mood and subject matter, 3) packs a surprise of some kind, 4) is logical.
THE TWIST ENDING - Dennis Whitcomb.
“The deception can take any one of the 3 forms:
1. The lead character has caused his opposition to take drastic countermeasures to stop him.
2. The main characters false girl has succeeded in diverting his oppositions attention away from a real goal. Up until the last few paragraphs of the story the true goal has gone unnoticed..
3. The lead character has stated him intended goal and the opposition tries to stop him. The reader and opposition have been diverted by the obvious means of accomplishing the result or, most obvious meaning of the goal. The switch ending reveals that the goal was not what we understood it to be, no the obvious meaning.”
CHECKLIST FOR UNSALABLE STORIES - ALLAN W ECKERT.
“Oh, if only I had someone to tell me what’s wrong with this story!”
“It’s hard work to constructively criticise your own work..”
Checklist:
1. Have you started (your story) in the right place?
2. Is your beginning too slow?
3. Have you established the mood?
4. Have you been careful with flashbacks?
5. Have you written about something you know?
6. Have you dated your story?
7. Have you included unnecessary action?
8. Have you been redundant?
9. Have you included unnecessary characters?
10. Have you overworked a word or phrase?
11. Is your dialogue stilted?
12. Are your facts accurate?
13. Have you destroyed your scent or mood?
14. Have you been trite or “cute”?
15. Have you destroyed your scent or mood?
16. Have you said something that means something?
17. Has your action been consistent?
18. Is your story logical?
19. Have your protagonist solved their own problems?
20. Is it a story or an essay?
21. Is your climax too short?
22. Have you ended your story too soon or too late?
23. Have you been too wordy?
24. Have you written for yourself?
25. Have you let your reader think?
FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS - NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE - Merrill Joan Gerber.
“Pick up any modern magazine today, and you will find it it’s fiction the problems (or perhaps the pleasures) of adultery, divorce, promiscuity, homosexuality and other subjects .. would have been forbidden to print.”
SLICK FICTION AND QUALITY FICTION - Rust Hills.
“Judging stories…
1. What is the author trying to say?
2. How does he say it?
3. How well does he say it?
4. Was it worth saying?”
A WRITER NEVER QUITS - Fred Shaw.
“Somerset Maugham quotes: Writing is a habit that’s easy to get into and hard to break.”
TO MARKET, TO MARKET - Natalie Hagen:
“Keep in mind the fact that rejections are a normal part of the process of selling, and don’t let them discourage you. The late Ian Fleming received countless rejection slips before his James Bond series made him the most famous writers of his generation. Every successful writer have received rejection slips. This is how he/she learns… to sell what he/she writes.”
This book is not your usual handbook I have come across. Each chapter is written by a different person. I’ve added my favourite parts:
This book gives practical advice on ideas, characters, dialogue, plotting, viewpoint, the scene, description, flashback, transition, conflict, revision and marketing.
“ ‘Art hallucinates Ego mastery,’ says Freud.
‘We must be true to our dreams,’ Kafka wrote.”
5 ways you can stay creative:
1. READ: “.. read widely enough to maintain a broad-spectrum knowledge of general publishing trends.”
2. MAKE NOTES
3. ROUTINE: “..sit there anyway!” “..you keep at it..” “…it will work if you give it a try.”
4. You can keep in touch with other writers: “Writing can be lonely, discouraging business and everyone engaged in it occasionally needs a few sympathetic cohorts to help build up the fires of their enthusiasm when the embers begin to burn low.” “You can’t make a career belonging to a writers club!”
5. You can keep your pathway cleared: “Use your fallow period wisely—and when it’s over you’ll find you are ready to move forward swiftly, with the zeal and freshness of a beginner coupled with the maturity of an experienced writer.”
6. “Fallow periods are a necessary, valuable part of every writers life. The way they are used—or misused—can make the difference, later on, between failure and the kind of success you dream of having.” - Jean Z. Owen
If you want to become a professional writer - determination and self-discipline!
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
“Fiction writing is the most intimate of all arts..” - Thomas H. Uzzell.
“Brainstorming by Yourself” - Dennis Whitcomb.
“F. Scott Fitzgerald said ‘A writer wastes nothing.’ “
“Empathy creates living characters in fiction” - Brian Cleeve.
“WATCH FOR WARTS” - Clayton C Barbeau.
“If the characters didn’t have any warts, he’d better give them some. It’s the only way his characters will cease being stereotypes or puppets and becoming living persons.”
“Creating a Lovable character: …. It is human nature to admire goodness..” - James Hilton.
Collaborators Anonymous - Robert Portune:
“Once you realise that your reader is the best collaborator you have, that his supply of memories and experiences will put the finishing touches on your sketch, then you’ll begin to develop the technique of choosing the elements of a scene that suit your purpose best.”
Keep it brief and blend it in - Don James.
“Description may be essential, but the word is out: keep in brief and blend it in.”
Writing with description - Ruth Engelken.
“Descriptions of ears, hair, neck, arms, feet, stance, body build, tone of voice, and type of gesture have all been used as character clues by one writer or another. Studying the prose of accomplished writers reveals the fact that most ordinary subject may be made extraordinarily interesting.”
“There is no such thing as a dull subject.”
Making the scene - F. A Rockwell.
“An expert has been defined as ‘someone who knows no more than you do, but who has it better organised and uses slides.”
“.. work like P G Wodehouse’s method of creating best-sellers. Start with an exciting scent and build your whole story around it, or whether you map out your plot first and then break it down into scene, each scene must contain:
1. Sharply delineated characters.
2. Clash or conflict that keeps building actively as something happens.
3. A time boundary (The When.)
4. A place boundary (The Where.)
5. An emotion boundary. (Its own specific mood in the story.) It day help you to study dictionary definitions of word: Scene.
SCENE-TEST YOUR STORY - Fred Grove:
1. MEETING - of the two forces involved in the conflict. Remember the 2 forces or persons must clash. There must be emotion.
2. PURPOSE: make every scene have a purpose.
3. ENCOUNTER: containing these possible elements: attempts—to interrogate or seek information; to inform, or convey information; to overcome by argument or logic, to convince; to persuade; to influence, impress, to compel.
4. FINAL ACTION: Win, lose or quit.
5. SEQUEL OR AFTERMATH: (a. state of affairs; b. State of mind)—which leads into your next scene.
Developing a Short Story from a Premise - Dennis Whitcomb
“You might want to start your story by writing out of premise similar to one of these:
1. Overwhelming ambition leads to dishonesty and finally results in discovery and punishment.
2. Love conquers irresponsibility.
3. Bragging leads to humiliation. “
“Your premise doesn’t have to be universal truth. It just has to be a statement which you can prove by your story. E.g., write a story about one of these premises:
- Ambition leads to success
- Ambition leads to failure
- Ambition leads to murder
- Ambition leads to death
- Ambition leads to dishonesty
- Ambition leads to responsibility ..”
“The premise should contain these 3 things: character, conflict and resolution.”
SO WRONG TO TELL THE TRUTH - John D Fitzgerald.
“If you can’t lie and exaggerate you can’t write fiction.”
“Make the complication even worse. Keep making it worse and worse until the solution becomes apparent to you.”
“Discovery and change is letting a character discover something he did not know or did not realise before, which results in his changing his mind.”
DRAMATISING CONFLICT IN THE SHORT STORY - Robert C Meredith and John D Fitzgerald.
HOW TO USE THE FLASHBACK IN FICTION - Susan Thaler.
“Flashback implies a digression from the present to some other point in time, it can, if skilfully applied, also bring an important sense of immediacy to any story.”
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW USING FLASH BACK IN FICTION - Mariana Prieto
“The flashback can keep the story fresh and interesting. But it must be deftly mixed in. Like in pieces in an intricate mosaic, we must fit the flashback in so that it blends with the rest of the story.”
“Beware, do not let the flashback be so long that it out balances the rest of your story.. become FLOPBACKS..”
“..short story should begin at a high point, dramatic scene, if possible..”
TRANSITIONS - Robert C Meredith and John D Fitzgerald.
1. “In writing, it’s effective to indicate a transition merely in terms of the physical appearance of the manuscript. One accomplishes this by leaving a space between the paragraphs twice as great as the customary one..”
(Which I already knew!)
2. “Let the reader anticipate a transition through use of dialogue, e.g. ‘Don’t forget our lunch engagement at Baltimore tomorrow,” she reminded Helen before driving home.’ “
3. “Let the reader anticipate a transition through use of narration, e.g., ‘After reminding Helen of their lunch engagement at Baltimore the following day, she drive on home.’ “
4. “In giving a reader a clue that the transition is going to take place, also let reader anticipate the setting of the next scene.”
5 suggestions for writing Transitions by Val Thiessen.
Emotion, Object, Weather, Name and Time.
IN THE BEGINNING by Jack Webb.
“In five seconds you can lose any reader, any editor, on the fact of the earth. Or, you can catch him. Catch him, as Sabatini did, with this sentence: ‘He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.’ - Rafael Sabatini, Scaramouchie. “
THE STORY’S MIDDLE - Katherine Greer.
“The writer must have the same sharp eye for proportion and tempo as they lead their characters through the body of the story..”
HOW NOT TO FIZZLE THE FINALE - F A Rockwell.
“To avoid this finale-fizzle, many successful writers have been using the write it backwards method ever since Edgar Allan Poe told authors to write the end first.”
“Be sure to plan your destination, the best route and necessary detours, as soon as you get an idea for a story, character or premise… Use inspirational impetus to work out the ending: 1) Satisfies, 2) fits the mood and subject matter, 3) packs a surprise of some kind, 4) is logical.
THE TWIST ENDING - Dennis Whitcomb.
“The deception can take any one of the 3 forms:
1. The lead character has caused his opposition to take drastic countermeasures to stop him.
2. The main characters false girl has succeeded in diverting his oppositions attention away from a real goal. Up until the last few paragraphs of the story the true goal has gone unnoticed..
3. The lead character has stated him intended goal and the opposition tries to stop him. The reader and opposition have been diverted by the obvious means of accomplishing the result or, most obvious meaning of the goal. The switch ending reveals that the goal was not what we understood it to be, no the obvious meaning.”
CHECKLIST FOR UNSALABLE STORIES - ALLAN W ECKERT.
“Oh, if only I had someone to tell me what’s wrong with this story!”
“It’s hard work to constructively criticise your own work..”
Checklist:
1. Have you started (your story) in the right place?
2. Is your beginning too slow?
3. Have you established the mood?
4. Have you been careful with flashbacks?
5. Have you written about something you know?
6. Have you dated your story?
7. Have you included unnecessary action?
8. Have you been redundant?
9. Have you included unnecessary characters?
10. Have you overworked a word or phrase?
11. Is your dialogue stilted?
12. Are your facts accurate?
13. Have you destroyed your scent or mood?
14. Have you been trite or “cute”?
15. Have you destroyed your scent or mood?
16. Have you said something that means something?
17. Has your action been consistent?
18. Is your story logical?
19. Have your protagonist solved their own problems?
20. Is it a story or an essay?
21. Is your climax too short?
22. Have you ended your story too soon or too late?
23. Have you been too wordy?
24. Have you written for yourself?
25. Have you let your reader think?
FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS - NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE - Merrill Joan Gerber.
“Pick up any modern magazine today, and you will find it it’s fiction the problems (or perhaps the pleasures) of adultery, divorce, promiscuity, homosexuality and other subjects .. would have been forbidden to print.”
SLICK FICTION AND QUALITY FICTION - Rust Hills.
“Judging stories…
1. What is the author trying to say?
2. How does he say it?
3. How well does he say it?
4. Was it worth saying?”
A WRITER NEVER QUITS - Fred Shaw.
“Somerset Maugham quotes: Writing is a habit that’s easy to get into and hard to break.”
TO MARKET, TO MARKET - Natalie Hagen:
“Keep in mind the fact that rejections are a normal part of the process of selling, and don’t let them discourage you. The late Ian Fleming received countless rejection slips before his James Bond series made him the most famous writers of his generation. Every successful writer have received rejection slips. This is how he/she learns… to sell what he/she writes.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2010
A surprisingly relevant collection of little essays that could just as easily apply to writing novels as well as short stories. Most of them are written by professors, so you'll have to excuse the condescending way they tend to label stories as either "commercial" or "quality" fiction. To me, this is a completely arbitrary, irrelevant distinction to make. As if making money off your work makes you less of an artist. Almost all of the stories discussed about in this book were published in magazazines like Ladies' Home Journal and Good Housekeeping. Make of that what you will.
May 13, 2009
I found the content of this book to be poorly written and extremely dated. There is more than one way to write a short story and this book seems to think that short stories should be like perfectly shaped sugar cookies with no distinguishing differences.
March 29, 2015
این کتاب با ترجمه کاوه فولادی نسب و مریم کهنسال نودهی عزیز در چهار جلد ترجمه شده است که علاوه بر اینکه خواندنش لذت بخش است برای کسانی که علاقه مند به داستان نویسی هستند هم تجربه مثال زدنی ای هست. زبان روان و یکدستی ترجمه، به اثر بخشی هر چه بیشترش کمک کرده است.
June 29, 2024
I believe my mother bought this book a while ago just as something to throw on our living room coffee table, but since I've taken up creative writing over the past year, I figured I'd actually read it. While I'm currently working on a full-length novel, I do have some ideas for short stories I'd like to pursue. I understand that writing a novel v. short story are two different tasks, so I paid close attention to the advice given in this collection of essays. Some of them are applicable to any sort of storytelling, I feel, while other are curated more towards short story writing, specifically. I found one essay on the integration of flashbacks quite useful, since the novel I'm writing includes flashbacks in every chapter for the first two-thirds of it. I found another essay on eliminating unnecessary transitions helpful too, since that's especially important when writing short stories, and even more so important to me since it's currently one of my biggest flaws. Seriously, I have about 46k words written of my novel and I'm only 1/3 of the way through the story because I just spent so much time on the beginning and have only recently gotten into the meat of the story. I know I'm going to be deleting A LOT during the editing process. Anyways, when it comes to books about writing, I don't think this would be my go-to recommendation, but it's definitely helpful and I will be sure to carry some of its advice with me as I continue to write.
August 24, 2024
collection of writer's digest articles, aimed at new writers.
April 22, 2008
I read this in an attempt to pick up something worthwhile to help me out with writing the novel I'm working on. First published in 1970, this book was a little dated (lots of references to typewriters) and even sexist in places, but the first half of it regarding creativity and writing in general was really helpful.
The things I picked up from this book: Creativity is like a muscle which you can't sit on and expect to always be there. It's a use-it-or-lose-it sort of thing, which I fully believe since I find it hard to get back into writing and drawing when I take even a week off.
The other thing I picked up was the 1000 words a day rule to become a writer. I can see the value in this one, too, because the 1000 word point is about what I can comfortably write in any given day. Sometimes I get inspired and write twice that, but less doesn't seem to allow me to get into the mode.
Anyway, the last half of this book was pretty useless, as it's all intuitive stuff like "How to make your characters loveable" "How to come up with a plot" and "How to write dialogue". Other than the fact that I really need to learn proper grammar in a lot of cases for my dialogue, I didn't pick up anything I didn't already know from this part.
Overall though, it's a fair-to-middlin' book which is not without value.
The things I picked up from this book: Creativity is like a muscle which you can't sit on and expect to always be there. It's a use-it-or-lose-it sort of thing, which I fully believe since I find it hard to get back into writing and drawing when I take even a week off.
The other thing I picked up was the 1000 words a day rule to become a writer. I can see the value in this one, too, because the 1000 word point is about what I can comfortably write in any given day. Sometimes I get inspired and write twice that, but less doesn't seem to allow me to get into the mode.
Anyway, the last half of this book was pretty useless, as it's all intuitive stuff like "How to make your characters loveable" "How to come up with a plot" and "How to write dialogue". Other than the fact that I really need to learn proper grammar in a lot of cases for my dialogue, I didn't pick up anything I didn't already know from this part.
Overall though, it's a fair-to-middlin' book which is not without value.
June 9, 2012
I picked this up in an effort to get a handle on my one weak point in college creative writing classes: the short story. I've since learned that short stories don't always have closure, can be as short as 50 words and as long as 10,000, and can be as concise or as verbose as an author wants and still be good, but when I picked this up, my sotries weren't working, not for my professors at least. Unfortunately the professors weren't very good at giving concrete lessons in writing and the books they chose for textbooks weren't much better. This book gave me a good start as a beginning short story writer who had no idea how to trim her description to reasonable means or how to find the closure her professors demanded. I can't say the book gave me everything I needed or that it fixed every wrong in my writing, but it certainly gave me a start!
Now I just have to figure out how to get my novel voice back after aiming my writing for the more concise short story that actually has a better chance of publication (i.e. under 4500 words whenever possible).
Update: This book works particular well when read in conjunction with The WD Handbook of Short Story Writing Vol. II.
Now I just have to figure out how to get my novel voice back after aiming my writing for the more concise short story that actually has a better chance of publication (i.e. under 4500 words whenever possible).
Update: This book works particular well when read in conjunction with The WD Handbook of Short Story Writing Vol. II.
February 13, 2014
A very uneven collection of essays about writing, most focusing on the particulars of the short story.
I thought that about half of the content was quite pedestrian, only helpful to the most novice of writers. There are standouts among the essays, though: Eckert's "Checklist for Unsalable Stories" could prove useful, I found Cassill's essay on plot thought-provoking (and stocked with writing exercises), Rockwell's "Making the Scene" and "How not to Fizzle the Finale" pointed out problems I recently had with a story I'm working on (and possible solutions), and Joyce Carol Oates's preface provided a few memorable quotes.
Unlike some of the other readers, I did not think the book was sexist. Rather, because the book is from the 1960s, many of the stories selected for scrutiny hold more traditional values than the average "literary" story today. That doesn't really detract from the message of the essays.
However, some of the advice is a bit stale. I think that contemporary short stories do have somewhat different rules than those of the past, for example, the mash-up of genres has become quite commonplace.
I didn't feel like I wasted my time, but this is not my favorite Writing Book out there.
I thought that about half of the content was quite pedestrian, only helpful to the most novice of writers. There are standouts among the essays, though: Eckert's "Checklist for Unsalable Stories" could prove useful, I found Cassill's essay on plot thought-provoking (and stocked with writing exercises), Rockwell's "Making the Scene" and "How not to Fizzle the Finale" pointed out problems I recently had with a story I'm working on (and possible solutions), and Joyce Carol Oates's preface provided a few memorable quotes.
Unlike some of the other readers, I did not think the book was sexist. Rather, because the book is from the 1960s, many of the stories selected for scrutiny hold more traditional values than the average "literary" story today. That doesn't really detract from the message of the essays.
However, some of the advice is a bit stale. I think that contemporary short stories do have somewhat different rules than those of the past, for example, the mash-up of genres has become quite commonplace.
I didn't feel like I wasted my time, but this is not my favorite Writing Book out there.
July 10, 2010
As with every Writer's Digest publication I've read, this one is full of high quality and engaging articles and loads of practical advice. Some of it will resonate, and some won't, but it was all time well spent.
The only complaint I have is that while some of the articles were focused on topics specific to short stories, much of the book was applicable to short stories or novels alike. This is not necessarily a bad thing, unless you're looking specifically for information about short stories that separates them from novels. But in general, there is no such thing as too much advice like "...it takes a different kind of self-discipline to work on a story that may or may not appear in print sometime than it does to turn out a skit that is scheduled to be presented to a sympathetic audience a week from next Tuesday."
The only complaint I have is that while some of the articles were focused on topics specific to short stories, much of the book was applicable to short stories or novels alike. This is not necessarily a bad thing, unless you're looking specifically for information about short stories that separates them from novels. But in general, there is no such thing as too much advice like "...it takes a different kind of self-discipline to work on a story that may or may not appear in print sometime than it does to turn out a skit that is scheduled to be presented to a sympathetic audience a week from next Tuesday."
December 6, 2013
Extremely dated advice, mostly to Leave It to Beaver era housewives squeezing in some time to write domestic stories between packing their husband's lunch box and meeting with the ladies at the bridge club. Even the writerly craft advice seems to hearken to a different era, as when authors are cautioned to make sure their characters are likable, since a woman in her vanity surely wouldn't want to identify with a protagonist that wasn't "pretty and thin." When I checked the copyright dates of the essays included in the collection, my hunch was verified: these are mostly written in the late 50s. Anyway, once I abandoned any hope of getting meaningful advice on writing I turned my intentions to anthropology and enjoyed this as a cultural artifact.
January 20, 2015
Meh. I not impressed enough to rush right out and find anything else from Writer's Digest. I picked this up used for like a buck or two and it was probably worth that much. It's an older book and I don't think that the advice is dated or anything, it's just not really that interesting. Each chapter is from a different writer on a different topic and so maybe that's where the problem lies, it's a lot like a book of short stories in that some are better than others. I would call this a mediocre book at best.
December 18, 2025
I originally read this book, and Vol. II, when I purchased them back in 1994. In my goal to edit my collection of books, I re-read both books this Fall (2025). I found them not only still relevant—except for the chapter dealing with writing taboos—but a good refresher in not only short story writing but any fictional writing. I would recommend them to a beginner and anyone who needs a refresher. Needless to say, I am keeping these two.
February 18, 2016
I don't see a way to remove a book from my current reading list other than to say 'I'm finished'
. This is one that I put on a newly created shelf 'Set Aside for Now'....the exercises are not that interesting but as I work on writing short stories I may refer back to it for ideas. I've found other books that offer better guidance on this topic.
. This is one that I put on a newly created shelf 'Set Aside for Now'....the exercises are not that interesting but as I work on writing short stories I may refer back to it for ideas. I've found other books that offer better guidance on this topic.
March 28, 2011
Individual essays anthologized. I loved Collaborators Anonymous by Robert Portune.
September 29, 2012
When I took the Writer's Digest Short Story Course, this was the textbook that was used (along with a binder of material). It covers the foundational elements of short story writing.
May 31, 2015
I found this book full of encouraging and helpful advice. Clear-cut and broken into a somewhat start-to-finish layout. Lots of great tips for writing the short story.
October 26, 2015
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April 10, 2018Read about half of it and decided this book would be better to read later when I have a specific problem or question I want answered. Some of the sections were very dated (written in the 1950s) and, as such, were laughable given our current culture, but some useful info can be found betwixt and between.
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