The craft of fiction

by Bill Knott

Book by Knott, Bill

Genres: Writing

149 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Bill Knott spent most of his youth in Chicago. He also taught poetry at Columbia College in Chicago in the early 1970s.

His first book was The Naomi Poems, published in 1968, under the pseudonym Saint Giraud. His many books of poetry include Auto-necrophilia, Love Poems To Myself, Rome in Rome, The Quicken Tree, Selected and Collected Poems, and Laugh At the End of the World: Collected Comic Poems 1969–1999.

He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003. He is currently an associate professor of English at Emerson College in Boston.

In recent years, he has several times made all of his collected poems available for free online.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although many of the suggestions about publication in this book are quite dated, the general writing principles are still sound. I recommend readers by-pass Part One, as much of his advice no longer applies, and skip ahead to Parts Two and Three, which include in-depth discussions about the craft of writing. The exercises and guidelines throughout these sections are clear and helpful. I only suggest reading Part One if you’re interested in laughing at Knott’s overtly sexist language and reclusive stance (I know this was published in the seventies, but it still makes me bristle). Here are a few choice excerpts:
On submitting your manuscript to a publishing house and moving it up the editorial ladder:
“Usually it is the first reader, some young girl fresh out of college with a degree in English literature, hoping that it is your manuscript that will help her make it big in the editorial world….If it remains alive, it finally arrives on the desk of the senior editor; and from there—if he likes it…”
On marriage and family:
“You will find that everything has to be subordinated to this consuming preoccupation…for this reason it is best if you don’t marry, since this sort of monomania is notoriously hard on wives and offspring….This will make you a pest to those who know you and a distinct annoyance to your wife.”
“Do you plan to get married and still become a writer? If you are already married, does your writing take a back seat to your activities as a married man?”

[Elizabeth Houseman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this. The only reason I gave it four stars rather than five is because it has some outdated information on publishing that no longer applies. Other than that, this book was encouraging and interesting. It was filled with great writing advice and truths of the writing life. While this is designed for a classroom, it is completely applicable to the lone writer. I'd definitely recommend reading this book!

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was OK. Parts of it about the state of the marketplace are pretty badly dated now, but the details about character and plot and narrative are still true.

[Peggy Leavey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful book for the beginning to mid-career writer.

[Lance Greenlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for beginning fiction writers: It covers the basics well, and the illustrative examples are quite readable.