The Art of Writing Fiction

by Andrew Cowan

The Art of Writing Fiction guides the reader through the processes of creative writing from journal-keeping to editing, offering techniques for stimulating creativity and making language vivid. Readers will master key aspects of fiction such as structure, character, voice and setting. Andrew Cowan provides an insightful introduction that brings his own well-crafted prose style to bear on the processes and pleasures of writing fiction, offering practical and personal advice culled from his own experience and that of other published writers. He lays open to the reader his own notes, his writing, and the experiences from his own life that he has drawn on in his fiction allowing the reader to develop their own writing project alongside the author as they go through the book.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, School

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2010

Reviews

[Brittany McCann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of useful information, but it can be somewhat dry at times.

The best way to use it is to find the sections you want and skip to those instead of trying to read it straight through.

It's great for research, but not so great for a full-on read.

3 stars

[Virginia Rand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did like it, but I feel like I would have to approach it as a long project and give it a lot more time in order to get the most out of it. It's not really a book you should just sit down and read through.

[Amelia Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book! Helped me and continues to help me greatly with my writing. I would recommend it to anyone :)

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book largely unhelpful. The most interesting part (and it was very interesting) was the list of writing habits from a bunch of different authors on the first few pages. But overall I found Cowan's writing style excessively wordy. I skimmed a lot. Most of the writing exercises did not appeal to me. So maybe some people would find this book helpful, but I wouldn't recommend it to me.

[Dustin Street · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been a textbook for three workshop classes in a row. There are some good nuggets in here, but it’s not my favorite craft book, to be sure. I feel that Cowan’s suggestions are sometimes limited in scope and his exercises are extremely presumptive of the fact that all his readers want to write literary fiction. (Not me, sorry.)

[Eric Onkenhout · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book. It took a little while for me to get used to the authors way of wording things, but it has a lot of useful tips.

[Rue Baldry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will very useful to some writers at a specific point in their “writing journey”, and I think most people who write fiction will find some helpful things in here, whether they are just beginning to attempt stories for the first time (in which case a lot of the advice will be too advanced), or have completed, or even published, novels and collections (in which case a lot will be too basic).

I didn’t do any of the exercises fully and I think that to get the best out of this book you probably need to. It could be useful as a workbook, even a substitute to taking a writing course for intermediate level fiction writing. Cowan has transposed some of the work he does teaching BA and MA Creative writing courses. Most of this works really well, but some actually needs a classroom full of fellow writing students, which a book cannot provide.

I will certainly be returning to certain chapters as I revise work, and other parts next time I’m writing a first draft. The parts about famous writers’ processes, and quotes by them, are just interesting in their own right. And Cowan writes warmly and encouragingly. He also gives reminders about why some people choose to work away with language to tell stories, and that’s great encouragement in itself.

[J Leeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good advuce well structured

A good guide to the practical matter of writing a short story or novel. Well structured with practical exercises that mistly work for a lone writer.

[Michael McGlinsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was required reading for a Creative writing class I just took in college. It is one of the best I have read in a long while. It had great insights with excellent examples and excercises. If you are looking to become or are a writer, I recommend adding this book to your shelf.

[Tess McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really liked this.

[Gretel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended reading for a creative writing course. Cowan totally nails the stuff about procrastination. Quite useful, I will definitely return to it to do the exercises.

[Arcadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sceptical towards these writing handbooks at first, but fun it motivating and inspiring at times. Read for uni module.

[Terra]

Lots of interesting approaches to writing fiction that no other reference book I've read covers. Great one to read for any author trying to break into the biz.