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Elements of Fiction Writing
Elements of Fiction Writing - Plot
"There are ways to create, fix, steer and discover plots-ways which, over a writing life, you'd eventually puzzle out for yourself," writes Ansen Dibell. "They aren't laws. They're an array of choices, things to try, once you've put a name to the particular problem you're facing now."That's what this book is identifying those choices (whose viewpoint? stop and explain now, or wait? how can this lead to that?), then learning what narrative problems they are apt to create and how to choose an effective strategy for solving them. The result? Strong, solid stories and novels that move.Inside you'll discover how • test a story idea (using four simple questions) to see if it works • convince your reader that not only is something happening, but that something's going to happen and it all matters intensely • handle viewpoint shifts, flashbacks, and other radical jumps in your storyline weave plots with subplots • get ready for and write your Big Scenes • balance scene and summary narration to produce good pacing • handle the extremes of melodrama by "faking out" your readers-making them watch your right hand while your left hand is doing something sneaky • form subtle patterns with mirror characters and echoing incidents • choose the best type of ending-linear or circular, happy or downbeat, or (with caution!) a trick ending Whether your fiction is short or long, subtle or direct, you'll learn to build strong plots that drive compelling, unforgettable stories your readers will love.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1988
80 people are currently reading
1016 people want to read
About the author
Ansen Dibell
13 books3 followersFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ansen Dibell was the penname used by Nancy Ann Dibble (September 8, 1942 – March 7, 2006), an American science fiction author, who also published books about fiction writing. Born in Staten Island, New York, she received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers Workshop and earned a doctorate in 19th C. English literature. She taught literature and creative writing at several colleges and universities until 1980, when she became a freelance editor and author. From 1983 she worked as editor at Writer's Digest Books.
She published a number of stories and poems in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and received two awards for her poetry. Her novels sublimate events in her life into fiction.
Ansen Dibell was the penname used by Nancy Ann Dibble (September 8, 1942 – March 7, 2006), an American science fiction author, who also published books about fiction writing. Born in Staten Island, New York, she received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers Workshop and earned a doctorate in 19th C. English literature. She taught literature and creative writing at several colleges and universities until 1980, when she became a freelance editor and author. From 1983 she worked as editor at Writer's Digest Books.
She published a number of stories and poems in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and received two awards for her poetry. Her novels sublimate events in her life into fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
April 29, 2019
نطامی عروضی در چهار مقاله ش توصیه ای برای شاعر شدن داره که میزان هوش و ذکاوتش رو نشون میده. میگه کسی که می خواد شاعر بشه، اول نره سراغ یاد گرفتن قواعد عروض و بیان و بدیع. اول کار رو با خوندن اشعار شروع کنه. حسابی شعر بخونه و طبع خودش رو با شعر و زبان شاعرانه مأنوس کنه. بعد از این که با اشعار مأنوس شد، حتی بعد از این که کمی خودش شعر گفت، تازه شروع کنه به یاد گرفتن قواعد. حالا ارزش و جایگاه قواعد رو بهتر درک می کنه و درست تر می تونه به کارشون بگیره. در حالی که اگه از ابتدا قواعد انتزاعی رو یاد می گرفت، چون با مثال های ملموس کار نکرده بود، اهمیت واقعی قواعد رو متوجه نمی شد.
منم بعد ده دوازده سال تازه شروع کردم به خوندن آموزش داستان نویسی. البته قبول دارم که زیادی دیره. یکی از دلایلش این بود که کتاب خوبی پیدا نمی کردم. کسی رو نداشتم که بپرسم.
یکی از بزرگواران گودریدزی که مدرس داستان نویسی بود، این کتاب رو بهم معرفی کرد. کتاب کاربردی و خیلی خوبیه. بعضی از توصیه هاش رو روی داستان هایی که این مدت نوشتم تمرینش کردم و به نظر می رسید نتیجه بخشه. باقی کتاب های مجموعه رو هم می خوام بخونم کم کم.
خلاصه کتاب
منم بعد ده دوازده سال تازه شروع کردم به خوندن آموزش داستان نویسی. البته قبول دارم که زیادی دیره. یکی از دلایلش این بود که کتاب خوبی پیدا نمی کردم. کسی رو نداشتم که بپرسم.
یکی از بزرگواران گودریدزی که مدرس داستان نویسی بود، این کتاب رو بهم معرفی کرد. کتاب کاربردی و خیلی خوبیه. بعضی از توصیه هاش رو روی داستان هایی که این مدت نوشتم تمرینش کردم و به نظر می رسید نتیجه بخشه. باقی کتاب های مجموعه رو هم می خوام بخونم کم کم.
خلاصه کتاب
June 22, 2017
Plot is a matter of choices instead of an outline of writing skills. It provides four questions for testing a story idea. Plot discusses the difference between scene and exposition, and the need for both. It highlights techniques such as mirroring and echoes, braiding plot and subplots, melodrama, pacing, transition, frames, and flashbacks and flashforwards. Plot discusses how to recognize the end of a story. Finally, it goes beyond the cause and effect plot to the mosaic, collage and revelation strategies. This book is a good introductory to plot and a good reference book.
February 29, 2012
The chapters on beginnings and endings were superb and very helpful. So many writers guides are catered to genre fiction and churning out the next bestseller - I appreciated Dibell's treatment of short story collections and literary works. She used extensive examples from books and movies that I have seen and liked (Lord of the Flies, Jane Eyre, and Star Wars), so that probably helped too - many of the other guides I have read cite examples of plotlines and character arcs that I am just not familiar with, and the references are lost on me.
A few of the middle chapters were too tedious for me, but they may be applicable later in the process, but it ended with a strong ending and how to craft the conclusion of your book that leaves readers satisfied... I've just read too many books that were so great until the last 50 pages...
A few of the middle chapters were too tedious for me, but they may be applicable later in the process, but it ended with a strong ending and how to craft the conclusion of your book that leaves readers satisfied... I've just read too many books that were so great until the last 50 pages...
February 3, 2013
When I was a freshman in high school my English teacher went over a rather dull lecture of the technical aspects of a plot. Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.
Thankfully, the author does not once go over this structure. Instead she recognizes that a plot can take several forms and goes over the disparate elements. Some elements that must be used and understood, like exposition and viewpoint. Others that are optional, like subplots and flashbacks. Each concept is exemplified by the authors own works and recognizable works from novels and movies. Recommended if you are interested in writing or want to be more analytical in what you read.
Thankfully, the author does not once go over this structure. Instead she recognizes that a plot can take several forms and goes over the disparate elements. Some elements that must be used and understood, like exposition and viewpoint. Others that are optional, like subplots and flashbacks. Each concept is exemplified by the authors own works and recognizable works from novels and movies. Recommended if you are interested in writing or want to be more analytical in what you read.
February 21, 2017
If you think this is a book about outlining your novel, you're wrong (I was happy for that; I'm not huge on outlining). It is a book that explores what plot is and how you need to think about it. I thought it did a good job explaining what is needed for short story vs. novel.
I could have done without chapter seven (on melodrama, curses, vampires, dark things I'll never use), and for some reason after that, my interest in the book kind of waned. It could be because I just had a few long days, but I didn't find the last half of the book quite as helpful as the first half.
As always there were examples taken from tons of random novels and movies. There were a few curse words and some impure insinuations..
I could have done without chapter seven (on melodrama, curses, vampires, dark things I'll never use), and for some reason after that, my interest in the book kind of waned. It could be because I just had a few long days, but I didn't find the last half of the book quite as helpful as the first half.
As always there were examples taken from tons of random novels and movies. There were a few curse words and some impure insinuations..
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October 24, 2019راستش الان وقت خوندنش رو ندارم، چون وقت تمرکز روی نوشتن چیزی اصولی رو هم ندارم. اگر وقتی گیر بیارم ترجیح می‌دم کتاب داستانی بخونم، یا چیزی رو همین‌جوری دلی و خارج از قواعد بنویسم.
ولی از اونجایی که کتاب خوبیه، یه وقتی بالاخره می‌خونمش.
ولی از اونجایی که کتاب خوبیه، یه وقتی بالاخره می‌خونمش.
January 8, 2023
An interesting look at the components of plot. It provides examples of published work using specific plotting techniques from classic literature to modern film and genre fiction. PLOT will enhance most entry-level and mid-point writers' understanding of how to effectively use plot in their tales.
December 28, 2011
I love books on writing. Each one is like going to school with a new instructor, and no matter what they know or don't know, it's always fun to review basics and see them from another point of view. One thing I particularly liked about this book is that Dibell was at least aware--even in a book focused primarily on plot--that plot is not only an artificially and chronologically arranged series of staged events, as, we all must admit, most plots are, but that plots can also dispense with one or more those features without losing the integrity of the story and maybe not even losing the interest of the reader, which, as a devotee of Vonnegut, Robbins, Calvino, Brautigan, and O'Brien, I most certainly am. I like a teacher who can recognize and allow for all possibilities of fiction and not just the ones that make money. Clearly, I am also one of the writers who dares to veer occasionally from all of the canonically required characteristics of fiction--see my novel Burn & Learn, or Memoirs of the Cenozoic Era for proof--and I am glad to see that at least one book represents a larger spectrum of the possibilities for writing fiction. Enjoy.
July 2, 2009
I was given this book as a graduation present when I finished high school, and it was one of the best gifts I've ever received. Dibell's points are all concise, intelligently written, and most of all, true! I've referred back to this book countless times and I doubt I'll ever get tired of it.
September 30, 2018
My wife and I are downsizing our library in anticipation of moving from the house where we raised our family to a much smaller place, where the two of us can be cozy together. In the process, she gave me a dozen or so books about writing that she's accumulated over the decades, to determine if there are any I would like to keep.
PLOT, by Ansen Dibell is a keeper.
Dibell defines plot as "the things characters do, feel, think, or say, that make a difference to what comes afterward." This is not the usual definition, "the sequence of events in a story," but it provides a rubric for which events should be included in the story and a guideline for how to present them to the reader.
In this concise book, Dibell addresses most of the topics that (I have been told) writers should be concerned with: beginnings, scenes, point of view, middles, sub-plots, set-pieces, and endings. She also addresses things like style and narrative structure that I have not seen in introductory texts for new writers.
One fascinating topic was the use of repeated patterns and motifs in the work. Connections between elements of the work can be established by similarity or contrasts in scenes, characters, patterns in the plot. People are hard-wired to notice patterns, and this sort of repetition adds to the depth of the reader's experience. I especially noted Dibell's exposition of the "Rule of Three" where she writes, "One is an incident, two is a pattern, three breaks it."
The primary thrust of this book is to lay out the possibilities for constructing a plot, and provide advice about what choices tend to work, or work well together, and which choices weaken the work. There are any number of examples that I could quote, but this advice about style spoke strongly to me, "Use the simplest possible structure that conveys what you want to convey, presents what you want to present. And, as with other matters of technique like viewpoint shifts or changes of locale, clue the reader in on the method, the structural rules of your story, right away in as direct and clear a manner as you can manage."
I found this book helpful.
PLOT, by Ansen Dibell is a keeper.
Dibell defines plot as "the things characters do, feel, think, or say, that make a difference to what comes afterward." This is not the usual definition, "the sequence of events in a story," but it provides a rubric for which events should be included in the story and a guideline for how to present them to the reader.
In this concise book, Dibell addresses most of the topics that (I have been told) writers should be concerned with: beginnings, scenes, point of view, middles, sub-plots, set-pieces, and endings. She also addresses things like style and narrative structure that I have not seen in introductory texts for new writers.
One fascinating topic was the use of repeated patterns and motifs in the work. Connections between elements of the work can be established by similarity or contrasts in scenes, characters, patterns in the plot. People are hard-wired to notice patterns, and this sort of repetition adds to the depth of the reader's experience. I especially noted Dibell's exposition of the "Rule of Three" where she writes, "One is an incident, two is a pattern, three breaks it."
The primary thrust of this book is to lay out the possibilities for constructing a plot, and provide advice about what choices tend to work, or work well together, and which choices weaken the work. There are any number of examples that I could quote, but this advice about style spoke strongly to me, "Use the simplest possible structure that conveys what you want to convey, presents what you want to present. And, as with other matters of technique like viewpoint shifts or changes of locale, clue the reader in on the method, the structural rules of your story, right away in as direct and clear a manner as you can manage."
I found this book helpful.
April 16, 2021
When I first dabbled in this book, years ago, I remember placing it in lineage with so many others, an endless parade of books which all say more or less the same thing when it comes to that most workaday aspect of storytelling, the plot. Campbell is invoked, the hero’s journey extolled, and careful and precise subdivisions of what makes a plot are enumerated. If you watched Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society this would be the point to rip up the book in question and proclaim it “Excrement!” I wonder sometimes if the reason for so many bad movies and books now isn’t due to the readers of these books growing into their own and writing the way they’ve been taught; badly, I mean, using shortcut and formula instead of craft and artistry. I’m a different, older writer now, and whereas before I missed them, the nuance and wisdom of Dibell’s book and how it stands out from these other books became apparent with this latest reading.
Myself, I think focusing on plot is putting the cart before the horse and something like Dibbel’s book would better serve a book’s second draft, but better writers than I — which is to say writers who have actually finished a book — would disagree. There’s more than enough pantsing/plotting debate going around, though. I’m of the mind that we don’t go to story to find out what what happens, but rather seek to find out what happens in order to have an excuse to immerse ourselves in story.
At one point Dibell says
At another point she says that “plot is a verb.” I think this is very much true and Dibell’s use of this axiom to spine the book is what makes it worth reading.
Myself, I think focusing on plot is putting the cart before the horse and something like Dibbel’s book would better serve a book’s second draft, but better writers than I — which is to say writers who have actually finished a book — would disagree. There’s more than enough pantsing/plotting debate going around, though. I’m of the mind that we don’t go to story to find out what what happens, but rather seek to find out what happens in order to have an excuse to immerse ourselves in story.
At one point Dibell says
As I've said before, stories—especially live, convincing stories—will change under your hands. That's the reason I've never been persuaded of the usefulness of outlines. By other writers' experience and my own, I judge that you generally won't know how a story's going to go until you get close to the place where something is just about to happen. It will take its own shape and tell you how it wants to go, if you listen and watch attentively for the ways it's telling you.
At another point she says that “plot is a verb.” I think this is very much true and Dibell’s use of this axiom to spine the book is what makes it worth reading.
February 13, 2012
The author, for some unknown reason, uses a pseudonym. She claims to have written the “internationally published” five-book science fiction series The Rule of One. But that fiction series doesn’t exist, at least not on a public or international scale, so kudos to Dibell for thus keeping the forensic loop closed on her pseudonym. But wait -- let’s check the internet. Turns out Dibell is in fact Nancy Ann Dibble, American Sci-fi-wri-(ter). She’s dead now, but must have been something of a Star Wars nut back in the day: Plot is shot through w/ The Empire Strikes Back references. So there you go. But the point, here, is that the title of Dibell’s supposed sci-fi series The Rule of One is actually a clever tipping of the hat to Star Wars fans, a discreet index finger placed on the side of the nose, as it were, a pointed glance, if you will, to those in the “know.” The phrase, “Rule of One,” apparently refers the Sith (q.v., Dark Lords of the) principle of absolute obedience to an autonomous overlord. And it is exactly this notion of dark, deep, secret connection -- of plot -- that Plot so effectively limns. Dibell is good company; she’s not a bore. Her book’s parting words are good-humored and direct: “Now, quit reading. Go write.”
February 17, 2008
"Plot" offers fiction writers advice on how to structure their stories, whether they're short pieces or novels.
Ansen Dibell (a pen name for the late Nancy Ann Dibble) approaches the subject with a conversational tone. Not once does it feel like you're reading a textbook.
"Plot" doesn't present you with a ton of rigid rules to churn out identically structured cookie-cutter works. Rather, it presents a slew of choices and possibilities, all meant to lend form and unity to all those great ideas you have.
Ansen Dibell (a pen name for the late Nancy Ann Dibble) approaches the subject with a conversational tone. Not once does it feel like you're reading a textbook.
"Plot" doesn't present you with a ton of rigid rules to churn out identically structured cookie-cutter works. Rather, it presents a slew of choices and possibilities, all meant to lend form and unity to all those great ideas you have.
November 1, 2017
In some ways this book is a little out-dated, but in other ways it is still credible. Every little detail, every little thought, could be construed as boring if you don't have your thinking cap on.
I think my absolute favorite, and most relatable part was that of The Empire Strikes Back references. Of all the examples, that one helped me the most. Glad I took the time to study this book and now I need to imlement what I have learned!
I think my absolute favorite, and most relatable part was that of The Empire Strikes Back references. Of all the examples, that one helped me the most. Glad I took the time to study this book and now I need to imlement what I have learned!
October 29, 2018
به هر کس که می خواد بنویسه توصیه اش می کنم. هم خیلی خوب توضیح میده هم مثالای خوبی میزنه
May 9, 2022
Here is another excellent book on writing to help me understand what I READ (Swipe to see others). Dibell does an excellent job with examples from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Flies, and Jane Eyre to help illustrate concepts.
I highlighted many passages and planned to hang onto this paperback (a rarity for me and my Spartan shelves). Here is my very favorite (Regarding the importance of solid endings):
“As readers, we generally don’t notice parts of a story as separate things. We consider the apple we’re eating as a unit without stopping to analyze…each individual bite…If the last bite of the apples makes us notice that half a worm remains, we’re not going to say to ourselves, ‘Well, the first three bites were nice.’ We’re going to toss away the apple in disgust and remember the worm.”
There’s even an INDEX. You know I love an index.
I highlighted many passages and planned to hang onto this paperback (a rarity for me and my Spartan shelves). Here is my very favorite (Regarding the importance of solid endings):
“As readers, we generally don’t notice parts of a story as separate things. We consider the apple we’re eating as a unit without stopping to analyze…each individual bite…If the last bite of the apples makes us notice that half a worm remains, we’re not going to say to ourselves, ‘Well, the first three bites were nice.’ We’re going to toss away the apple in disgust and remember the worm.”
There’s even an INDEX. You know I love an index.
February 1, 2021
First, Whoa!
Plot (duh!)
Story
Structure
Setting
Description
POV
Exposition
Scenes
and it does it all in 170 pages (which includes a seven page index)!
The book's entitled Plot and it has immediately useful (to me) techniques and examples on
Plot (duh!)
Story
Structure
Setting
Description
POV
Exposition
Scenes
and it does it all in 170 pages (which includes a seven page index)!
I'm blessed because I purchased most of my writing texts in the 1970s-early 1990s, long before anybody with a mobile could claim expertise and back when people had to demonstrate their abilities repeatedly to make any kind of claim.
One such demonstration was (duh!) getting a book published on a subject in which you demonstrated expertise. Publishing books cost money and took time. Honest-to-god real editors (line, copy, proof, continuity, ...) actually read through a manuscript before sending it on to printing. Publishers weren't going to put money into a project just because someone said they were an expert, that someone had to demonstrate they were an expert. Often.
And let me add, most people didn't claim themselves to be a guru, maven, jedi, rock star, queen, genius, leader and last but not least, expert. Other people claimed it for someone once said someone proved their guruness, mavenhood, jediability, et cetera.
And usually it took a lot to prove.
How I long for the time when people's expertise was actual expertise and not a vacuous claim because, by god, they're going to get their fifteen minutes if it kills them.
But I digress.
Dibell's Plot is comparable to sitting in a writing intensive. There are examples throughout, and she picks her examples wisely. Each example demonstrates several techniques but she never throws them at you all at once. She starts by demonstrating how someone is a good story/novel opening then cycles back to show how the exposition reinforces the nascent plot elements then cycles back again to demonstrate how the character reveal points to plot elements yet to come.
As I wrote above, Whoa!
Want more? How about Dibell's explaining alternative plot structures (beyond traditional western 3-act, conflict oriented plot) back in 1988? (I'll admit I missed these in my first reading.
Plot is one of several Writer's Digest books I bought way back when. As a working author, they are revealing in so many ways. Most of these authors are recognizable by work if not by name, and all were full-time authors.
What causes a full-time author to write an how-to-write book? All the Writer's Digest books I've read are wonderful learning tools. These authors definitely know their craft and are able to share it.
But writing an how-to-write book took time away from their writing their stories. I know I loathe anything which takes me away from my crafting (save posts such as these, were I relax my authorial muscles, stretch my imagination tendons, and basically take either a necessary or welcomed break from being creative (being creative is work. Ask any woman who's gotten pregnant and delivered a child)).
But writing an how-to-write book is another creative process. Was this their relaxation?
Perhaps it was their way of testing their own knowledge? Of encapsulating it? I critique other's writing and learn as much about my own craft as I do helping them with theirs.
And such musings are largely irrelevant. Plot is an excellent learning tool and strongly recommended.
I've written more on my blog.
June 9, 2013
Very concise and easy-to-read, with practical examples from well-known stories (including The Empire Strikes Back!) discussing the mechanics of structuring plot. The list of techniques is extensive, and along with the means for using them, are plenty of warnings of how they can go very wrong. The techniques she lists are useful in any kind of fiction writing, from genre fiction, to literary novels, to short stories (and given the Star Wars examples, I suppose even screenwriting).
However, the author promises no silver bullets. This is not some magic writing method that guarantees success; rather, an examination of what has been shown to work, and what doesn't. Her advise is not at all rigid; in fact, she eschews story and character outlines, instead believing that the act of writing will flesh out where a story is going, with editing and rewrites (but not endless editing and rewrites) being the ways to clean up and keep the story focused. (It is clear though she also thinks you'll have in mind the kind of story you are writing, and the basic techniques you'll want to use--so it's not at all a "write and see what happens" method.)
Despite the book's brevity, there is a lot of information here, and I imagine I will refer to it again and again as I look for help when stuck with a plot that goes nowhere or has gone off the rails.
However, the author promises no silver bullets. This is not some magic writing method that guarantees success; rather, an examination of what has been shown to work, and what doesn't. Her advise is not at all rigid; in fact, she eschews story and character outlines, instead believing that the act of writing will flesh out where a story is going, with editing and rewrites (but not endless editing and rewrites) being the ways to clean up and keep the story focused. (It is clear though she also thinks you'll have in mind the kind of story you are writing, and the basic techniques you'll want to use--so it's not at all a "write and see what happens" method.)
Despite the book's brevity, there is a lot of information here, and I imagine I will refer to it again and again as I look for help when stuck with a plot that goes nowhere or has gone off the rails.
April 30, 2010
An editor once told me that if you're going to take advice on writing, take it either from name-bestselling writers or gatekeepers such as acquiring editors or agents--not necessarily anyone who writes for Writer's Digest or has taught a writing class. Dibell doesn't quality as a "name" writer, but I do like the Elements of Fiction Writing series Writer's Digest puts out--and plotting is one of my weaknesses. This is more about fixing plots then generating them. Dibell obviously agrees with Stephen King that plots are "found things" and that can be messy as your muse takes you in directions you didn't plan. Dibell writes:
You can make outlines and try to lock out that change. But you know, and I know, that writing is as much a process of discovery as it is one of invention, and the more serious you are about your writing and the more complex the story you're trying to tell, the more likely it is to start creating itself in unexpected ways.
I'd say that's not only true in my experience, but I that often the parts that are most alive, the most fun, are what comes to shape spontaneously--but at times it does mean you can write yourself into a corner, and I appreciate Dibell's suggestions about how to control the process a bit and avoid some blind alleys.
You can make outlines and try to lock out that change. But you know, and I know, that writing is as much a process of discovery as it is one of invention, and the more serious you are about your writing and the more complex the story you're trying to tell, the more likely it is to start creating itself in unexpected ways.
I'd say that's not only true in my experience, but I that often the parts that are most alive, the most fun, are what comes to shape spontaneously--but at times it does mean you can write yourself into a corner, and I appreciate Dibell's suggestions about how to control the process a bit and avoid some blind alleys.
December 6, 2017
I found it very useful though it wasn't what I was expecting. It isn't what to write on what page (Save the Cat techinique) nor cycles of characters (Hero's Journery). It wasn't a formula for writing plot (Bell's Plot and Structure).
The book offered a slightly different view on what plot is and how to approach it. It gives a broader scope to plot and pointed out things of which to be wary. It was enlightinging and hearty, but it didn't sink into dullness as writing craft books sometimes do.
I did need to read it in small chunks because I wanted to return to my reading lists and to let it sink in. It isn't a quick read, but worth the time invested.
The book offered a slightly different view on what plot is and how to approach it. It gives a broader scope to plot and pointed out things of which to be wary. It was enlightinging and hearty, but it didn't sink into dullness as writing craft books sometimes do.
I did need to read it in small chunks because I wanted to return to my reading lists and to let it sink in. It isn't a quick read, but worth the time invested.
November 6, 2015
This book started out a little basic (warning against blah beginnings, too much exposition, etc.) but soon delved into all sorts of more advanced techniques that I'd never had explained to me before, like mirrors, set-pieces, plot braiding, and adding satisfying twists...and much more! These techniques are what help stories go beyond basic and into something readers will really love and reread. Not enough how-to books go into writing the problematic middle of fictional works, but this book certainly did. It's a fine, advanced explanation of how to create interesting plots!
August 26, 2019
Gold nuggets
Began this book with expectations to learn a few tips about structure. Ended up learning several new techniques that were immediately applicable to my current project. Insightful and well worth a read for anyone writing novels.
Began this book with expectations to learn a few tips about structure. Ended up learning several new techniques that were immediately applicable to my current project. Insightful and well worth a read for anyone writing novels.
August 31, 2014
Good basic advice
March 2, 2016
A useful and interesting book. Lots of colorful examples with excerpts from memorable novels.
March 19, 2017
Review to come.
June 30, 2020
Excellent.
Dibell is writing during the 80s and this book is one in a series about writng--the others I don't own--as far as I know because I haven't yet looked the titles up.
Her writing is excellent, clear, purposeful. She gives examples, using mainly films--which seems a little odd but not when you think about it because someone writes those screenplays using much the same techniques as used in novel writing, so maybe not so odd.
The advice she gives is repeated again and again in more current books written through the 90s and the 2000s, same advice, only the examples have changed and in some cases they hasn't. But this little gem is very much worth a read for anyone interesting in crafting plot.
If I see any negative, it's in some of the last chapters, where I found some information to be less important to the skill of plotting.
Dibell is writing during the 80s and this book is one in a series about writng--the others I don't own--as far as I know because I haven't yet looked the titles up.
Her writing is excellent, clear, purposeful. She gives examples, using mainly films--which seems a little odd but not when you think about it because someone writes those screenplays using much the same techniques as used in novel writing, so maybe not so odd.
The advice she gives is repeated again and again in more current books written through the 90s and the 2000s, same advice, only the examples have changed and in some cases they hasn't. But this little gem is very much worth a read for anyone interesting in crafting plot.
If I see any negative, it's in some of the last chapters, where I found some information to be less important to the skill of plotting.
October 28, 2019
This is easily one of my favorite books I've read on craft. Approachable, clear-eyed, but by no means simplistic, this book should be helpful for writers of literary fiction and genre alike. I loved, in particular, its discussions on form and pattern, as it's a kind of analysis that I think that doesn't come up often enough in many writing workshops, even though I think they're fundamental parts of what makes great literature great. I look forward to returning to this book.
June 8, 2021
The thing I most appreciated about this book was the author's willingness to define and truly make sense of ubiquitous writing advice like "show don't tell." She really goes down to the basics but not in a boring way, in a she-really-knows-what-she's-talking-about way. I've been reading and listening to lots of writing advice lately; and, again and again, the advice in this book struck me as the most sensible.
March 26, 2024
This reference book is dated 1988. so thirty-six years old! And it has passed the test of time. Still so much info packed into 163 pages (and an index in back). The copy I got was from the library. And well used - pretty beat up. I don't always read these reference books cover to cover (especially if I pulled it from the library) but this one was well worth the read. A lot of good pointers and some inspiration to try new things.
August 22, 2024
Although the book was written before the boom of today's literature, I would say that the advice and topics it explores are still relevant. I enjoyed how the author addressed different techniques and the examples given (though he might have added too many Star Wars references for my liking). It was informative and definitely made me realise some things about my own writing and creativity in general.
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