Writing for the Reader: Practice in Prose Craft

by Jeff P. Jones

Grounded in the concept of deliberate practice, this guide is designed for the writer who wants to focus on the prose techniques that matter most. Capitalizing on the common ground between literary fiction and creative nonfiction, this handbook delivers a plethora of practice in 36 craft techniques. A brief introduction of each technique precedes examples and prompts. Appendixes hold longer projects and additional prompts. Ideal for the creative writing classroom or the solo writer, Writing for the Reader will develop and deepen your prose craft. Updated for 2019 with the craft essay "At the Highest Point of The Art of the Artful Pause," the author's cover article for The Writer's Chronicle.Writing for the Reader seems to me the absolutely perfect introductory text for a beginning writer. Robert Olen ButlerI don't think I'm the most talented person on the planet, but I work really hard, you know? And part of what's really hard is I work really hard at getting better at stuff, you know?    David Foster WallaceExcellence demands effort and planned, deliberate practice of increasing difficulty.    K. Anders Ericsson

82 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 30, 2018

About the author

JEFF P. JONES was educated at the University of Colorado at Denver, the University of Washington, and the University of Idaho. He’s a MacDowell Fellow, a Bread Loaf Fellow in Fiction, and his writing has won a Pushcart Prize, as well as the Hackney, Meridian Editors', A. David Schwartz, Wabash, and Lamar York prizes. LOVE GIVE US ONE DEATH, his debut novel, won the George Garrett Prize in Fiction. BLOODSHOT STORIES, his debut story collection, won the Sunshot Book Award.

His handbook WRITING FOR THE READER: PRACTICE IN PROSE CRAFT is available on Kindle and as a paperback through Amazon.

Reviews

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for authors and screenwriters. An excellent, quick read during the COVID era.