The Stuff of Fiction: Advice on Craft

by Douglas Bauer

In this book, prizewinning novelist and popular creative writing instructor Douglas Bauer ( The Book of Famous Iowans ) shares the secrets of his trade. Talent, as Bauer acknowledges, is the most crucial element for a writer and cannot be taught. But without a regular habit of work, and a perseverance of effort, no amount of talent can come forward and be recognized. His lively and candid essays on subjects critical to the fiction writer’s success demystify the essential elements of fiction writing, how they work, and work together.

Bauer’s focus is on the building blocks of successful dialogue (the intimate relationship between characters talking and the eavesdropping reader), characters (the virtues of creating fictional characters that are both splendidly flawed and sympathetic), and dramatic events (ways to create moments that produce an emotional and psychological impact). There are also chapters on crafting effective openings and memorable closings of stories and on the vital presence of sentiment in fiction versus the ruinous effect of sentimentality. By assuming the point of view of someone at the task, engaged with the work, inside the effort to bring an invented world to life, The Stuff of Fiction speaks to writers of all ages in a pleasurable yet practical voice.
Douglas Bauer is the author of three novels, Dexterity , The Very Air , and The Book of Famous Iowans , and one book of nonfiction, Prairie City , Iowa . He is also a core faculty member with the MFA Program at Bennington College and has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Massachusetts Artists Foundation grant, and two Harvard Danforth Excellence in Teaching Citations.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Crafts

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

I’ve written three novels, Dexterity, The Very Air, and The Book of Famous Iowans, each of them set in small towns, in Upstate New York, in Texas, and in Iowa. Their subjects and interests are as varied as their settings, although reviewers have pointed out that they all concern themselves in some fashion with mothers’ unpredictable presences and absences and the effect of that unreliability on their sons.

I’ve also written two non-fiction books, Prairie City, Iowa and The Stuff of Fiction. The first covers a year of reunion with the tiny farm village of the title, where I was raised and to which I returned at the age of 30 in order to try to understand the place where I grew up and, not incidentally, some things about myself as I reached that critical age. The second is a series of essays devoted to the craft of fiction writing. The essays cover the elements of character creation, dialogue, narrative strategies, how to start and end a story, and many more. There are exercises accompanying the essays.

In addition to the books I’ve written, I’ve edited two anthologies, Prime Times: Writers on their favorite television shows; and Death by Pad Thai and Other Unforgettable Meals. These anthologies feature contributions from some of the most prominent writers of our time, including Sue Miller, Andre Dubus III, Aimee Bender, Richard Russo, Claire Messud, Nick Hornby, the late and very great Barry Hannah, and on and on.

My stories and essays have appeared through the years in The Atlantic, Harper’s, Esquire, Tin House, The New York Times Magazine and Sunday Book Review, The Massachusetts Review, Agni, and other publications.

I’ve received grants in both fiction and non-fiction from The National Endowment for the Arts.

I’ve taught at several colleges and universities, including Harvard, Smith, The University of New Mexico, Rice, and since 2005 at Bennington College. My courses there include literature classes in the works of Charles Dickens, my favorite author in the language, as well as Twentieth Century writers such as Willa Cather, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.

Reviews

[Sheela Word · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and useful. Author uses examples to drive home his points about how to open and close stories, write effective dialogue, approach dramatic events in different ways, etc. I felt he was a little hard on classic authors (Dickens, for example, whom I love), but some of what constitutes "good writing" is, of course, a matter of personal taste.

[Adah Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a writer, I found this book to be helpful in improving my craft. Parts of this book compared and contrasted novels. One, for example, had large chunks of backstory while another wove backstory finely throughout. Similarly, openings and closings were scrutinized. This book, however, never said that one novel was better than the other, which I really appreciated. After all, creative writing is an art, not a science. Authors have different styles that readers may or may not prefer for one reason or another.

[Judah Lind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bauer attempts to unpack, or in his words "demystify", the art of writing fiction. There are hardly any lists, or check boxes for your writing progress, but that's because Bauer truly understands how much of a dance it is to create literature. He also takes the reader through examples of most of what he is telling us about, some from novels, and some from recognizable short stories, which is great and super helpful.

[Sara Kitto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for a fiction writing class and got a great deal out of it.

[Gary Nilsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Douglas Bauer discusses nine different areas of craft from openings to closings with several themes in between, geared to both nascent as well as experienced writers of fiction. His style is often long-winded with frequent asides which tend to distract the student from getting the point the first time through. While there are several excellent discussions and examples on display throughout the book, it comes off as elitist and at times self-indulgent. At one point near the end of his text, he lets loose a poorly disguised insult to any student who thinks differently about one of the examples he chose to illustrate a good way to close a novel. The book definitely saps a writers' sense of enthusiasm in putting more words to the page.

[Selina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this a 3.5 if I could.

I found this book helpful, but I found the long excepts from stories that I didn't know to be a bit tedious at times. Though I know it would have been difficult and insulting, at times I wish that Bauer had been able to include pieces of bad writing that showcase what NOT to do. I learn better by seeing what not to do, rather than by seeing what other people have done that worked for their piece.

This book gave me some great ideas, particularly about dialogue and beginnings, so I hope to use these ideas in the future.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I think this is a pretty helpful book in terms of basics. If you've already been writing fiction for a while and are familiar with the components of fiction, then this book won't help. But it's been helpful for me in terms of thinking about narrative pacing, what successful dialogue is and isn't (in general), the role of the reader, etc.

[Jeff McKown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an altogether "easy" reference, but a worthwhile read in general. I definitely took away a few nuggets I needed on writing dialogue and developing characters.

[Stephen Dorneman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid craft book with excellent examples, albeit on a limited variety of subjects.