Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide from New York's Acclaimed Creative Writing School

I like this book a lot. It's written in a simple way, I like its structure and tasks to do on my own after each piece of material are great and challenging!

I recommend this book to every writer I know. Writing Fiction is the first book that I've written a review for, simply because it delivers so much value to me and to people I know well.

Having taught English Lit and written for many years, I'd rate Writing Fiction as the best basic Fiction textbook available, whether for aspiring fiction writers or for teachers of writing fiction. If I were teaching college or high-school English again, I would definitely include this affordable text in my curriculum.

My wife is a song-writer and children's book writer and she found Writing Fiction useful as well.

Here's why:

1) Multiple points of view! Because it's a compilation written by 11 author/teachers, you get 11 nuanced chapters that share multiple perspectives.
2) It leaves ego at the door. This ensemble approach ensures that there isn't the filler, the personal rants, or the ego you find in most single-author how-to books.
3) Based on top-rated Manhattan Writers Methods. Gotham has offered top-rated online and in-person fiction classes in Manhattan since the 90s. Each chapter is a refinement for their 10 week classes. I have also taken their classes and find them to be a great value. See www.writingclasses.com. The book is essentially a more detailed version of the lectures and writing assignments for their Fiction basic 10 week course.
4) As such, the book is a great companion to any writing or fiction class.
5) Completeness: the 11 chapters leave out nothing that is required to become a published fiction author (except for putting in the 2+ hours per day of time on task!)

Finally, I keep a copy of this book within reach (into which I have made tons of notes), so I use it over and over as a reference and refresher.

Happy writing to you!

Long familiar with the Gotham Writer's Workshop, I expected more from this work, but passed it on to several others and they found it helpful. I believe its strength lies in the organization it brings to your outlining and writing, carrying over to all phases of work. If you're just kicking off the life-long desire to write and are not schooled formally in creative writing, I highly recommend this.

Of more than a dozen books on the craft of writing fiction I've read, this is the clearest introductory book. Edited by Alexander Steele, it comprises eleven chapters, each by a different writing teacher. At first, this raised my concern: so many voices. Not to worry -- the book has been superbly edited to hold together.

Alexander Steele, the author of the first chapter, engaged me right away with his amiable and highly informed voice. Subsequent chapters sustain this voice while presenting remarkably clear expositions of basic constitutive elements of fiction: character; plot; point of view; description; dialogue; setting and pacing; voice; theme; and revision. These chapters include numerous brief excerpts from outstanding contemporary writers such as Jane Smiley, Arundhati Roy, and Milan Kundera. Moreover, the book thoroughly analyzes a classic contemporary short story, Raymond Carver's "Cathedral." The story, in full, appears in the appendix. Also in the appendix is a 2-page "cheat sheet" highlighting the key points of the entire book. The concluding chapter, "The Business of Writing" offers many valuable tips.

Five star book.

-- C J Singh

This book helps me to remember the most important rules when writing a novel. It is described in a very pedagogic manner. Still it is very hard for me to understand how to use different perspectiv but I am on my way with what is written here. Anyhow the book is not for for advanced writer but is great for beginners and almost beginners.