Teachers for the self-taught

Let's say you are talented. You have:

• an imagination that can dream up fascinating characters and stories to put them in.
• the language ability to create sentences and imagery that flow and evoke.
• ability to spin a tale, to string together events that compel interest.

So far so good. Now you've got to pull all that together and put it on the page. So you just write, right? Follow your instincts. You're an artist, after all.

I don't think so.

From what I've seen, the craft of compelling storytelling does not come naturally to many, many people. I receive submissions all the time from first-time novelists who have had the gumption and will and drive to write a novel. That's a helluva feat. Since I'm in the midst of writing my fourth novel, I think I have a feeling for that.

But then many of those samples show virtually no grasp of the craft side of storytelling. Of how to handle point of view. The need for transitions and how to create them. The need for setting a scene. How to set a scene in ways that characterize and keep the story moving. The hows and whys of description and exposition. And on and on.

I'm currently editing a novel that's calling for hundreds and hundreds of comments and notes on basics such as point of view, scene-setting, and much more. The sum of the comments will amount to a personalized course in writing. The writer is going to have a big job rewriting. To help him along, I suggested some "homework," to read several books on craft, while he waits for the edit to be finished.

He has begun to do so, and writes this:

"I'm reading the books that you recommended. I see things drastically different now. Amazing. Wish I would have read these books before I submitted the MS to you."

This writer is like the others I see whose work doesn't work. Their effort does not achieve their goal -- a publishable novel. Why, I ask myself again and again, do these dedicated, hard-working people fail to learn what they desperately need to know about the craft of storytelling before they spend all those hours writing?

So where do you go to learn the techniques, the craft, of storytelling in ways that realize your talents for imagination, language, and story in book form? I'm "self-taught," but only in the sense that I haven't gone to an MFA program or taken writing courses (well, I've taken one, but that was recently, after I was far along the path). I've gone to school with books on the craft of writing, both for novels and screenplays.

Maybe the books that have helped me most will help you, so this post is about several that I've found particularly instructional.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Renni Browne and Dave King

Amazon.com says, "There's not much of the old-style editing going on at publishing houses today. Renni Browne, veteran of William Morrow and other publishers, founded the Editorial Department in 1980 to teach fiction writers the techniques professional editors (many of whom have gone independent) use to prepare a manuscript for publication. In this book, she and senior editor Dave King share their accumulated expertise in a series of brilliantly compact lessons. One page from their simply and markedly improved version of a scene from The Great Gatsby alone would make a compelling advertisement for their techniques."

Lessons is the key word here -- there's solid, easy-to-assimilate instruction in fundamental craft techniques. Every novelist, beginner or pro, needs to read this book and then again…and again. I refer back to it for a refresher frequently.

Stein on Writing, Sol Stein

Sol Stein is amazing -- a publisher, editor, novelist, and playwright. This guy knows our business, and he's terrific at getting to the nitty-gritty in a helpful way.

Amazon.com says, "The best reading experiences," says Sol Stein, "defy interruption." With Stein's assistance, you can grab your reader on page 1 and not let go until "The End." Stein -- author of nine novels (including the bestselling The Magician) and editor to James Baldwin, W.H. Auden, and Lionel Trilling -- offers "usable solutions" for any writing problem you may encounter. He is authoritative and commanding -- neither cheerleader nor naysayer. Instead, he rails against mediocrity and demands that you expunge it from your work. Perhaps the concept of scrutinizing every modifier, every metaphor, every character trait sounds like drudgery. But with Stein's lively guidance, it is a pleasure. Stein recommends that you brew conflict in your prose by giving your characters different "scripts." He challenges you, in an exercise concerning voice, to write the sentence you want the world to remember you by. He uses an excerpt from E.L. Doctorow to demonstrate poorly written monologue and a series of Taster's Choice commercials as an example of dialogue that works. Stein's bottom line is that good writing must be suspenseful. Your job, says Stein, "is to give readers stress, strain, and pressure. The fact is that readers who hate those things in life love them in fiction."

You'll take giant strides with those two alone. But wait, there's more.

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting, Robert McKee

Ignore the word "screenwriting" in the title, although McKee is the screenwriter's screenwriter. I attended one of his seminars in the 90s, and this guy is good. He analyzes what makes story work in this book, and it applies novels as well as film. McKee writes, "No one needs yet another recipe book… We need a rediscovery of the underlying tenets of our art, the guiding principles that liberate talent."

On Writing, Stephen King

Whether you're a fan or not, this man is a master storyteller. There are helpful insights throughout this book -- his take on description is worth the price alone; as short and simple as it is, he nails it.

The Art & Craft of Novel Writing, Oakley Hall

I haven't gotten all the way through this one, but everything I've seen so far is excellent. A great lesson on dramatization, the difference between "tell" and "show."

Lastly, agent Donald Maass analyzes 100 bestsellers and comes up with some edifying insights in Writing the Breakout Novel. Well worth a read.

After seeing this post, Linda wrote:

"Although I love Don Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel, it wasn't until I combined it with the exercises in his sequel, Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, that I started to understand it in a way that's useful to my writing. And it's done more for me than any other writing book. So I recommend both books to any writer, with the caveat that his work isn't for rank beginners."

Thanks, Linda. I agree; it's not for beginners.

If you don't have these in your writerly library, I strongly recommend them. Check them out of the library for a test drive, if you must, but check them out, one way or another.

If you have books that you've found particularly helpful, please let me know.

For what it's worth,

Ray

Free edit in exchange for posting permission. You send a sample that you have questions about and of which you'd like an edit. I won't post it without your permission.

© 2005 Ray Rhamey