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Title: Immediate Fiction : A Complete Writing Course by Jerry Cleaver ISBN: 0-312-28716-X Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 13 February, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.79 (42 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Immediate Fiction - A classic next to Becoming a Writer
Comment: I have been writing all of my life and have read many books about writing. Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver is the only book about writing that I would put next to Dorthea Brande's classic Becoming a Writer. When Brande's book was published in 1934, the information she gave to writers was not only ahead of its time, but timeless through the many decades since its first published date. The same can be said and will be said about Jerry's book. In a time when "story" is driven by what is in the media and pop culture, Jerry tells us about what really makes a story - want, obstacle, action - thus, developing the characters and the conflict as the story progresses. I have several different stories and characters I have been working on for years and I thought I knew well. When I applied the - want, obstacle, action - my characters and their conflict developed better because I finally found out what they wanted. Jerry gives writers ideas about finding time to write, getting organized to write and completing projects that have lost their way. I cannot recommend Jerry's book enough.
Rating: 5
Summary: Immediate Fiction (learn the craft of telling a story)
Comment: Before I bought Immediate Fiction 3 months ago, I couldn't find a book which would help me write in my own style. I was reading books about the writing styles of different authors. Among them were how James Thurber writes his humor, how Orwell makes political writing into an art, or how D H Lawrence puts together poetry. These types of writings offered some insight into the struggles of these authors and how the authors worked through them, but I needed something more fundamental.
When I read Immediate Fiction, however, I discovered that all the successful writers use the laws of story that Jerry Cleaver makes explicit. The most useful areas of the book were examples of stories that bored me along with the modified stories that I couldn't stop myself from reading. The boring stories were missing the ingredients that make conflict. When I found my own story boring I went back to the book and read how I could make my writing work. Among the many ingredients were showing (not telling), and revealing what the character really thinks and feels in the process of trying to get what she or he wants.
Now when I read my stories to people and feel their reactions, I say to myself, "That's what I want to communicate." Immediate Fiction is one of the most valuable books I've ever bought.
Rating: 5
Summary: Clear and Concise
Comment: This is an excellent book that I would recommend to all prospective writers, both fiction and nonfiction. The author presents his material in a straightforward and entertaining manner.
Cleaver's message can be distilled into the following steps: a character wants something, faces obstacles to achieving this want, takes action to overcome these obstacles, and eventually resolves the situation and achieves his or her want. According to Cleaver, a storyteller who can present a story in terms of want+action+resolution, combined with emotion and showing techniques, is sure to get published.
This book helped me the most by describing how many writers become stifled in their creativity because they are confusing when to let the writing flow, and when to edit. In a first draft, Cleaver claims the writer should be in flow mode. Edit mode comes only after the first draft is on paper.
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Title: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne, Dave King ISBN: 0062720465 Publisher: HarperResource Pub. Date: 16 February, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: How to Write a Damn Good Novel : A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling by James N. Frey ISBN: 0312010443 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 December, 1987 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Nancy Kress ISBN: 0898799058 Publisher: Writers Digest Books Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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Title: The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman ISBN: 068485743X Publisher: Fireside Pub. Date: 20 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0898799279 Publisher: Writers Digest Books Pub. Date: April, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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