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Monday, 30 September 2019

BOOK REVIEW: WRITING FICTION (a user-friendly guide) by James Essinger



This excellent book covers a wide range of fiction-writing topics, including plot, show & tell, characterisation, voice, point of view, dialogue, language, backstory, suspense, and editing & improving your novel.

The book is informative, readable and concise, and uses lots of examples drawn from not just the classics, but also from modern fiction and other media such as cinema.  The author illustrates how such devices work well, and (interestingly) also describes occasions when the big names didn’t always get it quite right. 

The book can be read cover-to-cover like a novel, or consulted like a reference book for advice on specific points.  It’s perfect not only for writers who are just starting out, but also for more experienced writers who want to improve their craft.

Special thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources and The Conrad Press for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour.

‘Writing Fiction is a little pot of gold… Screenplay by Syd Field for film, Writing Fiction by James Essinger for fiction. It’s that simple.’ (William Osborne, novelist and screenwriter)
Writing Fiction – a user-friendly guide is a must-read if you want to write stories to a professional standard. It draws on the author’s more than thirty years of experience as a professional writer, and on the work and ideas of writers including:
        Anthony Burgess
        Joseph Conrad
        George Eliot
        Ken Follett
        Frederick Forsyth
        Dan Harmon
        Ernest Hemingway
        David Lodge
        Norman Mailer
        John Milton
        Ben Parker
        J.K. Rowling
        William Shakespeare
        Martin Cruz Smith
        J.R.R. Tolkien

The twenty-four chapters cover every important matter you need to know about, including: devising a compelling story, creating and developing characters, plotting, ‘plants’, backstory, suspense, dialogue, ‘show’ and ‘tell’, and how to make your novel more real than reality.
Also featuring special guest advice from legendary screenwriter Bob Gale, who wrote the three immortal Back to the Future movies (1985, 1989 and 1990), and novelist and screenwriter William Osborne, whose many screen credits include the co-writing of the blockbuster  Twins (1988), this highly entertaining book gives you all the advice and practical guidance you need to make your dream of becoming a published fiction writer come true.
Purchase Links



James Essinger has been a professional writer since 1988. His non-fiction books include Jacquard’s Web (2004), Ada’s Algorithm (2013), which is to be filmed by Monumental Pictures, and Charles and Ada: the computer’s most passionate partnership (2019). His novels include The Mating Game (2016) and The Ada Lovelace Project (2019).

Social Media Links – https://www.facebook.com/james.essinger  

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