Truth About Fiction, The

Rating:
Summary: Approachable Fiction Writing Text
Review: I plan to use this book to teach a community ed. fiction writing class. It is very approachable with practical, usable advice. Also, the format works well for quick reference. A very handy introduction to fiction writing.

Rating:
Summary: Every new writer needs this book.
Review: Steven Schoen does an absolute thourough job in "The Truth About Fiction." If you are just starting to mark up some pages or if you have some stories or poems already finished, this book should be your bible for writing.

You get examples, exercises, do's and dont's and just strait rules of common sense for writing. There are so many aspects of writing and Schoen formats them to help guide you through with less frustration, causing your creativity to flow more naturally.

I read this book for a college class and I doubt I will be selling it back to the bookstore.

Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: Practical, well-weighted, fairly organized introduction
Review: Teaching creative writing is harder than it looks, and Schoen offers a set of neatly organized topics with succinct overviews, limited examples and useful exercises. At 100 pages the book leaves room for supplemental readings.

A seminar-based course might not need this book, but for beginning writers it should fill the need for hands-on instruction in story-telling techniques.

The writing course could use a clearer plan of action. How will a student compose a story using this book? Also, the teacher should bring a stronger sense of mission than Chapter 1 ("Lying 101") offers.

Finally, though, Schoen does emphasize the central importance of dynamic characters driving plot. This will allow me, for example, to make moral agency (briefly, every character's freedom of choice, causative craftsmanship in multiple contexts, internal and external reaction, and the actor's past and future responsibility) the center of the story that my students will write.