The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction

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W. W. Norton & Company, 10.08.2004 - 298 Seiten
"This is the most practical, hard-nosed, generous, direct, and useful guide to writing fiction." —Brad Watson

Finally, a truly creative—and hilarious—guide to creative writing, full of encouragement and sound advice. Provocative and reassuring, nurturing and wise, The Lie That Tells a Truth is essential to writers in general, fiction writers in particular, beginning writers, serious writers, and anyone facing a blank page.

John Dufresne, teacher and the acclaimed author of Love Warps the Mind a Little and Deep in the Shade of Paradise, demystifies the writing process. Drawing upon the wisdom of literature's great craftsmen, Dufresne's lucid essays and diverse exercises initiate the reader into the tools, processes, and techniques of writing: inventing compelling characters, developing a voice, creating a sense of place, editing your own words. Where do great ideas come from? How do we recognize them? How can language capture them? In his signature comic voice, Dufresne answers these questions and more in chapters such as "Writing Around the Block," "Plottery," and "The Art of Abbreviation." Dufresne demystifies the writing process, showing that while the idea of writing may be overwhelming, the act of writing is simplicity itself.

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Inhalt

GETTING IN SHAPE
3
AS A MATTER OF FACT
11
WRITING AROUND THE BLOCK
21
BECOMING A WRITER
31
SITTING ALONE IN A QUIET ROOM
57
GETTING BLACK ON WHITE
69
DOING IT AGAIN And Again And Again
81
THE MEANING OF LIFE IS TO SEE
95
THE METHOD Character
183
LETS TALK HE SAID Dialogue
197
Point of View
221
YOURE NOWHERE Place
243
The Very Short Story
257
Other Matters
265
THE WRITER READS
273
SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS
289

GETTING HER UP THE TREE GETTING
119
THE QUEEN DIED OF GRIEF Plot
133
THE HEART OF FICTION Character
169
GO FORTH AND WRITE
297
Urheberrecht

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Autoren-Profil (2004)

John Dufresne is the author of eleven previous books, including three fiction writing guides. A professor in the MFA program at Florida International University, he lives in Dania Beach.

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