Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157132 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

Synopsis
Covers the basic elements of narrative, including what makes a story move and what slows it down.

Customer Reviews

Steering The Craft is no paddle in the park!
One of the great writers of the 20th century offers an exhilerating workout for writers of narrative fiction & nonfiction. It is a handbook full of warm up exercises such as "I Am Gorgeous" for reading aloud; writing a chaste paragraph of descriptive narrative prose without one adjective or adverb & "Changing Voices" - writing the same story from different perspectives.

What I like about Steering The Craft is that I'm seriously studying along with this fabled author & suddenly there I am, brow frowning, mind minding every precious word & she stops me on a dime with a pun of the first water!

A quietly important, useful & informative textbook for writers wishing to flex the muscles of their minds. You know a writer? This would be a superb gift!

Good but...
not enough material for the price. For a writer as wordy as she can be (e.g., the long long trek thru the cold in Left Hand), it is puzzling. Also, where's the attempt to teach the difference between short story and book-length fiction writing? An attempt to help explain the market? Inside stories?

A concise and helpful guide to get you writing.
Steering the Craft combines the basics that you left in high school English, along with the exercises to get you to take a risk and write. Some exercises lead you into using a different voice, perspective or tense. Other exercises release your inhibitions, and kick you into quick improvisation. You will get something from this book!