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| THE GOOD FICTION HANDBOOK |
| Lynne Patrick |
| Available for £5:99 post-free (cheques payable to Real Writers) only from: PO Box 170, Chesterfield Derbyshire S40 1FE |
Review by Jean Currie  |
| I love the definition: 'Fiction is about crisis points: moments at which the world stops, pivots on its axis and starts up again, moving in a slightly different direction --- fiction gives us the opportunity to peek through the keyhole at a set of people who can often become as real as our own neighbours, at a point in their lives which is more than usually interesting.' 'Plot: what happens; place: the world in which it happens and people: the characters it happens to, or who make it happen ---' Lynne elaborates on these and other aspects of writing fiction. Here are a few tasters to whet your appetite: 'A piece of fiction set in an inner city council estate is going to be different from one set in the stockbroker belt.' 'The name you give a character sets up expectations.' 'Dialogue is part of character development --- as well as plot progress --- a prime research source is soap opera --- every conversation moves one plotline along a little.' 'In fiction, nothing is random; everything happens for a reason. Everything a character does occurs partly because the plot requires it and partly because that's what that character would do in those circumstances.' 'A large part of the art of fiction is selecting the relevant details and discarding the rest.' Lynne Patrick, freelance writer, a much published fiction writer, tutor of creative writing and workshop leader at seminars and festivals, organiser of the prestigious Real Writers Short Story Awards and of the well known Real Writers appraisal service and partner with Iain Pattison in Crème de la Crime publishers, is well qualified to produce this book. It contains all you need to know to write short stories, even where to begin and end. If you have such ambitions, treat yourself. You won't regret it. |
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The world is over-stocked with people who are ready and eager to teach other people to write. It seems astonishing that so much bad writing should find its way into print when there is so much good advice to be had. Robertson Davies |
Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it the least. P.D.Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield |
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