Mastering Fiction Writing by Kit Reed

Reed, Kit. Mastering Fiction Writing. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1991.

Kit Reed doesn’t believe there is a magic book that will tell you everything you need to know about writing. Her book, Mastering Fiction Writing, will help you get started and contains a lot of advice on making your stories better.

The first key is that learning to write comes from practicing writing. If you’re not writing, you’re not a writer. No story is perfect, so start writing and improve your work as you proceed.



An encouraging tip from Reed is that you already have a great storehouse of experience to draw upon as a writer. All the experiences of your own life, the lives of people you know and everything you’ve heard about and learned are the raw material you already have in your head. As a writer, you’ll use all of this, not directly but transformed for the purposes of your stories.

Reed is not a fan of plot, believing that stories are developed and preferring let her characters and what they want lead her. She does believe in outlining. An outline can help a beginning writer get a story in shape and avoid problems before starting. Even in the middle of a story, outlining can help with diagnosing problems and figuring out where the story needs to go.

The book also covers other common elements of fiction writing. This includes style, character, point of view, voice, rewriting and establishing your work habits.

A particularly useful element of the book is that almost every chapter contains a list of questions you can ask yourself about that element in your story. You could use these questions at any point in developing a story to help you recognize problems and create solutions.

The final chapter is also particularly useful. It deals with discipline. A writer isn’t going to produce stories, and especially not books, if he doesn’t do the work, deal with the problems and overcome the occasional boredom, hard work and temptation to quit.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
How to Write Mysteries by Shannon OCork
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
No Plot? Not Problem! A Low Stress-High Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card

Card, Orson Scott. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Cincinnati, OH: Writers Digest Books, 1990.

Accomplished speculative fiction author Orson Scott Card focuses this manual on the particulars of writing science fiction and fantasy stories. It contains advice that may be useful to writers of any kind of fiction.

To start, Card tries to define the realm of science fiction and fantasy. This is difficult. Once identified as a writer of speculative fiction, you may find it difficult to get your books marketed in any other category. On the up side, within the realm of science fiction of fantasy, you can write almost any kind of story. Science fiction and fantasy is defined by a mix of marketing, reader expectation and what writers produce; something readers of these books will have a feel for, but as a new writer, or someone new to the field, its useful to know what is expected.

Something unique to speculative fiction that Card gives much attention is world creation. All fiction creates a world of sorts, but a characteristic of speculative fiction is that the world of the story is significantly different from the world we live in. A writer of science fiction or fantasy stories must have a well thought out vision for his world and how it works; he need an understanding larger than what is minimally necessary for the story. This chapter contains practical advice on what works and doesn’t in world creation.

Something that sticks out to me is found in the chapter on story construction. Card writes about where a story should begin and end, depending on what kind of story it is: milieu, idea, character or event. All stories have all of these elements to some degree, but most focus on one. By understanding what kind of story you’re trying to write, you can know where to begin and end your story and how to set up and meet reader expectations. Reading this chapter I thought of several short stories and novels that I thought were very good and saw how they fit in these categories and how the authors made fitting decisions about where they started and stopped their stories.



Card’s advice on story construction is applicable to any kind of fiction. He draws examples from speculative fiction, and has writers of it in mind as his audience, but all kind of stories could be improved with this counsel.

Keeping a Journal You Love by Sheila Bender

Bender, Sheila. Keeping a Journal You Love. Cincinnati: Walking Stick Press, 2001.

The starting chapter of Keeping a Journal You Love is brief and covers two subjects: the reasons people write journals and the basic mechanics journaling. Bender frames the second subject as a FAQ. The rest of the book focuses on getting the reader to practice writing.



As you might expect from a book on writing by a teacher of writing, there are many exercises. An early chapter is devoted to a group of seven exercises to get the budding journalist warmed up. A later chapter recommends list structure list of several ways to enrich a journal.

Among these exercises is anaphora, a series of sentences beginning with the same words. An example provided by Bender is the list of indictments against King George from the Declaration of Independence. I grew up in a church, so it reminds me of the rhythm of sermons.
God’s grace is a gift.
God’s grace saves us.
God’s grace redeems us.
God’s grace revives us.
God’s grace justifies us.
God’s grace imputes righteousness to us.
God’s grace abounded when our sins abounded.
God’s grace frees us from bondage to sin.
God’s grace gives us mercy.
God’s grace gives us help in our times of need.
God’s grace came through Jesus Christ.
God’s grace brings us to believe.
God’s grace we access by faith.
God’s grace makes us alive.
God’s grace gives us eternal life.
God’s grace He gives to the humble.
God’s grace is sufficient.

The main body of the book explores examples of journal entries from various writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. These examples illustrate various styles, techniques and subjects. After samples from each contributor and a brief discussion of their journals, Bender suggests several exercises for the reader to practice in there own journal.

Some of the contributors wrote very interesting journal entries. I found one to be boring. They were all very different in style and content. Some hardly resemble what one might expect of a journal. Fruitful journaling is as unique as the varied journalists are.

The point is not to imitate the journals of these other writers. The intent is to help people develop their own journaling style that is deeper, richer and more rewarding.

Though journaling is typically a very private matter, Bender includes and interesting chapter on journaling groups. Journaling groups vary in their practices, but some find the setting, information and discipline that comes from being in such a group helps them start, stick to and improve their journaling. Bender provides some practical tips for finding an existing group or starting your own.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Write Your Heart Out by Rebecca McClanahan

How to Write Horror Fiction by William F. Nolan

Nolan, William F. How to Write Horror Fiction. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest, 1990.

William F. Nolan (author of Logan’s Run and other horror tales) takes a conversational, even light, tone in How to Write Horror Fiction. For Nolan, a good scare is good fun.

Nolan begins the book with his on introduction to horror stories and a discussion of why people read them or see horror movies. People get a thrill and a sense of relief from facing death and overcoming it, even if only vicariously. Maybe especially vicariously.

The book focuses on the particulars of writing horror. Nolan discusses at length what works in horror stories. He illustrates this through examples drawn from a number of authors. He also provides a step-by-step discussion of horror elements by working through one of his own stories. The book contains general tips for writers, but it doesn’t talk as much about the general mechanics and practices of writing.

He has some tips for breaking into the horror market. The upside is there is a lot of demand for horror and places for new writers to break in. The down side is that those open segments of the market pay poorly if they pay at all. Though not well paying, many of the lower market periodicals are serious about quality and finding good new authors, so writing for them can be a good place to build a portfolio while building skill. Film and television can be a lucrative market for writers, though it is hard to get into (after gaining success as a writer elsewhere, most likely after having book optioned for adaption to film).

Some of the references are dated, as one might expect from a book that is almost 20 years old. However, Nolan includes an appendix that lists a number of horror anthologies. Most are probably out of print by now, but also probably cheaply available as a used books. For someone looking to read good horror stories, or to develop a sense of what works as a writer, these books will still be good.

You Can Write a Column by Monica McCabe Cardoza

Cardoza, Monica McCabe. You Can Write a Column. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 2000.

Cardoza offers no false hope for aspiring columnist. Writing a good column, repeatedly, is hard work. Selling a column, and making a living at it, is very hard work. You may have reasons to write a column, and work to get it in print, even if you don’t intend to make money directly from it.

You Can Write a Column is a short book of practical advice. It covers the how to of both writing and selling columns.

Though writing a good column can be difficult, if you have a lot of enthusiasm for your subject and appropriate knowledge of it, column writing could be a lot of fun. If you have a compelling perspective, a strong voice and credentials of the practical sort, you may also have the making of a successful column.

Cardoza points out that many columnists write for reasons other than making money from it. They may wish to express their opinions, build their professional reputations, see their names in the paper or make a living from parallel efforts.

Even so, selling and writing seem to never be far separated. Selling a column starts with writing the kind of column that well sell. Writing starts with and idea of the kind column you want to write refined with an understanding of the potential market for it.

Cardoza presents practical advice in all these areas. The book includes a few exercises, particularly in those chapters relating to developing the column. The exercises don’t constitute a step-by-step process to creating a successful column. Cardoza points out that if such a process existed, newspaper editors would be using it.

There is a lot in this little book for readers with realistic expectations. You won’t reduce your work by reading book. However, the clear direction, sharper ideas and useful information you may gain can make your work much more effective.



If your interested in this book, you may also be interested in You Can Write for Magazines by Greg Daugherty.

You Can Write for Magazines by Greg Daugherty

Daugherty, Greg. You Can Write for Magazines. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999.

You Can Write for Magazines is a practical primer on writing and selling magazine articles. This short book is loosely divided into three parts: how magazines work, how to write types of articles that are popular, and how to handle the business of writing.

As an editor, Daugherty is familiar with how magazines work. Since this is a book for writers, it treats the subject lightly and briefly. It’s enough to help the novice freelancer know what to expect without unnecessary detail. In an early chapter, he juxtaposes what is going on with the writer with what is happening at the magazine.



For the hopeful freelancer, the several chapters on popular types of articles are likely to be of most interest. These chapters are short and won’t save writers any of the hard work of putting together articles. They will help them start of in the right direction and avoid problems. This section works well as a possible reference. Since each chapter deals with a single type of article, one can turn to it for relevant pointers without sorting through the entire book. They also highlight the types of materials magazines use beside long feature articles.

The final chapters are very important to those freelancers who might hope to make a little money from their efforts. They cover the art of selling, the writer’s rights and money management. As in the rest of the book, Daugherty concentrates on the essential facts that will be useful to the writer, especially a beginner.

Throughout, Daugherty’s own writing style can be a lesson to beginning magazine writers. He sticks to the main points, focuses on the important aspects of his subject, organizes each chapter well and writes with an appropriate tone. Each chapter could be an article on some aspect of magazine writing.

Write Naked by Jennifer Probst

Romance writer Jennifer Probst has written more than a score of published books. In Write Naked, she shares her experiences, both successes and mistakes, of building her career as a professional writer.

Probst was not an immediate success. She wrote six books before writing one that was published. One of the lessons of the book is that it takes persistence, time and effort to develop you skill and find a place for your work. Even after writing successful books, the book you’re working on can be a struggle; Probst confesses to finding challenges in writing her most recent books.

Success itself can be a challenge. When she finally made it, she made it big, with a large sale and a book that hit the bestseller lists. After that, the pressure was on. She felt the expectations of her editor and readers to produce another hit that they would love. The pressure to meet those expectations made the next book much harder. It was successful, but not as successful, which she found very disappointing. She points out the reality that you won’t hit a home run every time you step up to the plate, but a base hit is still a success.

I admit that I’m not a fan of romance. However, I am a bit in awe of the ability to many successful romance writers to produce. They turn out books and their books sell. This requires work—they have to get it done. Probst’s advice includes dealing with that aspect of writing. She treats it as her business. She writes every day. She sets goals. She creates deadlines (or gets them from her editor) and meets them. She sets aside time to promote her books and interact with readers. She also says no to things that don’t fit her life and career as a writer so her time and energy isn’t drained away from where it is needed.

Some might thing Probst’s revelation of her experience takes some of the romance out of writing. Of course, whether it is romantic or not, there are realities to making a career of writing. An aspiring writer will need to deal with it.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Finding Your Writer’s Voice by Thaisa Frank & Dorothy Wall

Just Write by Walter Dean Myers

Mastering Fiction Writing by Kit Reed

No Plot? Not Problem! A Low Stress-High Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty

The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

Shut Up & Write! by Judy Bridges

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

Probst, Jennifer. Write Naked: A Bestseller’s Guide to Writing Romance and Navigating the Path to Success. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 2017.

How to Write Mysteries by Shannon OCork

OCork, Shannon. How to Write Mysteries. Cincinnati, OH: Writers’ Digest Books, 1989.

How to Write Mysteries is a quick summary of writing crime novels from start to finish. It doesn’t deal much with what it’s going to take to get you to set down and do it, but it is full of advice on what make mysteries work.

To OCork, a mystery is a like a game you play with your readers. A mystery novel is puzzle and the reader is trying to solve it by figuring out who committed the crime, typically murder. The writer must play fair by providing all the clues needed to figure it out, but at the same time provide an interesting story that obfuscates and distracts.

OCork speaks of this in terms of the real story and the apparent story. The real story is the solving of the mystery. The apparent story is all the stuff the characters must go through, some directly related to unraveling the crime and some tangential, to accomplish it.



The book deals with the mechanics of writing a mystery novel: types of mysteries, plot development, style, character development, pace, dialogue and more. It also covers what to do after you've written your book: manuscript preparation, submitting to publishers and starting your next book.

OCork uses examples throughout to illustrate her point. Some come from published works, but many come from a story she makes up for the purpose of illustration. It’s not a novel, but it does illustrate how one thing builds on another, from plot to the full story. Using this common example shows how everything ties together.

In one chapter, OCork addresses the writer’s life. It is a lot of work. If you’re making a living as a writer, or hoping to, it is your work. That means making the sacrifices needed to do the work you want, but also enjoying the fruit of it.

Writing for Comics with Peter David

David, Peter. Writing for Comics with Peter David. Cincinnati, OH: Impact, 2006.

Peter David brings his more than two decades of experience as a comics writer, including a well known stint as a writer of The Incredible Hulk, to bear on the subject of writing for comics. David’s book is mainly a guide to writers who want to break into comics, but it’s also written to appeal to comics fans who want a better understanding of their favorite medium.

To some degree, good writing is good writing, so much of the advice David provides could be useful to fiction writers in general. Conflict, character, setting, plot and pacing are things all fiction writers must handle. David draws on examples from other media, especially movies, to illustrate his points.

Even so, comics have there own conventions, traditions and techniques. David deals with some of the unique elements of comics directly such as script style, speech balloons, continuity and writing instructions for artists. Mostly, relevant techniques are dealt with as they arise in discussing writing for comics.

The main audience of the book is writers, so it deals with art, editing and other elements of comics from the standpoint of the writer’s place. All writers need to understand the craft of writing; comics writers also need to understand the craft of making comics since he not only writes a story, but also a script that gives shape to the final product, often page-by-page and frame-by-frame.



David’s advice can be taken more as guidelines as rules. One of his repeated points is to do what works. Even in his own writing, he adapts his script style and level of detail according to the story he is telling, the artist he is working with and the expectations of his editor.

Even though David doesn’t lay out one way, he does show the better ways and the danger zones. Someone wanting to write for comics will find a lot to help him do it well and possibly break into the tight market (including advice from a Marvel editor on pitching a story and detailed script guidelines from Dark Horse).

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics by Dennis O’Neil
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card

Write Your Heart Out by Rebecca McClanahan

McClanahan, Rebecca. Write Your Heart Out: Exploring and Expressing What Matters to You. Cincinnati, OH: Walking Stick Press, 2001.



Write Your Heart Out differs from many other books on writing because less on the craft and business of writing and more on the life of writing. It covers the journey of being a writer from the inside out.

McClanahan begins the journey with journaling and other private writing that is not meant to be shared. Private writing provides the opportunity for writing without worry of judgment, recording daily events or major life passages and discovering yourself. Writing can be a way to preserve memories, deal with a painful past, find your way and celebrate joys. Private writing doesn’t have to lead to anything else, but it can; even a mundane diary may spark a memory or provide perspective and inspiration for creative works.

The next passage in the journey is letters. Here a writer begins to communicate with others. Letters can be powerful and tangible ways of connecting with others. McClanahan offers advice on how to write various types of letters and what to include. If you’re looking for a way to express your sympathy or love, this chapter can help you get started.

The writer moves on to working with other writers and writing in or about work. Working with other writers can mean collaboration, but in can also be any level of sharing with other writers to help them and receive their help. McClanahan describes several ways you can be part of a community of writers. Unless you’re one of the relative few who make a living writing full time, you’re already a part of a community of work. Your job or profession can be a rich source of material for writing. Use your expertise, or even your failures.

Moving to being a public writer involves honing your work. At this stage, a writer looks for sharable ideas in their work, tests their ideas against readers and their own standards, commits to revision and learns to let go of what they’ve written. For some, writing will become a way of life and they will find a way to keep at it with diligence.

If your interested in this book, you may also be interested in
You Can Write a Column by Monica McCabe Cardoza
You Can Write for Magazines by Greg Daugherty