Notes from Writing the World

Notes from Writing the World is a compilation of the full text of some of my shorter nonfiction works in a single book:

•   Narrative in Fiction
•    The Seven Writerly Sins
•    Creating Realistic Characters
•    Writing Dialect
•    Writing Great Beginnings
•    Writing Flash Fiction
•    Self-Editing for Writers.

Each title is chock full of tips and techniques, and in this compilation you’re getting a truly great value.

Each of these smaller titles began as a handout that accompanied my live Writing the World seminars back in the day.

With this book alone, you will learn

•    to write sterling narrative
•    to avoid the seven worst mistakes most (not some… most) writers make
•    to create wonderfully well-rounded protagonists and antagonists (and why, for example, the dialogue of a secondary, flat character should be even more memorable than that of the protagonist or antagonist), and
•    to write truly authentic dialect.

You’ll also study some of the greatest opening sentences and paragraphs in literature and learn how to craft them yourself, and you’ll learn to write a complete short story with a beginning, middle and end—setting, characters, conflict and resolution—in 99 words or fewer (excluding the title, which should not exceed 5 words).

In short, you will learn the tips and tricks and techniques I picked up during almost 40 years of writing and editing.