ID #107487 |
Description (Elements of Fiction Writing) (Rated: ASR)
Product Type: BookReviewer: ElaineElaine Review Rated: ASR |
Amazon's Price: $ 25.66
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Summary of this Book... | ||
There's nothing better to introduce the topic of description than by giving you the first two paragraphs of Monica Wood’s introduction: Description is not so much an element of fiction as its very essence; it is the creation of mental images that allow readers to fully experience a story. When you write a story, you offer an account of a chain of events, the characters that inhabit those events, and the places in which those events occur. How you describe those events, characters, and places affects your readers’ perceptions. Every technical decision you make during the writing of a new story—from the length of your sentences to your choice of point of view—becomes part of that story’s description. The statement “John showed up with a gun” describes an event. “John arrived, pistol glinting in his hand” describes the same event with a little more pizzazz. Your instinct for jazzing up a plain declarative sentence has repercussions, however, because the rewrite describes something beyond a simple action. For starters, the rewrite gives us a bit of atmosphere—“glinting” suggests light and gives the gun an aura of menace. Second, it tells us something about the observer, who uses the more accurate “pistol,” and is aware of the “glinting.” Third, it suggests something about John’s state of mind: a man with a glinting pistol must surely be aching to pull the trigger, whereas a man who simply shows up with a gun could have any number of intentions. The mental images in the rewrite are profoundly different from those in the original sentence. Even the smallest decisions about description can affect a story in countless subtle ways. CHAPTERS Introduction Chapter One: Details, Details The telling detail How details drive the story Adding details in later drafts Engaging the senses Simile and Metaphor The virtue of restraint Wrap-up Chapter Two: Showing and Telling What's the difference Scene and Narrative How to "Tell" How to "Show" When to use narratives, when to use scene Wrap-up Chapter Three: Description and Forward Motion How stories move Creating context Forward motion and physical description Flashbacks and their problems Flash-forwards A word on the set piece Wrap-up Chapter Four: Description and Dialogue Types of Dialogue Conversations in Space Overdescribing dialogue Implying dialogue Implying setting Description by omission Wrap-up Chapter Five: Description and Point of View First-person point of view Second-person point of view Third-person omniscient point of view Third-person limited pont of view Wrap-up Chapter Six: Description and Style Choosing description style When content and style contrast A case for minimalism A case for maximalism Avoiding sentimentaility and melodrama Wrap-up Chapter Seven: Description and Setting Details that tell a story The setting's history Settings large and small Problems with "actual" places Wrap-up Chapter Eight: Special Description Problems Describing animals Describing weather Describing emotion Describing sound Wrap-up Chapter Nine: Tips and Tricks | ||
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Created Jan 28, 2004 at 5:50pm •
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