Finding Your Writer's Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction - Hardcover

Frank, Thaisa; Wall, Dorothy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312114656 ISBN 13: 9780312114657

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1994

Synopsis

Suggests exercises for finding one's natural writing voice, tells how to work with first- and third-person narration, and offers advice on revision

About this title

About the Author

Thaisa Frank teaches writing at U. C. Berkeley and the graduate program at San Francisco State University.

Reviews

Does everyone in America want to be a writer? Publishers seem to think so, witness the never-ending flow from the presses of books on writing. (If publishers really do have their fingers on the pulse of America, buy stock in computer discs and spiral-bound notebooks.) Interestingly, most of these books, like Frank and Wall's, emphasize the creative aspect, not the mundane business end, of writing. Frank and Wall do, however, take a refreshingly novel approach to the subject of encouraging the beginning creative writer. Focus on voice, they suggest, for it will be what distinguishes you from the pack (of other writers buying such books as this). Happily, Frank and Wall practice what they preach in their own well-wrought book, whose voice is frank and objective but warmly conversational. The many exercises are intriguing and imaginative. Pat Monaghan

Voice is the thing that makes one writer's work different from another's. Every writer has a voice and a personal way of telling a story that reflects his or her life experience, sense of humor, and way of seeing the world. This book will help writers find their own voice-helping them move from raw outpourings to polished prose. The authors, writing professors at San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley Extension, respectively, have included some exercises to help writers tap into their personal voice. For stories to be good, argue the authors, that voice must be true, powerful, and raw. The authors have focused on a writing skill that is very hard to teach, and they have done so successfully. The ideas they present are good, and the exercises should help writers get at the heart of their feelings and passions. Still, this book is useful only for libraries that serve a large population of writers.
Lisa J. Cochenet, Winfield P.L., Ill.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312114656
• ISBN 13: 9780312114657
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 238