Narrative Design: Working with Imagination, Craft, and Form

Bell, Madison Smartt

ISBN 10: 0393320219 / ISBN 13: 9780393320213

Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 2000

About this Item

Seller Inventory # mon0004209019

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Narrative Design: Working with Imagination, Craft, and Form
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393320219
• ISBN 13: 9780393320213
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

With clarity, verve, and the sure instincts of a good teacher, Madison Smartt Bell offers a roll-up-your-sleeves approach to writing in this much-needed book.

Focusing on the big picture as well as the crucial details, Bell examines twelve stories by both established writers (including Peter Taylor, Mary Gaitskill, and Carolyn Chute) and his own former students. A story's use of time, plot, character, and other elements of fiction are analyzed, and readers are challenged to see each story's flaws and strengths. Careful endnotes bring attention to the ways in which various writers use language. Bell urges writers to develop the habit of thinking about form and finding the form that best suits their subject matter and style. His direct and practical advice allows writers to find their own voice and imagination.

About the Author

Madison Smartt Bell is the author of seventeen novels, his most recent being Behind the Moon. He teaches at Goucher College and lives in Baltimore, Maryland.