The Graceful Lie: A Method for Making Fiction

For many years poetry has been my medium of expression, but in the last few years I've returned to writing fiction again. Having Michael Petracca's book as a compendium to return to again and again has been wonderful. I have felt encouraged and validated to experiment with form and language. His ideas make sense and provide me with enough structure to try new things, look critically at what I'm doing, and lie, lie, lie, hopefully with grace. I appreciate his sense of playfulness and wonder at what one can create when one trusts the process of writing, getting stuck, becoming unstuck, and moving through those tricky dance steps of words on paper. I also find that I am a more critical and appreciative reader of others' writing. I recommend Michael Petracca's book to anyone wanting to know about the craft of fiction, either to enhance and facilitate one's own writing or to see how others go about it.

The Graceful Lie has finally broken down my disabling illusions to expose the beauty and essence of writing. I've always wanted to learn to write. I've taken courses, joined writer's groups and read numerous repetitive and often discouraging books on the subject. Petracca's take on it is accessible and deeply imbued with honest appreciation and intelligence. He clearly has a firm knowledge of fiction's form and function. The book has given me new impatience to get back in the trenches of the writing endeavor. Graceful lying is an art form I can believe in and aspire to once again. I thank you Michael Petracca and the many I've recommended your book to also thank you.

The Graceful Lie is a thoroughly refreshing textbook. Not only is the textbook educational, it is also entertaining. Mr. Petracca skillfully guides the reader through the seemingly endless maze of fiction writing with wit and humor. This is one textbook that will not put the reader to sleep. Take it from a student who has had to pour through numerous textbooks, The Graceful Lie is a textbook that is well worth its price!

I can say, without hisitation, that THE GRACEFUL LIE is a wonderful book. I was at first drawn and intrigued by the title. I am psychotherapist who specializes in working with children and adolescents. (I am also an author and lover of books, especially fiction.) Many of the children I work with have been accused of lying when it was clear to me that they were making up pretty imaginative stories, much like the ones that Petracca describes in his personal introduction. In my work I focus quite a bit on encouraging children, including adolescents, to develop stories out of the drawings, clay pieces, sand tray scenes they make. I see these stories as rich metaphors for their own lives and often it is through these stories that I am able to guide them to articulate significant personal information, as well as to express deep, locked up feeings. Sometimes we write down these stories. THE GRACEFUL LIE has actually reinforced and enhanced my approach to doing therapy.I guess as a psychotherapist I am biased toward the projective value of stories. Personally I know that the stories I read and hang onto are definitely ones that touch some aspect of my life and tell me quite a bit about myself. In my work with adults as well as children I have encouraged clients to tell me about their loved books, and I have encouraged them to read many. As an author I write about my work with young people and present many of the stories that children tell as examples of therapeutic work. I notice that when I tell these stories--and in the telling I inevitably incorporate some fiction--people who read them, or hear them when I give presentations, are moved and enlightened. THE GRACEFUL LIE has broadened my perspective and understanding regarding the value of stories.I loved reading the pieces Petracca chose to include. Some I had read before and read them now with new insight; others were new gifts to me. Petracca's love and talent for writing clearly come through in every one of his comments. And his writing is interesting to read. I have deep gratitude to Petracca for enriching my life through the writing of THE GRACEFUL LIE.

When I stumbled upon "The Graceful Lie" in my local bookstore, it was a delightful surprise. This is a gem of a book! In my opinion any student wanting to improve his/her writing can benefit from Michael Petracca's expertise. This comprehensive text teaches all the important elements of fiction. With a quiet wit and subtle Zen perspective Mr. Petracca guides the beginning writer, or the not so beginning writer, through the characteristics of fictional genres, which he then grounds in writing exercises that deepen the learning experience. But what I loved most about this book was the tender encouragement Michael Petracca offers to the often fretful writer. One can feel his empathetic soul leaping off the page. Being a creative writing teacher, I have now incorporated this text into my curriculum. I'm dusting off my pom-poms and shaking them at you Michael Petracca. Well Done!