The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing

Alice LaPlante's "The Making of a Story" is textbook-length (well over six hundred pages), and should appeal not only to serious writing students, but also to teachers and readers who would like more insight into how writers create. Creative writing is not for the faint-hearted; that is clear from the outset. It is easy to feel overwhelmed when staring at a blank page or screen, trying to come with original ideas and fresh ways to express them. LaPlante gently and slowly guides her readers through the entire process from getting off the ground to putting the finishing touches on the final draft. LaPlante's scope is encyclopedic. She includes such topics as: making the ordinary extraordinary, employing imagery effectively, writing a good opening, developing plot and characters, choosing a point of view, writing believable dialogue, generating suspense, and revising one's work. She also discusses the strengths and limitations of writing workshops. The author emphasizes that there are no hard and fast rules; rather, she is passing on "conventions" that have worked for many but not all writers. How does this work differ from others of its type? "The Making of a Story" covers more territory than most writing handbooks. Part of the book's length results from the inclusion of quite a few full-length classic stories, such as Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," John Cheever's "The Swimmer," James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," and a non-fiction piece, Barbara Ehrenreich's "Welcome to Cancerland." Each work is followed by thought questions such as "How do the opening paragraphs set the tone for the story?" and "Can you point to some sections of narration that are convincing because of their specificity?" There are also dozens of exercises sprinkled throughout the book. For example, the student should pretend that she is a camera and record everything that she sees in a place rich with visual stimulation. "Reading Like a Writer" by Francine Prose is another excellent work of this type; in fact, LaPlante quotes Prose and even uses the phrase "Reading as a Writer" repeatedly. "The Making of a Story" is well organized into fourteen carefully constructed chapters. There is a useful table of contents, a glossary of literary terms, a bibliography, a list of stories, and a thorough index. This guide cannot be absorbed in one sitting. It should be savored slowly and kept as a ready reference book. Used judiciously, it can serve as a source of inspiration to help writers bring out the best in themselves.

I've been trying to get a handle on stories for years. Eight years. In that time I've read lots of writing guides: guides on fiction-writing, novel-writing, screenwriting, and myth structure. In my opinion, Alice LaPlante's "The Making of a Story" is the BEST BEST BEST. I'll be keeping it on the bookshelf near my desk, and it will be the first place I go to for guidance, reminders, examples, and encouragement. Before I get into the unique strengths of the book, here's a brief, incomplete description of its contents. It offers thorough discussions of the foundational elements of written stories: point of view, dialogue, characterization, scene vs. narrative, specificity, etc. You'll also find fantastic sections on the aspects of storytelling that are harder to define and exemplify. For example, the chapter titled "What's This Creative Work Really About?" discusses the idea of "truth" in fiction. The chapter entitled "The Shapely Story" provides the best answer I've ever seen to the question, "What is a story?" The book also contains excellent writing exercises. I find that some other books suggest rather prescriptive writing exercises, about a specific situation or set of characters. I love LaPlante's exercises because although they set you to the task of focusing on a specific point of craft, in terms of subject matter they are generally quite open-ended, so that the exercise is not just an exercise, but also potentially a journey into your own particular subject matter du jour. Finally, the book contains the entire text of many well-known stories and essays which give the reader/writer an idea of what's possible, what's been done, and what to shoot for. As you can see, this book provides all the basic information and tools an aspiring writer would like to find in a guide to writing stories. But LaPlante goes above and beyond. She doesn't ever settle for the easy answer, choosing instead to take the time to explore many answers to one question. You can get a sense of this from one of her chapter titles alone: "Why You Need to Show *and* Tell". It's a fabulous, fabulous chapter. In the chapter entitled "The Shapely Story," LaPlante takes on the question, "What is a story?", refusing to settle for a simple rule or set of rules. Instead, she offers a number of different ways to express what a story is. (If you've ever workshopped a story you're proud of, only to have everyone say, "but this isn't really a story yet," you'll really appreciate this chapter.) One of my other fave chapters is "Learning to Fail Better," about first drafts and revision. Alice LaPlante is such a thoughtful, experienced, wise writer...and generous, too. Her book is full of quotes from other writers. Some of these quotes are examples from fiction and nonfiction that exemplify the techniques or qualities being discussed. Some of the quotes are from other writers who have written brilliantly on writing. The voices of E.M. Forster, Charles Baxter, John Gardner, Flannery

I've been taking fiction workshops for years from many truly wonderful teachers, and yet I was blown away by this book. Full of wit and wisdom, this breathtakingly comprehensive primer on the writing of both fiction and creative non-fiction leads you through all aspects of crafting creative work: from sparking ideas for stories and essays, to developing them using a full range of craft tools, to revision techniques that take an early draft and push it toward a completed work of art. As I read through this book--and it's a book that you will read from cover to cover, like a novel--I found myself exclaiming in surprise and then nodding with agreement at the utterly original and illuminating explanations of things I thought I knew. The book's chapter on "Showing and Telling" alone is worth the price of admission, as it simultaneously provides a context for that old saw "show not tell," while revealing why the advice can be so wrong-headed. Likewise, the chapter on structure provides a firm grounding in traditional notions of what a short story should be while opening our eyes to the wonderful possibilities of work that doesn't fit neatly into that mold. Whether you are just getting started or are an old hand at writing, each page will bring you exciting discoveries about craft and creativity and open up new worlds of meaning as you delve into the work of well-known as well as up-and-coming writers. Most importantly of all, you'll be inspired to sit down in front of the blank page (or computer screen), roll up your sleeves, and get to your own creative work.