Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing)
by Nancy Kress
List Price:
Our Price: $8.15
You Save: $6.84 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.39 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Nancy KressEdition: Paperback
Published: 1999-05
ISBN: 0898799058
Number of pages: 149
Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
Book Reviews of Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing)
Book Review: Brilliant, pages 84 to 87 alone justify the price of the book
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always been told I'm a "good writer" and I have always wanted to "write" (specifically, make up stories and put them on paper. And despite starting with Aristotle's Poetics in high school, I guess I just didn't get it. Even so, I have spent most of my adult life in jobs that were dependent on writing and reasoning skills but, despite the number of stories in my head, never knew what to do with them.
So thank you, Nancy Kress for telling me how to go about writing a story. It could be that I'm just dense, but the reading I've been doing lately (like Noah Lukeman's "The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile" and "Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction--and Get It Published" by by Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato, both excellent, five-stars from me, at least) has been positively enlightening. And "Beginnings, Middles, and Endings" is one of the best. Frankly, it's hard to rave too much about this book, because there's no much to rave about. It's clear, crisp, orderly, incredibly organized (especially when you consider that she's dealing with what is essentially how to tell a story, no small task in itself). But even more, is enormous fun to read and leads inevitably to that great AH-HA! moment, somewhere in pages 84 - 87.
In general, the two series "Elements of Fiction Writing" and the Writer's Digest books on writing fiction are excellent and, in addition to being downright enlightening, are just pure, huge fun. For the first time in my life, I feel as if I know what I'm doing. Too bad it took so long, but there I was one morning, standing in front of the mirror lost in the thousand yard stare when all of a sudden my writing focus burst out at me like a super-nova. And ever since then, my life has simply made sense. Now THAT'S a mid-life crisis.
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Books on Writing for Writers
Dynamic Charactersby Nancy Kress
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2004-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.16
Price in other shops:
Elements of Writing Fiction - Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing)by Nancy Kress
Writers Digest Books; Published: 1999-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.56
Price in other shops:
Elements of Writing Fiction - Characters & Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)by Orson Scott Card
Writers Digest Books; Published: 1999-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.75
Price in other shops:
Creating Unforgettable Charactersby Linda Seger
Holt Paperbacks; Published: 1990-07-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops:
On Becoming a Novelistby John Gardner, Raymond Carver
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1999-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writersby John Gardner
Vintage; Published: 1991-06-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
Writer's Quotebook: 500 Authors on Creativity, Craft, And the Writing LifeRutgers; Published: 2006-09-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.15
Price in other shops:
A Writer's Workbook: Daily Exercises for the Writing Lifeby Caroline Sharp
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2002-06-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasyby Orson Scott Card
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2001-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.41
Price in other shops:
Writing Science Fiction & Fantasyby Analog and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 1993-02-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities That Keep Readers Captivatedby Nancy Kress
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2004-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.03
Price in other shops:
Dialogue: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Effective Dialogue (Write Great Fiction)by Gloria Kempton
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2004-10-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops:
Conflict, Action and Suspense (Elements of Fiction Writing)by William Noble
Writer's Digest Books; Published: 1999-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.21
Price in other shops:
How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling (How to Write a Damn Good Novel)by James N. Frey
St. Martin's Press; Published: 1987-12-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.25
Price in other shops:
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Printby Renni Browne, Dave King
Collins; Published: 2004-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.93
Price in other shops:
Description (Elements of Fiction Writing)by Monica Wood
Writer's Digest Books; Published: 1999-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.04
Price in other shops:
The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pileby Noah Lukeman
Fireside; Published: 2005-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.92
Price in other shops:
Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints (Write Great Fiction)by Nancy Kress
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2005-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)by Orson Scott Card
Writer's Digest Books; Published: 1999-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) (Write Great Fiction)by James Scott Bell
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2004-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.25
Price in other shops: