Forms of the Plot
Literary theorist Norm Friedman offered incredible new ways to think about and categorize plots. His work can help writers better...
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Literary Theory and Your Novel
The principles of literary theory help us tell and understand great stories. Here is a discussion of key concepts in literary theory and...
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Aristotle and Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is a perfect example of Aristotle's dramatic structure. Here are notes on how...
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Character in Crisis
Using the famous "5 Stages of Grief" as his model, Editor Shawn Coyne develops a theory of character that helps the writer deliver...
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The Old Man and the Novel
Hemingway on writing and the writing life. Here he is in his own immortal words.
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The Poetic Arts
Horace writes a book on craft disguised as a poem. His poem, Ars Poetica, is a classic of literary criticism and became the key text for...
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Glendavid Glen Mamet
David Mamet discusses the fundamentals of story and gets right down to the most essential, most profound elements of writing forceful...
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Her Room of Masterpieces
In Virginia Woolf's essay A Room of One's Own she analyzes classic books written by women and discusses what it means to be a female...
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On the Sublime
This ancient text on story lays out what aesthetics are and why the writer must rely on them. Here are notes on Longinus's brilliant...
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Metaphor
The great theorist Cleanth Brooks says writers can only step into the universal by going through the narrow door of the particular. Here...
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At the Desk
Francine Prose's wonderful advice on craft. Here are notes from her book, Reading Like a Writer.
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On Writing
Stephen King says talent is cheaper than table salt: it's hard work that makes the writer. Here are notes on his classic book, On Writing.
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What Use Poetry
Philip Sidney defends poetry from attacks on its value. Sidney says poetry tamed our wild wits and was the first light-giver to...
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Modern Form
In 1668, John Dryden published his work, Essay of Dramatic Poesy, wherein he criticized classical notions of form and put forth a...
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Against Interpretation
Why must art mean something; can't it simply be experienced? In this great, iconoclastic essay, Susan Sontag says interpretation kills...
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The Fictive Dream
Writer John Gardner says a story must create a vivid and continuous dream in the reader's mind. Here are notes on his famous book on...
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Aspects of the Novel
E. M. Forster wrote a terrific book exploring the elements of fiction. Here are notes on his classic book on writing, Aspects of the Novel.
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Damn Good Writing, Part 2
How to Write a Damn Good Novel, Part 2 is a great follow-up book on the craft of writing. Here are notes on this excellent book.
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Damn Good Writing
How to Write A Damn Good Novel is a great book on craft. Here are notes on this classic guide to writing.
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How We Read
Literary critic Wolfgang Iser spent his career trying to understand how we read and interpret what we read. Here are notes on his...
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Poetics
All literary theory begins here. Aristotle's Poetics is perhaps the earliest work on theory and gives one of the best explanations of...
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De Stijl
"A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no...
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Las Meninas
Understanding any art form can give the writer insight into craft and aesthetics. Here are notes on Michel Foucault's analysis of...
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Borges on Writing
Jorge Louis Borges is one of the giants. Here are notes on a collection of his essays on craft.
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Art as Technique
This essay by the Russian Formalist Viktor Shklovsky introduces one of the most important concepts in literary theory: Defamiliarization....
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The Hero in Your Novel
Many novels follow a protagonist along the Hero's Journey. Here are notes on Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces, a book...