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Loading... Telling Stories: An Anthology for Writers (edition 1998)by Joyce Carol Oates
Work InformationTelling Stories: An Anthology for Writers by Joyce Carol Oates
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  Glenn_Russell | Nov 13, 2018 |   “We need myths to get by. We need story; otherwise the tremendous randomness of experience overwhelms us. Story is what penetrates.” ― Robert Coover I think we can all agree on how one key ingredient for a good work of fiction is the aliveness of characters. But how far do we go with this? Case in point - I offer the following micro-fiction: Real Life Characters Basil Blackhorn is writing his novel. Basil Blackhorn is the kind of novelist who lets his characters develop a life of their own. Basil Blackhorn hears voices in his head, then writes what the voices tell him. The voices talk and talk and talk and talk and talk themselves out and finally resort to action. The next morning the authorities find Basil Blackhorn slumped over his writing desk, his throat sliced by five thin slashes of a knife. The motive, background information and details of the slaying are described by the five main characters in the novel in progress on his desk. What can be done? The five characters, so read the authorities, make a clean escape beyond many borders. ---- And when it comes to a master storyteller sharing advise on the magic of fiction, you will not find a better guide that Joyce Carol Oates. This is one book I refer to again and again. (  ) GlennRussell | Feb 16, 2017 | ) JosephJ | May 13, 2010 | ) amyfaerie | Feb 5, 2007 |  ) AgentJade | Jul 19, 2006 | no reviews | add a review
Drawn from Joyce Carol Oates's reading list at Princeton University, the pieces collected in Telling Stories provide beginning writers with models and inspiration for their own writing. Oates gathers here a diverse anthology of over one hundred works, including "miniature" narratives, dramatic monologues, poems that tell stories, memoir and diary excerpts, and a generous sampling of classic and contemporary short stories. Throughout, Oates has chosen exemplary writings - by relative newcomers and established authors alike - to delight readers as well as to stimulate students' own creative work. A general introduction and an afterword on the writing workshop offer students encouragement, advice, and exercises for writing. A text for creative writers, an anthology for fiction courses, Telling Stories provides a master's portrait of the art and craft of storytelling. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)808.0427Literature By Topic Rhetoric and anthologies Rhetoric and anthologies Handbooks for writers EnglishLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.2)
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Wikipedia in English
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“We need myths to get by. We need story; otherwise the tremendous randomness of experience overwhelms us. Story is what penetrates.”
― Robert Coover
I think we can all agree on how one key ingredient for a good work of fiction is the aliveness of characters. But how far do we go with this? Case in point - I offer the following micro-fiction:
Real Life Characters
Basil Blackhorn is writing his novel. Basil Blackhorn is the kind of novelist who lets his characters develop a life of their own. Basil Blackhorn hears voices in his head, then writes what the voices tell him. The voices talk and talk and talk and talk and talk themselves out and finally resort to action.
The next morning the authorities find Basil Blackhorn slumped over his writing desk, his throat sliced by five thin slashes of a knife. The motive, background information and details of the slaying are described by the five main characters in the novel in progress on his desk.
What can be done? The five characters, so read the authorities, make a clean escape beyond many borders.
----
And when it comes to a master storyteller sharing advise on the magic of fiction, you will not find a better guide that Joyce Carol Oates. This is one book I refer to again and again. (