A seventh edition of my writing workbook, A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling, is now available on Kindle for $2.99. This new edition explores what happens when story characters become an extension of authors and suggests techniques for authors to create characters with fully realized inner lives. A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling is also available as a trade paperback from Amazon. The Craft of Writing a Novel Writing for Film Writing for the Stage Manuscript Services About the Author Vita Film Scripts Q/A Home

The Craft of Writing Fiction by Bill Johnson The essays on this web page review novels to explore principles of writing fiction. The goal is that writers better understand how the authors of popular novels set their stories and plots in motion on page one. That a story creates movement to transport an audience. Complex Story, Simple Questions Notes on the structure of Anthony Doerr's novel set in WWII, All the Light We Cannot See. The Artist as Storyteller Notes on Paul Auster's novella, City of Glass, a complex and masterful story that revolves around identity. Writing About Class in America Notes on how the novel The Great Gatsby and how Fitzgerald wrote about class in America and the difficulty with living up to great moments of the past. The Exorcist Notes on the first six pages of William Blatty's popular novel and how it creates a dramatic introduction to the story. Story Structure and Ancient Oral Storytelling Notes on Homer's The Iliad about how the story is set in motion. Using an Unreliable Narrator in a Novel A review of Paula Hawkin's novel The Girl on the Train and the use of an unreliable narrator to tell a story. The novel was also made as a Hollywood film. Writing the Fantasy Hook Notes on Page 1 of George R. R. Martin's novel Game of Thrones that explores how the story is set in motion, one engaging and dramatic sentence at a time. Notes on Page 2 Notes on Page 3 The rest of the reviews that were on this page are now available for .99 on my writing workbook, Reading to Write, a novel approach to novel writing. Available on Smashwords. Reviews include: The Kite Runner Girl with the Dragon Tattoo The Hunger Games The Tin Drum The Bell Jar and many exploration of opening pages. ©1998-2023 Bill Johnson Top of page