Index of Book Reviews That Explore

Principles of Writing Fiction

Essays that review novels to explore principles of storytelling....

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 Artist as Storyteller
Notes on Paul Auster's novella, City of Glass, a complex and masterful story.

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.

Character Description as Dramatic Truth
Notes on the introduction of the main story characters in John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men.

Writing a Novel With a Message
Notes on how Ray Bradbury uses poetic language and imagery to begin his novel, Fahrenheit 451.

Using a Mystery to Explore Race
A review of Allen Esken's novel Nothing More Dangerous, about a young boy growing up in a small town who comes to understand what fuels the racial divisions in his community.

Writing Lean and Mean
A review of the Lee Child's novel Jack Reacher, The Midnight Line.

Beginning a Novel With a Mysterious Stranger
Notes on the Opening Chapter of Hank Coben's The Stranger.

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.

Writing the Fantasy Hook
Notes on Page 1 George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones.

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

©1998-2024 Bill Johnson