In this book, accomplished writer Gary Provost helps you tackle that tough task. Here you’ll touch the soul of fine fiction and nonfiction. You’ll explore the intangibles: the relationships between form and content, proportion and pacing, slant and theme. And you’ll gain a new perspective on how words work together.
In that newfound knowledge you’ll find power—power Provost helps you transfer to the page. In candid, conversational style, he shows you:
• how to balance event and dialogue to keep the pace lively
• why unity is essential to a story—and how to maintain it
• how to make the written word pleasing to the ear
• the value of fresh, strong imagery
• how startling originality will keep your readers interested
• how to make your story credible—even when it’s fiction
• how subtlety allows your reader to participate in the action
• how to tighten up the tension at every level of your story
Provost makes no promise that the work will be easy. He promises only that your books, articles, and stories will get better. There are, after all, no magic words—except those you put on the page.