What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers - Hardcover

Anne Bernays; Pamela Painter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062700383 ISBN 13: 9780062700384

Publisher: Harper Collins, 1990

Synopsis

What If? is the first handbook for writers based on the idea that specific exercises are one of the most useful and provocative methods for mastering the art of writing fiction. With more than twenty-five years of experience teaching creative writing between them, Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter offer more than seventy-five exercises for both beginners and more experienced writers. These exercises are designed to develop and refine two basic skills: writing like a writer and, just as important, thinking like a writer. They deal with such topics as discovering where to start and end a story; learning when to use dialogue and when to use indirect discourse; transforming real events into fiction; and finding language that both sings and communicates precisely. What If? will be an essential addition to every writer's library, a welcome and much-used companion, a book that gracefully borrows a whisper from the muse.

About this title

Synopsis

With more than twenty-five years of experience teaching creative writing between them, Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter offer more than seventy-five exercises for both beginners and more experienced writers. These exercises are designed to develop and refine two basic skills: writing like a writer and, just as important, thinking like a writer. They deal with such topics as: discovering where to start and end a story; learning when to use dialogue and when to use indirect discourse; transforming real events into fiction; and, finding language that both sings and communicates precisely. "What If?" will be an essential addition to every writer's library, a welcome and much-used companion.

About the Author

Anne Bernays, a novelist and writing teacher, is the author of eight novels, including Professor Romeo and Growing Up Rich, as well as two works of nonfiction, including The Language of Names written with Justin Kaplan and What If? written with Pamela Painter. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous major publications, among them The Nation, the New York Times, Town & Country, and Sports Illustrated. She lives in Cambridge and Truro, Massachusetts with her husband, Justin Kaplan. They have three daughters and six grandchildren.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Collins
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062700383
• ISBN 13: 9780062700384
• Binding: Hardcover