How Fiction Works

by James Wood

An elegant little book by famed critic and New Yorker writer, James Woods, exploring the art of writing fiction, and writing well. Written for any lover of the novel - writers, teachers, readers - it delves into the mechanics, art and mystery that is good writing, the history of the craft and its evolution, with examples culled from Woods' personal library of favourites & a few duds.

• ISBN10: 0374173400
• ISBN13: 9780374173401
• Publish Date: 22 July 2008 (first published 7 February 2008)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 265
• Language: English

Reviews

[celinenyx]

An interesting essay on different elements that constitute fiction, such as detail and character, culminating to Wood's ideas on realism. Wood has a nice conversational and occasionally witty writing style that makes this book accessible for people without a degree in English or literature, but his examples are sometimes rather obscure. I consider myself reasonably well-read and I haven't read even half of the books Wood draws examples from. He also has a clear bias for certain kinds of literature and I don't necessarily agree with many of the points he makes. Nevertheless, a thought-provoking insight into novels and how they become "alive" for the reader.