Writing Fiction by James Essinger: stimulating and thorough

Writing Fiction – a user-friendly guide

‘Writing Fiction is a little pot of gold… Screenplay by Syd Field for film, Writing Fiction by James Essinger for fiction. It’s that simple.’

William Osborne, novelist and screenwriter

Writing Fiction – a user-friendly guide is a must-read if you want to write stories to a professional standard.

It draws on the author’s more than thirty years of experience as a professional writer, and on the work and ideas of writers including:

• Anthony Burgess
• Joseph Conrad
• George Eliot
• Ken Follett
• Frederick Forsyth
• Dan Harmon
• Ernest Hemingway
• David Lodge
• Norman Mailer
• John Milton
• Ben Parker
• K. Rowling
• William Shakespeare
• Martin Cruz Smith
• R.R. Tolkien

The twenty-four chapters cover every important matter you need to know about, including: devising a compelling story, creating and developing characters, plotting, ‘plants’, backstory, suspense, dialogue, ‘show’ and ‘tell’, and how to make your novel more real than reality.

Also featuring special guest advice from legendary screenwriter Bob Gale, who wrote the three immortal Back to the Future movies (1985, 1989 and 1990), and novelist and screenwriter William Osborne, whose many screen credits include the co-writing of the blockbuster Twins (1988), this highly entertaining book gives you all the advice and practical guidance you need to make your dream of becoming a published fiction writer come true.

My review

This is a very positive, stimulating book for anyone who loves to write, even if they’re still only in the dreaming stage.

The author takes us through all the aspects of writing that we need to know about – everything from what fiction actually is, to how to create rounded characters, show versus tell, devising an interesting story line and so on. If you can think of something you want to know about, then you can be sure of finding it dealt with in this book.

The author refers to fifteen famous writers, from Shakespeare to J K Rowling, and not just novelists but also dramatists and screenwriters, to illustrate the points he’s making and to act as inspiration. James Essinger is an established author himself and he’s really speaking from the heart and genuinely sharing his mastery of the craft of writing with us.

The style is modest, lively and witty. He hooks the reader’s interest from the very start and keeps your attention all the way through. There’s a very useful summing-up section and some enlightening appendices. This book a breath of fresh and very informative air in its genre.

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Author Bio –

James Essinger has been a professional writer since 1988. His non-fiction books include Jacquard’s Web (2004), Ada’s Algorithm (2013), which is to be filmed by Monumental Pictures, and Charles and Ada: the computer’s most passionate partnership (2019). His novels include The Mating Game (2016) and The Ada Lovelace Project (2019).

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