Jerome SternReviews
Author of Making Shapely Fiction
5 Works 775 Members 7 Reviews
Reviews
Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern
Flagged
LaurenThemself | 3 other reviews | Feb 20, 2024 | It wasn't so much a manual of how to write as it was an encyclopedia of writing terms and conventions, all conveniently laid out in alphabetical order.
Seriously, nothing new is under the sun, and I've known about all of these since high-school, but sometimes it's kinda nice to be reminded of what you might have forgotten in your old, old, old age. You know, kinda like that old saying, "I've forgotten more than you've ever known." It makes me feel a little bit like a curmudgeon and an old fogey.
It's not a bad state to live in, btw. I recall that I wanted to be a curmudgeon when I was 16.
Now that I've read this, I feel like my life-long dream has finally come true.
Seriously, nothing new is under the sun, and I've known about all of these since high-school, but sometimes it's kinda nice to be reminded of what you might have forgotten in your old, old, old age. You know, kinda like that old saying, "I've forgotten more than you've ever known." It makes me feel a little bit like a curmudgeon and an old fogey.
It's not a bad state to live in, btw. I recall that I wanted to be a curmudgeon when I was 16.
Now that I've read this, I feel like my life-long dream has finally come true.
Flagged
bradleyhorner | 3 other reviews | Jun 1, 2020 | I have learned a lot from Stern. This is the best book I've read on the various ways longer fictional works can be conceived and structured. I use it in my English 307: Writing the Literary Novel course, and students love it. I highly recommend it for both teachers and students of creative writing.
1
Flagged
VicCavalli | 3 other reviews | Oct 27, 2019 | All of the stories in this collection are 300-words or less, which makes this a great resource for teachers of creative writing. As with most anthologies, I loved some stories more than others. Many of them were overly abstract for my taste. But the book is well worth the small investment it requires (in terms of both time and coin).
Flagged
StefanieBrookTrout | 2 other reviews | Feb 4, 2017 | Practical and straightforward advice. More on the side of definitions, advantages and disadvantages than "this is what is good". Offers lots of ways to play with the 'rules' of writing. If this were a grammar book, it'd be descriptive instead of prescription. In a lot of ways it's covering the same ground as [b:Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel|32095|Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel|Jane Smiley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168331509s/32095.jpg|801321], but far less academic and more useful.
1
Flagged
MarieAlt | 3 other reviews | Mar 31, 2013 | I love micro-fiction, and this book doesn't disappoint. It is amazing what talented writers can convey in less than a page.
Flagged
LynnB | 2 other reviews | Apr 7, 2012 | It was used and had two pieces by Amy Hempel and Stuart Dybek--how could I possibly go wrong? I figured they'd be the best stories of the lot, but I was wrong. They blew me away, but other stories took bigger chunks out of me.
Flagged
donp | 2 other reviews | Nov 17, 2008 |