The Mechanics of Fiction Writing

Lesson 52.
The Writing Process, Ugh...

As much as I find talking about process a mostly useless exercise, there are a few important (and hopefully useful) things to say about the writing process and the writer. Plus a polemic and a serious note about the tendency of artistic minds to fall into self-destructive patterns.

Lesson 53.

The Intention of Mechanics

No, you don't want to be thinking about a million different little things while you're writing. But if you start to internalize the ways narratives work, you'll have the right tool for the right job when the time is right. Just like Bach did. We can hope, right?

Lesson 54.
Suggestions for Further Reading

I can't count how many books about writing I've read—a lot is the short answer. And it's likely that something from all of them made it into these lectures, whether it was the basis for a lesson itself or some little aside. But since I've covered so many different topics that I had to leave a ton of useful stuff out, I figured a categorized reading list for seriously motivated students of the game was in order.

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