“You need at least two skills to be a fiction writer. You have to be able to write and you have to be able to tell a story. Telling a story is the harder skill to master,” writes John Dufresne in the introduction to this guide to writing fiction, illustrated by Evan Wondolowski. The book emphasizes the importance of revision and the chaos that can come along with the writing process. The four chapters, “The Fiction Writer,” “The Fiction Writing,” “The Plot,” and “The Revision,” along with the playful illustrations and infographics offer writers a manual for the building blocks of fiction, which include showing how traditional plots rise and fall on a graph and comparing a story to an iceberg—10 percent living above the surface and 90 percent below the surface. Ideal for writers of all levels, this guide also includes original prompts and exercises that walk writers through the daunting prospects of the blank page.
