A review by likecymbeline
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft (Eighth Edition) by Ned Stuckey-French, Janet Burroway, Elizabeth Stuckey-French

My creative writing program assigned this as the only "essential textbook," although it is no longer available new and no one is there to hold us accountable for reading it. I took my sister's copy, asked if it was okay if I marked it up a bit as I went, and there are a lot of places underlined in pencil, sometimes more than once. It's a very practical look at scenes, at dialogue, things you might think of unconsciously or believe fall into place 'naturally,' but it takes a step back and asks the writer to take seriously the craft of writing on a conscious and deliberate level. I don't know how it fares to other writing guides--most I've read are the kind that say the trick to writing is writing--and you can see that it's purpose is for a creative writing class (especially short fiction), but I'll be going back to those underlined passages as I work through my own writing.