The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing
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- Create Date：2021-05-13 11:54:25
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Alice LaPlante
- ISBN：0393337081
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Summary
A Los Angeles Times bestseller: wonderfully lucid and illuminating， Alice LaPlante’s guide to writing fiction “recalls Francine Prose’s bestseller， Reading Like a Writer” （Library Journal）。
The Making of a Story is a fresh and inspiring guide to the basics of creative writing—both fiction and creative nonfiction。 The book is perfect for writers working alone as well as for creative writing classes， both introductory and advanced。 。
The Making of a Story is a fresh and inspiring guide to the basics of creative writing—both fiction and creative nonfiction。 The book is perfect for writers working alone as well as for creative writing classes， both introductory and advanced。 。
Reviews
Cory Tsuhako
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This was an excellent book for creative writing。 My new "go to" book。 This was an excellent book for creative writing。 My new "go to" book。 。。。more
Alicia Fenney
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Three stars because it was work （reading it for my MFA） and dry but definitely some useful stuff in there for new writers。 Would rank it third so far， after Burroway and Flann。Super expensive because it includes short stories （great ones） which， frankly， you can find for free online。
Annie
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Lots of good stuff here。 Helpful exercises， advice， techniques。 And the stories！ It was about time I read “Emergency” again。 And “A Small， Good Thing”。 （I will never not be mad at Gordon Lish。）
Kyra
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One of the best books I've read on storytelling so far！ One of the best books I've read on storytelling so far！ 。。。more
Tony Sarrecchia
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As much as becoming a better reader as a better writer。 You can probably chuck a ton of basic books away after reading Ms。 LaPlante's。 As much as becoming a better reader as a better writer。 You can probably chuck a ton of basic books away after reading Ms。 LaPlante's。 。。。more
William Schram
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A blank page can be uncomfortable。 Some people can delve deep into the well of creativity and come up with anything: a 500-word essay on mollusks， for example。 The rest of us require help sometimes， though。 The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante is such a book。The Making of a Story is a Noton Guide to creative writing。 It has several short stories as examples and questions to elicit understanding。 The book is for a classroom setting。 There are some old favorites in this collection。This book did A blank page can be uncomfortable。 Some people can delve deep into the well of creativity and come up with anything: a 500-word essay on mollusks， for example。 The rest of us require help sometimes， though。 The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante is such a book。The Making of a Story is a Noton Guide to creative writing。 It has several short stories as examples and questions to elicit understanding。 The book is for a classroom setting。 There are some old favorites in this collection。This book didn't stand out too much， but it works for what it is。 。。。more
Christian Melby
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The best book of its type I've encountered。 The best book of its type I've encountered。 。。。more
Diana Gole
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The Making of a Story este un adevărat manual de scriere semnat de Alice La Plante – o scriitoare extrem de apreciată peste hotare despre care nu prea se vorbește la noi。 Totodată， scriitoarea este profesor de scriere creativă la Stanford University， iar cartea despre care vă vorbesc astăzi reunește toată experiența ei de peste 15 ani în acest domeniu。The Making of a Story conține informații esențiale utile atât scriitorilor de ficțiune， cât și celor de non-ficțiune。 recenzia completă aici: http The Making of a Story este un adevărat manual de scriere semnat de Alice La Plante – o scriitoare extrem de apreciată peste hotare despre care nu prea se vorbește la noi。 Totodată， scriitoarea este profesor de scriere creativă la Stanford University， iar cartea despre care vă vorbesc astăzi reunește toată experiența ei de peste 15 ani în acest domeniu。The Making of a Story conține informații esențiale utile atât scriitorilor de ficțiune， cât și celor de non-ficțiune。 recenzia completă aici: https://dealedianei。ro/2020/07/13/the。。。 。。。more
Gordon
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Excellent。 A few chapters hold it back from 5 stars。
B。J。 Ellison
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I had to read this for a class and I feel it contains a good combination of writing advice and well-written short stories。 Full disclosure: I hated the short story "My Date with Satan" and some of the short stories contain very adult themes/content。 I had to read this for a class and I feel it contains a good combination of writing advice and well-written short stories。 Full disclosure: I hated the short story "My Date with Satan" and some of the short stories contain very adult themes/content。 。。。more
Emma Getz
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Read this for my creative writing class but here were my favorite stories in it:Brownies by ZZ Packer， Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin （which I have read many times before but it's an eternal favorite）， Surrounded by Sleep by Akhil Sharma， No Name Woman by Maxine Hong Kingston， and Ralph the Duck by Frederick Busch。 Read this for my creative writing class but here were my favorite stories in it:Brownies by ZZ Packer， Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin （which I have read many times before but it's an eternal favorite）， Surrounded by Sleep by Akhil Sharma， No Name Woman by Maxine Hong Kingston， and Ralph the Duck by Frederick Busch。 。。。more
J。L。
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A creative writing course。 Highly recommended。
Kim Timmermans
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Very comprehensive， so encouraging and not prescriptive at all， just the perfect guide for me。 There are maybe a bit too much examples （complete short stories and stuff） but I enjoyed reading everything！
Kelly
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Terrific primer。。。helpful exercises。
Amy Turner
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Very good advice （without any absolute rules） about creative writing。 Much of the hefty volume is examples of professional and student writing， which I enjoyed。
Kasturi
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If you get just one book on writing fiction or creative non-fiction， this should be it。 I've never come across a book on the writing craft that's more comprehensive and enlightening than this one。 This is an especially important book if you are interested in writing literary fiction （or non-fiction）。 We studied this in our literary fiction class and I'm sure I'll go through the lessons and do the exercises again and again through my entire writing career。 I cannot emphasize on how brilliant this If you get just one book on writing fiction or creative non-fiction， this should be it。 I've never come across a book on the writing craft that's more comprehensive and enlightening than this one。 This is an especially important book if you are interested in writing literary fiction （or non-fiction）。 We studied this in our literary fiction class and I'm sure I'll go through the lessons and do the exercises again and again through my entire writing career。 I cannot emphasize on how brilliant this book is， I'm just glad I found it at the time when I needed it the most。 。。。more
Khaled
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Best book on writing EVER！
Emma Burcart
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This is a fabulous book for teaching creative writing， and I found it useful for myself as well。
Jason Hanna
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Some really good short fiction and prompts to get your pencil going。
Mills College Library
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808。042 L314 2009
Tyler Elmore
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Really great reference book for aspiring writers。
Theresa
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Are you a writer？ This is a must read book。 It's part of the Norton Guide series - you know， those fiction and poetry anthologies stuffed to the gills printed on thin paper that you have to read in English Lit class - and as such， it's an excellent guide to how to write。 Covering both fiction （mostly the short story， but techniques apply to novels as well） and creative non-fiction （memoir， essay）， this book is an amazing resource。 Read the first half of the book （Ch。 1-5） to learn how to make yo Are you a writer？ This is a must read book。 It's part of the Norton Guide series - you know， those fiction and poetry anthologies stuffed to the gills printed on thin paper that you have to read in English Lit class - and as such， it's an excellent guide to how to write。 Covering both fiction （mostly the short story， but techniques apply to novels as well） and creative non-fiction （memoir， essay）， this book is an amazing resource。 Read the first half of the book （Ch。 1-5） to learn how to make your writing surprising， exciting， compelling， and yet believable。 No prescriptive outline-on-notecards instructions here。 You need to write to discover， to share new and unusual insights with readers who will tumble over your prose to read more， more， more。 Be creative！ Don't stop at the well-repeated mundane observation， but move deeper and more intelligently into the things only you notice， the small details of life and of how humans behave （not to mention robots and cyborgs， in my case！）， to make something new and captivating for yourself and for your reader。 The second half of the book （Ch。 6 onward） provides a strong foundation for the nuts-and-bolts techniques of craft as a writer: dialog， characterization， plot， description， point of view， voice， etc。 If you want to write， if you really want to write， pick up this book and start with Chapter 1。 You'll be inspired， thrilled， and ready to sit down and pour out your creativity in tales that will surprise and satisfy yourself and other readers。 I read this book first last year （2017）， and after studying it carefully， my writing has burst forth with productivity and much greater skill。 I picked up the book again as a refresher， to remind myself of the ways to make my writing even better。 。。。more
Lyndsi
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I actually had an epiphany while reading this book。 This neon-green book is large， inviting， and unintimidating， loaded with incredible examples， exercises， and advice that will forever impact my writing and approach。 Oftentimes I have struggled with “what to write about”- that looming， dark， confidence-shrinking question。 However， after reading LaPlante’s advice， I have completely moved past this question because of a few simple life-changing paragraphs in this book: "In I actually had an epiphany while reading this book。 This neon-green book is large， inviting， and unintimidating， loaded with incredible examples， exercises， and advice that will forever impact my writing and approach。 Oftentimes I have struggled with “what to write about”- that looming， dark， confidence-shrinking question。 However， after reading LaPlante’s advice， I have completely moved past this question because of a few simple life-changing paragraphs in this book: "In an essay titled ‘How to Discover What You Have to Say: A Talk to Students，’ Skinner asserts that writing is a much more complex act than simply transcribing existing thoughts into words as accurately as possible。 If this were the case， the writer would be doing little more than serving as a “reporter” of past thoughts and experiences already processed by the brain。 Instead， Skinner argues that the physical act of writing is the cause， not the effect， of new and original thought， and that any creative work that is not a journey of discovery for the writer will， in turn， bore readers。 ‘It’s like driving a car at night，’ said novelist Robert Stone about how he copes with this uncertainty when writing longer pieces， ‘you can only see as far ahead as your headlights， but you can make the entire journey that way。’ Beginning writers find it difficult and painful to tolerate this state of not-knowing。 Yet accepting it， embracing it even， represents an important step in a writer’s creative development。 Good creative writing is almost always conceived in doubt， and is fueled by an urgent desire to understand something that eludes understanding。 Thus the best writing is less about dispelling than acquiring wisdom， less about explaining the point of a given experience to others than about exploring and learning about it oneself’”… So what does one do with this information， that not-knowing and paying attention to personal mysteries leads to good creative writing？ First， one learns how to recognize mystery。 Learn to understand when you don’t understand。 Take note of it— if possible， literally， by carrying a notebook with you” [emphasis mine] （pg。67-68）。 I realized I have often approached writing as “reporting，” hence I am The Reporter relaying facts。 However， after reading this book I realized the beauty in pursuing writing as The Discoverer。 Hence， discovering what you remember， who you were at the time， the meaning behind an interaction， how you really feel about an interaction， and discovering the implications of that interaction- discovering what it all means。 This has completely opened a new door in my mind in writing。 And this is just one of the epiphanies I had while I was reading this book。 The Making of a Story is over six-hundred pages and includes fourteen chapters with two exercises per chapter， and one to two reading examples per chapter。 I won’t go into every single detail because this book is， put simply， an incredible writing course in a book— at the low low cost of $21。95。 It contains advice on showing vs telling， character development， plot， dialogue， revision， and fiction vs nonfiction requirements。 There are essays and short stories written by Joan Didion， Joyce Carol Oates， Tim O-Bren， John Cheever， James Baldwin， Anne Lammott， Lorrie Moore， Raymond Carver， and many other excellent writers。 LaPlante covers many more bases and has much more to offer than simply great tips。 Backing her advice with exercises and reading excerpts， with essays and examples， the writing reader is truly challenged in their craft。 I know I was。 In addition， the writing exercises were intriguing， and I completed most of them。 And LaPlante is an excellent teacher。 Stunning， actually。 This book is worth your money and may， if you take her advice， make you money in the long run。 。。。more
Chris
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I just want to brag that I read this cover to cover in my free time， and not for a class。 It was terrific！ A wonderful selection of stories to read at the end of each chapter， from Lorrie Moore to James Baldwin to Chekhov。 Like a DIY MFA， but better because not tens of thousands of dollars。 I picked it up when I felt like I was losing touch with some basic storytelling principles and wanted a refresher， and it was perfect for that and more。 Far from prescriptive， it's very sensitive about actual I just want to brag that I read this cover to cover in my free time， and not for a class。 It was terrific！ A wonderful selection of stories to read at the end of each chapter， from Lorrie Moore to James Baldwin to Chekhov。 Like a DIY MFA， but better because not tens of thousands of dollars。 I picked it up when I felt like I was losing touch with some basic storytelling principles and wanted a refresher， and it was perfect for that and more。 Far from prescriptive， it's very sensitive about actually offering good advice while still leaving the door open for creative interpretation and rule-breaking。 Lovely and readable， I'd recommend it to anyone interested in narrative， whether a writer or not。 。。。more
Andrea Joan
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Perfect book for any author， especially aspiring ones， to learn from。
Corinne Apezteguia
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My sister read this as part of a creative writing course at her university。 I was so impressed with how her writing improved that she purchased this book for me that Christmas。 This is the best and most comprehensive book on writing that I've read （I'm guessing I've read 15 or so at this point）。 There are excellent examples that illustrate the difference between showing/telling （which includes an excellent explanation of the role of narration）。 LaPlante's advice with regards to writing as if you My sister read this as part of a creative writing course at her university。 I was so impressed with how her writing improved that she purchased this book for me that Christmas。 This is the best and most comprehensive book on writing that I've read （I'm guessing I've read 15 or so at this point）。 There are excellent examples that illustrate the difference between showing/telling （which includes an excellent explanation of the role of narration）。 LaPlante's advice with regards to writing as if you were a camera was very helpful to my own writing， as was her counsel about details （ie， details are the soul of good writing）。 Her chapter on dialogue is also extremely helpful， as was her distillation of the idea that good writing is surprising but convincing。 。。。more
Andrea
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I read this book for my creative writing class。 I thought it was pretty beneficial， but overall it was a little too boring for me。
Elisa
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4。5 I would give this a solid 5 if it weren't for the dated language that I found pretty offensive in some parts， not even the stories from 1900 on。 4。5 I would give this a solid 5 if it weren't for the dated language that I found pretty offensive in some parts， not even the stories from 1900 on。 。。。more
Aleksandr Voinov
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