Maass' The Fire In Fiction

I recently became a fan of Donald Maass when I first read The Breakout Novel, (I highly recommend it), from my local library. It was full of insight and professional experience. I actually enjoyed reading it as much as if I had a good novel in my hand.

In truth, I am a fiction reader. The non-fiction genre is vast, with an array of topics that one could learn about anything, but I often find more truth in fiction.

"Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures" ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Though I tend to believe that there is something about the freedom of fiction to reveal something about ourselves that non-fiction often does not, I think it is rather the writing styles used in non-fiction that does not engage me. It often remain in a rigid format and there is hardly room for flourish.

This brings me to a bookstore and the next Maass book, The Fire in Fiction. I saw it when browsing for reference books that I can use to help make my writing stronger and more cohesive. I am a horrible self-editor when the creative side of my brain is engaged, which is all the time. So I was looking for help in that department when I found Maass' book. After reading The Breakout Novel I had high hopes that this book would lead me in the right direction.

What really happened: the book led me in the right direction, but it engaged me and made me want to write. Not only does it help you put "Fire" in your fiction, but it puts "fire" in the author too. I won't tell you that it made what I am writing a stunning, can't put down novel, (not yet) but, it opened up the possibilities of my novel in ways I hadn't considered.

This book also made me enjoy the process of writing. Being part of critical writing groups here in Colorado it has made me a better critic as well, and not one you want to strangle. It helps you see possibilities of someones work and allows you to guide and be guided by several interesting principle which I will include below.

 

The best part of Mass' The Fire in Fiction are the examples from contemporary literature. There are no small amount of authors I have found through the recommendations in this book. Not only that, but you are engaged in a way that Maass doesn't just show you something you have no way of duplicating in your own fiction, but he shows you how the elements he underlines really works.

One of the other elements The Fire in Fiction has is a helpful set of questions for reworking your own work at the end of each chapter. An example of a couple of the questions:

Step 2: Determine what your point-of-view character feels most strongly here. Write down the opposite of that. (pg.288)* Step 4: Create four actions that will make your antagonist warm and sympathetic. (pg. 53)*

Mass developes numerous end of the chapter challenges to help you delve into your own writing and make it stronger. He helps you stretch the intensity of scenes within your fiction to keep your reader engaged and page turning.

You may think that your writing doesn't need tactical tricks to get readers involved in your story. Maybe you think it speaks for itself. This book takes the bones of writing and helps dress the flesh of the work. Maass really knows how to direct the instinct of the story into something substantial.

One of my favorite chapters in the book is titled: "Tension all the time" (Chapter 8, pgs.188-231).

Conflict is story. We hardly need discuss that any further. Every novelist who's gotten beyond the beginner stage knows it. What many do not grasp, though, including many published novelists, is that what keeps us turning hundreds of pages is not a central conflict, main problem, or primary goal. (pg.188)*.

So what is it? I don't want to give away any cliffhangers here, but the title of the chapter should bring you right along with the train of thought. Tension is the what keeps Harry Potter constantly on the look out for when Voldemort will show his face, but it's also Snape, Malfoy, Slytherins and Dementors that keep the tensions high for seven lengthy books. The trick is the constant tension in every line.

If you want to engage your reader and tell your story then this book will help you get there. There are many chapters to inspire your writing. For me, that is the test of a good critic, one that encourages you to keep writing rather than not writing. That isn't to say you may not want to hear how someone thinks you can make your work stronger, but if it's honest and material it should keep you writing.

_{*Maass, D. The Fire in Fiction:passion, purpose, and techniques to make your novel great. Writers:Cincinnati, 2009.}