Mastering the Process
From Idea to Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
As the author of twenty-four novels, Elizabeth George is one of the most successful--and prolific--novelists today. In Mastering the Process, George offers readers a master class in the art and science of crafting a novel. This is a subject she knows...
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As the author of twenty-four novels, Elizabeth George is one of the most successful--and prolific--novelists today. In Mastering the Process, George offers readers a master class in the art and science of crafting a novel. This is a subject she knows well, having taught creative writing both nationally and internationally for over thirty years."I have never before read a book about writing that is so thorough, thoughtful, and most of all, helpful." --Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women
For many writers, the biggest challenge is figuring out how to take that earliest glimmer of inspiration and shape it into a full-length novel. How do you even begin to transform a single idea into a complete book?
In these pages, award-winning, number one New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George takes us behind the scenes through each step of her writing process, revealing exactly what it takes to craft a novel.
Drawing from her personal photos, early notes, character analyses, and rough drafts, George shows us every stage of how she wrote her novel Careless in Red, from researching location to imagining plot to creating characters to the actual writing and revision processes themselves. George offers us an intimate look at the procedures she follows, while also providing invaluable advice for writers about what has worked for her--and what hasn't. Mastering the Process gives writers practical, prescriptive, and achievable tools for creating a novel, editing a novel, and problem solving when in the midst of a novel, from a master storyteller writing at the top of her game.
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Chapter 1 Research
Eliminating the Fear of the Blank Page
There's some sense in arguing that writing can't be taught, especially if one sees writing as purely art with no craft behind it to serve as a foundation. For art is the result of the impulse to create, and an impulse can neither be taught nor learned. An impulse just is. The result of that impulse is always in the eyes of the beholders who judge it and find it . . . well, any number of things: magnificent, inventive, idiotic, exceptional, mundane, vulgar, awe-inspiring, moving, nauseating. Name the reaction and someone will have had it. Tracey Emin's bed on display at the Tate Modern in London is, I believe, a good example of the impulse to create. To some people it's art; to others it's an immense joke that Emin is playing upon the public.
The truth is that there is very little that we can call "pure" art, something arising from an impulse to create but having nothing besides impulse serving as its foundation. Most art is based on a fundamental knowledge of craft, and craft is what an artist puts to work in order to create a piece of art. It is this-craft-that can be both taught and learned.
For example, should one wish to become a sculptor, there is something to be learned about working with stone before one bangs out the Piet . It helps to understand how the old masters painted before slapping The Night Watch onto canvas. Someone working in bronze learns about molding clay or the lost wax method first and then goes on to The Burghers of Calais. One might want to learn exactly how to blow glass before expecting to be the next Dale Chihuly. All of this is craft, and craft is what we use as a foundation for art. In writing, an understanding of craft is what we use to develop process. In writing, process is what we follow to write a novel.
Essentially, by developing and utilizing a process, we eradicate our fears of the blank page and eliminate the chaos of the
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thoughts that are produced by our mental committees. We trick our minds into believing that there is actually a recipe for novel writing.
For me, this trickery begins with research, and the research comprises not only the background information I need in order to write with some degree of authority about various subjects that may or may not come up in my novel but also an experience and an understanding of the place in which the novel is going to be set so that locations can be rendered with accuracy. These days, some of this can be done via the Internet, especially when it comes to preliminary information that might well fuel the story. But for me, most of it needs to be done in person, in the actual setting, especially when the setting can inspire plot elements that I wouldn't have considered had I not been there to prowl around.
By traveling to a location, I'm able to examine the broad landscape in which the novel is going to occur. This landscape is filled with countless details-equating to countless possibilities-that I can't see using Google Earth. My job while in the location is twofold: I'm choosing from among myriad details those that will illuminate the story; I'm also looking for a score of places that can be used as individual settings for scenes in the novel. While doing this, I try to take into the examination of place absolutely no preconceived notion about how anything I see might be used. I simply look for places that shout "story" to me. Upon seeing them, I make no determination about where in my novel each place will fit or even if a place will fit at all. I just see the place as a story possibility and add it to my storehouse of collected knowledge about a location.
Here is what I knew when I went to Cornwall to do the research for Careless in Red:
In one of the previous novels-With No One as Witness-the wife of my central character (Thoma
For me, this trickery begins with research, and the research comprises not only the background information I need in order to write with some degree of authority about various subjects that may or may not come up in my novel but also an experience and an understanding of the place in which the novel is going to be set so that locations can be rendered with accuracy. These days, some of this can be done via the Internet, especially when it comes to preliminary information that might well fuel the story. But for me, most of it needs to be done in person, in the actual setting, especially when the setting can inspire plot elements that I wouldn't have considered had I not been there to prowl around.
By traveling to a location, I'm able to examine the broad landscape in which the novel is going to occur. This landscape is filled with countless details-equating to countless possibilities-that I can't see using Google Earth. My job while in the location is twofold: I'm choosing from among myriad details those that will illuminate the story; I'm also looking for a score of places that can be used as individual settings for scenes in the novel. While doing this, I try to take into the examination of place absolutely no preconceived notion about how anything I see might be used. I simply look for places that shout "story" to me. Upon seeing them, I make no determination about where in my novel each place will fit or even if a place will fit at all. I just see the place as a story possibility and add it to my storehouse of collected knowledge about a location.
Here is what I knew when I went to Cornwall to do the research for Careless in Red:
In one of the previous novels-With No One as Witness-the wife of my central character (Thoma
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Autoren-Porträt von Elizabeth George
Elizabeth George is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty psychological suspense novels, four young adult novels, one book of nonfiction, and two short-story collections. Her work has been honored with the Anthony and Agatha awards, two Edgar nominations, and both France's and Germany's first prize for crime fiction, as well as several other prestigious prizes. She lives in Washington State.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Elizabeth George
- 2021, 336 Seiten, Maße: 13,9 x 20,9 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: PENGUIN BOOKS
- ISBN-10: 1984878336
- ISBN-13: 9781984878335
- Erscheinungsdatum: 24.03.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
The craft of writing fiction is highly difficult, but having someone to refer to like Elizabeth George in order to better understand outlining, attention to details, organization and more, is a true gift. Whether reader or writer, this is one title that provides an intimate look into the writing life and career of one of the absolute best who should appear on everyone s short list. 5 Stars! Suspense
George demonstrates her own cardinal virtues of writing careful organization and meticulous attention to detail in this skillful guide to creating a novel. . . . Writers looking for practical insights will find this book to be of great merit.
Publishers Weekly
[A] practical guide to technique and intimate look into George s writing life [that] wisely reminds readers and students that writing is a job and should be scheduled as such . . . [and] has much to teach about developing character, plot, and point of view.
Library Journal
An up-close and personal class in writing a novel.
Kirkus Reviews
In Mastering the Process, bestselling author Elizabeth George takes us on her step-by-step process for creating a novel. I have never before read a book about writing that is so thorough, thoughtful, and most of all, helpful. She gives structure to the creative act of writing. I would recommend this to beginning writers and to writing pros who are looking for new ways to improve their work or approach it differently.
Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women
Mastering the Process will be either enormously useful or enormously fascinating, depending on whether you wish to write yourself or simply to see from the inside how a brilliant writer writes a brilliant book. Or both! We fans have long admired George s intricate plots, her memorable and complicated characters, and her deeply committed sense of place. This is a wonderful doorway into a seductive world, recommended for
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writers and readers alike.
Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
This is not only a useful guide to Elizabeth George s writing methods, but an intimate and generous look into the mind of one of our great mystery writers. Detailed and optimistic. You will love it.
T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Good Guy
Mastering the Process is a splendid gift to new novelists and seasoned ones alike. With the savvy and humor her readers love, Elizabeth George generously provides instruction in the writing approach she has honed over two bestselling decades. I finished the book inspired by new ideas and feeling a real appreciation for the author not only as a writer but as a teacher.
Nancy Horan, New York Times bestselling author of Loving Frank
No one writing today is a better craftsman of fiction than Elizabeth George. When she offers to tell you the mysteries of the writing process, as she does in Mastering the Process, we should sit up and pay attention. This book is revealing and charming by turns, and anyone interested in how the magic works will want to read it.
Terry Brooks, author of The Sword of Shannara
What a gift! Elizabeth George unites two of her greatest strengths the keen insight of a master storyteller, along with the soul of a teacher in her new book, Mastering the Process. What a rare treat for any writer, or any fan of George s work, a smart, thoughtful, approachable book on the writing process, on her writing process, as she generously shares her step-by-step method of what has made her one of the most beloved writers of our time.
Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Samurai s Garden and A Hundred Flowers
Through the years I've been lucky enough to watch Elizabeth George at work, to learn from her as she makes her way through her complex and beloved novels. (Full disclosure: I've been lucky to call her a friend.) Now, in this fascinating, instructive book, anyone who is interested in writing and process can learn from the master herself; all of us are in luck.
Jane Hamilton, author of When Madeline Was Young
Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
This is not only a useful guide to Elizabeth George s writing methods, but an intimate and generous look into the mind of one of our great mystery writers. Detailed and optimistic. You will love it.
T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Good Guy
Mastering the Process is a splendid gift to new novelists and seasoned ones alike. With the savvy and humor her readers love, Elizabeth George generously provides instruction in the writing approach she has honed over two bestselling decades. I finished the book inspired by new ideas and feeling a real appreciation for the author not only as a writer but as a teacher.
Nancy Horan, New York Times bestselling author of Loving Frank
No one writing today is a better craftsman of fiction than Elizabeth George. When she offers to tell you the mysteries of the writing process, as she does in Mastering the Process, we should sit up and pay attention. This book is revealing and charming by turns, and anyone interested in how the magic works will want to read it.
Terry Brooks, author of The Sword of Shannara
What a gift! Elizabeth George unites two of her greatest strengths the keen insight of a master storyteller, along with the soul of a teacher in her new book, Mastering the Process. What a rare treat for any writer, or any fan of George s work, a smart, thoughtful, approachable book on the writing process, on her writing process, as she generously shares her step-by-step method of what has made her one of the most beloved writers of our time.
Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Samurai s Garden and A Hundred Flowers
Through the years I've been lucky enough to watch Elizabeth George at work, to learn from her as she makes her way through her complex and beloved novels. (Full disclosure: I've been lucky to call her a friend.) Now, in this fascinating, instructive book, anyone who is interested in writing and process can learn from the master herself; all of us are in luck.
Jane Hamilton, author of When Madeline Was Young
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