THE ART & CRAFT OF FICTION:

A WRITER'S GUIDE

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Brief, practical, and wonderfully readable, The Art and Craft of Fiction gives aspiring writers all they need. Michael Kardos focuses on technique and presents fiction writing as a teachable (and learnable) art. With an organization built on methods and process rather than traditional literary elements, Kardos helps students begin their stories, write strong scenes, use images and detail, revise for aesthetics and mechanics, and finish and polish their own stories. He delivers clear instruction, effective examples, and assignments that build toward finished work in a tone reviewers praise as "pitch perfect." A brief fiction anthology at the back of the book — of 15 works that Kardos draws on in his instruction — provides stories that students will love to be inspired by.

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REVIEWS & PRAISE

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“I’ve been looking for a book like this for years. It’s refreshingly different in organization, with an emphasis on not just the elements of fiction, but on mechanics, openings and endings, and structure. The brevity and price are also strengths. I absolutely would adopt this book.
    —Liza Wieland, East Carolina University

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“What I like best, and what is too often missing in other writing texts, is the practicality of instruction. Kardos wisely focuses on the nuts & bolts that can be taught and demonstrated.”
    —Randall Silvis, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

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“This is the perfect text on narrative technique and story writing for college fiction writers.”
    —Steve Watkins, University of Mary Washington

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“Even advanced writers will find new insights and new angles on old challenges.”
    —Laura Valeri, Georgia Southern University

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“I wish I’d had something like this book as a beginning writer.”
    —Stephanie Vanderslice, University of Central Arkansas

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“I love this book!”
    —Patrick Bizzaro, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

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