Review: Beginnings, Middles, & Ends, Nancy Kress
Elements of Fiction, Writers Digest Books, 1993
149 pages, ISBN: 0-89879-905-8

The Bottom Line: Buy it. This one is a necessity on any writer’s bookshelf. I wish I’d gotten it in hardcover because the pages are already getting dog-eared from use.

Nancy Kress’s book is a great value for the money (about 12.99 US). Compact, well organized, and to the point, she steers you through the major problems any short story or novel author may have with beginnings, middles and ends. The book is intelligent and packs a lot of information into small spaces, making it one I pick up and refer to often – you can find what you need easily, you don’t have to search through pages of small print to get what you’re looking for.

Kress doesn’t bog the reader down with endless stories about her own writing, pontifications about how brilliant she is, or cutesy wisdom about being a writer, she just tells you what you need to know. I trust her no-nonsense approach. She doesn’t lay down rules but encourages a writer to think about their writing – you need to analyze other pieces of writing and then take that analysis and apply it to get the benefit of her lessons. You will really learn how to write better using this book. If you aren’t sure what your weaknesses are, she helps you diagnose that, too, in her introduction.

I used her section on writing beginnings (my trouble area) even after I had revised a manuscript three times. Reading her advice led me back to my first chapters and helped me make them even sharper. I trust her because even in her nonfiction book she practices what she preaches. The writing is sharp and clear, and her exercises are active and interesting – you feel like there is a teacher in the room giving you homework assignments – and they are useful for writers at every stage. If you are writing your first book or if you have written ten books, Kress will make you think about what you are doing and help you do it better. On a side note, I am so thankful that this author actually DOES apply her lessons and exercises to books and writing, not movies or TV – this makes her points even more useful.

Unless otherwise noted, content on this site is Copyright © of Samantha Hunter. This site may not be reproduced without express permission from Samantha Hunter. Harlequin and Harlequin Blaze are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited.