I've written a new non-fiction book, this one on the craft of writing. It's called Brick by Brick: How to Build a Story.
For years, I’ve resisted authoring a craft book. It always seemed presumptuous to think I knew enough about this writing thing to pass on some special knowledge on how to go about it.
But I’ve now been writing and selling what I write to professional markets for three decades and have won multiple awards for both short stories and novels. My work has been translated and published in twenty-eight languages and thirty-six countries.
In short, I know that I know how to write great fiction.
Now, knowing how to write does not necessarily translate to knowing how to teach someone to write. But I know I can outline a clear process any writer can follow for moving from an initial idea for a story to building a solid structure for their tale. And that's what this book provides and, I think, in a very different way from other craft guides.
From the book blurb:
Most writing craft books, courses, and workshops focus on the tools for being a writer and how to use them: dialog, setting, pacing, plot, openings, exposition, point-of-view. And so on.
And on and on and on.
Their aim is to add another tool, or maybe even a set of tools, to your writer's toolbox.
The problem with that approach is the vast gulf in knowledge between having your toolbox filled with tools and applying those tools to create a story.
Those craft books are the equivalent of telling a rookie construction worker, "Here's how to use a hammer, saw, level, screwdrivers, band saw, power drill, etc. Got that? Great! Now go build a house."
In this book, Douglas Smith, a five-time award-winning author described by Library Journal as "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction," takes a different approach.
In these pages, Doug will show how to design that house so that you can build it. You'll learn how to create a blueprint for your story idea to take you from inspiration to story structure, a structure you can then build, brick by brick.
Or rather, scene by scene.
If that sounds like a book that might help you on your writing journey, then click here to preorder Brick by Brick from your favorite retailer.
Hi! Thanks for visiting. I'm a multi-award-winning Canadian author of speculative fiction, published in twenty-eight languages and thirty-six countries.
