Yes, I have a new book to announce; yes, there is a twist in the plot. But no, there is no twist in the book’s plot! In fact, the book has no plot.
It doesn’t have characters, either.
The twist in the plot in announcing this new book is that it’s a nonfiction book.
I don’t know what kind of demon drove me – refer to George Orwell’s quote decorating the main page of Home for Fiction – but I decided to write a complete guide on writing quality fiction.
The result – somewhat anticlimactically, after the previous sentence – is The Complete Writer: a Guide to Writing Better Fiction.
Clicking on the photo (or on this link) takes you to the Amazon page, where you can read a free preview and purchase The Complete Writer. If you can’t afford the book and look to get it for free, keep reading this post
Defamiliarization, as the word implies, is a process where something familiar is no longer perceived as such. Specifically in writing, defamiliarization in literature refers to a technique (a literary device, in a sense) where the writer offers familiar, common things in an odd, unorthodox way.
The purpose of defamiliarization is to cause the readers to question their perception of reality and, as a result, ultimately redefine it.
In a way, defamiliarization in literature is a destabilizing process. All such literary devices – see, for instance, my post on juxtaposition – enhance the readers’ perception of reality. Therefore, perhaps ironically, although defamiliarization causes you to initially question reality (the known and familiar), through this process it actually facilitates a much deeper and more comprehensive understanding of reality.
In this post we’ll take a closer (yet accessible) look at defamiliarization in literature, with examples and tips on how to use it properly – that is, packing as much symbolic meaning as possible in your text. Remember that literature is more than a sum of its parts, which means that a quality text should inspire more meanings than what its words allow.
A piece of fabric can be the most common, mundane, and everyday thing. But not always…(more…)
Foreshadowing is a very powerful tool for a fiction author. This literary device gives the reader advance hints about what will occur later in the narrative. Learning how to use foreshadowing in your fiction can give you a significant boost in terms of affective power.
The above description of foreshadowing might make you think it’s only relate to crime or mystery fiction. This is not true. As I’ll show you in this post, I use foreshadowing all the time in my literary-fiction novels.
More importantly, I’ll show you how I use foreshadowing and – even more importantly! – I’ll show you why I use it; what I can achieve with it.
Foreshadowing is about leading a narrative journey in both directions(more…)
