Review
"Do yourself a favor and read Ron Carlson." --Stephen King
Product Description
Ron Carlson has been praised as "a master of the short story" (Booklist). In this essay collection, he offers a full range of notes and gives rare insight into a veteran writer's process by inviting the reader to watch over his shoulder as he creates the short story "The Governor's Ball."
"This is a story of a story" he begins, and proceeds to offer practical advice for creating a great story, from the first glimmer of an idea to the final sentence. Carlson urges the writer to refuse the outside distractions--a second cup of coffee, a troll through the dictionary--and attend to the necessity of uncertainty, the pleasures of an unfolding story.
"The Governor's Ball"--included in its entirety--serves as a fascinating illustration of the detailed anatomy of a short story.
About the Author
Ron Carlson is the author of eight books of fiction, including Five Skies, to be published in May 2007. He directs the graduate program in fiction at the University of California, Irvine.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
It would be strange to get in the car and think you were going to pick up the kids at school, but not be really sure. But there are moments in the process of writing a story when you must tolerate that uncomfortable feeling: You stay alert to everything that is happening and by listening and watching, you find out where you are going by going there. Somebody else may get in the car.
--from "Ron Carlson Writes a Story"
--from "Ron Carlson Writes a Story"
