The one excuse and breath of art—charm."—Stevenson.
The Technique of
Fiction Writing
By
JAMES KNAPP REEVE
PUBLISHER
FRANKLIN, OHIO
TO
C. K. R. D.
Many books have been written on fiction technique, and the chief excusefor the present addition to the number is the complexity of the subject.Its range is so wide, it calls for so many and so different capacitiesin one attempting to discuss it, that a new work has more than a chanceto meet at least two or three deficiencies in all other treatments.
I believe that the chief deficiency in most works on fiction techniqueis that the author unconsciously has slipped from the viewpoint of awriter of a story to that of a reader. Now a reader without intention totry his own hand at the game is not playing fair in studying technique,and a book on technique has no business to entertain him. Accordingly, Ihave striven to keep to the viewpoint of one who seeks to learn how towrite stories, and have made no attempt to analyze the work of mastersof fiction for the sake of the analysis alone. Such analysis isinteresting to make, and also interesting to read, but it is notdirectly profitable to the writer. It is indirectly profitable, ofcourse, but it will give very little direct aid to one who has adefinite story idea and wishes to be told the things he must consider indeveloping it and writing the story, or to one who wishes to be toldroughly how he should go about the business of finding real stories. Infact, I believe that discussion and analysis of perfect work has atendency to chill the enthusiasm of the beginning[8] writer. What hechiefly needs is to be told the considerations he must hold in mind inconceiving, developing, and writing a story. The rest lies with his ownabilities and capacities to work intelligently and to take pains.
Therefore the first part of this book takes up the problems of techniquein the order in which they present themselves to the writer. Beginningwith matters of conception, the discussion passes to matters ofconstruction and development, and finally to matters of execution, orrather the writing of a story considered as a bare chain of events. Thenthe matters of description, dialogue, the portrayal of character, andthe precipitation of atmosphere are discussed, and lastly the shortstory and novel, as distinct forms, are taken up.
Usually the propositions necessary to be laid down require nodemonstration; they are self-evident. That is why a book on techniquefor the writer need not indulge in fine-spun analysis of perfect work.Where analysis will lend point to the abstract statement, I have madeit, but my constant aim has been not to depart from the viewpoint thatthe reader has in mind some idea of his own and wishes to be told how tohandle it. Unquestionably literary dissection is useful in that it givesthe beginning writer familiarity with the terminology and processes ofthe art, but the main object of a book on technique is to place theresults of analysis, directly stated, in logical sequence.
I will note one other matter. A great part of the technique of fictionwriting concerns matters of conception and development which arepreliminary to actual writing. In fact they are essentially andpeculiarly the techn