Paragons: Twelve Master Science Fiction Writers Ply Their Craft - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312140231 ISBN 13: 9780312140236

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1996

Synopsis

Show, don't tell is the first thing a fiction writer learns. The dozen masters assembled here each take one of their own stories and show exactly how they crafted a particular aspect of it - the style, the theme, the characters, the plot, the setting, or the point of view.
Included in this volume are a dozen award-winning masters of the short story: Greg Bear, Pat Cadigan, Karen Joy Fowler, Joe Haldeman, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, Nancy Kress, Pat Murphy, Kim Stanley Robinson, Lucius Shepard, Bruce Sterling, and Howard Waldrop. Each brings great insight into the art of writing fiction. Greg Bear asserts that characters shouldn't just be individuals - they should address larger questions of characterizing nations, species, or entire worlds - while Pat Murphy treats characters as imaginary friends who evolve during the writing process. Lucius Shepard discusses the ways in which tiny details evoke a setting and Howard Waldrop assesses the ways in which a literary chameleon can adapt his or her writing style from story to story.
Rounding out the book is Bruce Sterling's wonderful "Workshop Lexicon," in which he sums up the most common flows in beginner's fiction. For example: "Signal from Fred," in which the author's subconscious, alarmed by the poor quality of the work, makes unwitting critical comments like "This sounds like a bad movie."

About this title

About the Author:

Robin Wilson is an independent researcher and an honorary senior research fellow of the Constitution Unit, University College London.

From Booklist:

Editor Wilson, founding father of the long-running Clarion Writers Workshops for science fiction, is well qualified to compile this anthology that also affords its contributors' instructive behind-the-scenes comments on the sf writer's craft. A virtual who's who of major players in contemporary sf, the lineup includes James Patrick Kelly, Greg Bear, Kim Stanley Robinson, Joe Haldeman, and eight others; each provides insight on the composition of his or her story. Nancy Kress contributes wry social satire in "The Price of Oranges" when a septuagenarian travels to 1937 to kidnap a boyfriend for his granddaughter. Given the form of an academic book review, Bruce Sterling's "Our Neural Chernobyl" describes a future viral outbreak of elevated animal intelligence. Pat Cadigan's "Pretty Boy Crossover" describes the entertainment medium of the future, which involves downloading one's entire existence into a computer. Good reading and an indispensable resource for both aspiring sf writers and curious fans seeking enlightenment as to how favorite authors get and develop their crazy ideas. Carl Hays

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0312140231
• ISBN 13: 9780312140236
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368
• Editor: Wilson Robin Scott