Crafting Fiction

• From where you dream re-imagines the

process of writing as emotional rather than
intellectual. It proposes fiction as the
exploration of the human condition with
yearning as its compass, and interpreters
the traditional tools of the craft using the
dynamics of desire.
 Steps in Crafting Fiction
• 1.Sitting or reclining in your writing space in
your traces, and going to free-float, free-
associate, sit with your character, watch the
character move around in the potential world
of the novel. You’re going to dream around
in this novel for six or seven or eight or ten
or twelve weeks, every day. You are going to
write down six or eight or ten words, not
many more, that represent a potential scene.
• 2. writting down the briefest identifier of
that scene.
• 3.obtaining moment to moment experience
through the senses.
• 4. picking out bits and pieces of it,
reshaping it.
• 5.shaping, ordering and recombining it into
an object that a reader in turn encounters
as if it were experience itself. A record of
moment to moment sensual experience,
an encounter as direct as those we have
with life itself.
 TIPS
• Crafting is an instrument that must be supple, strong and
prepared. Crafting is always secondary to the truth of
emotional connection. Find a place and some objects
that you go to and engage only when you’re writing
fiction. Get up early in the morning. Do not will the work.
Do not write until it’s coming from your unconscious. At
the end of the day or beginning of the next day, return to
some event of the day that evoked an emotion in you .
record that event in the journal through those five way
that we fell emotions -signals inside the body, signals
outside the body, flashes of the past, flashes of the future,
sensual selectivity.
 Elements
• plot, setting, character, conflict, symbol,
and point of view are the main elements
which fiction writers use to develop a story
and its theme.
• Plot makes readers interested in reading in the first
place. It was the carrot on the string that pulled us
through a story as we wanted to see what would
happen next.
• Stories actually have two types of setting: physical
and chronological.
The physical setting is of course where the story takes
place. The “where ” can be very general- a small
farming community. Or very specific- a two story white
frame houses at 739 Hill Street in Scott City, Missouri.
Like wise, the chronological setting, the “when”, can
be equally general or specific.
• Characters: what type of individuals are the main
characters? Brave, cowardly, bored, obnoxious? If you
tell me that the protagonist is brave, you should be able to
tell where in the story you got that perception.
• Conflict: two types of conflict are possible. One is
external conflict. The other is internal conflict.
• External conflict could be man against nature or man
against man. While internal conflict might not seem as
exciting as external, remember that real life has far more
internal than external conflict.
• Symbol: a symbol is something which means something
else. Frequently it is a tangible physical thing which
symbolizes something intangible. Such as: Rose
symbolizes love. Willow leaves symbolize detainment.
• Point of view is the “narrative point of view”, how
the story is told-more specifically, who tells it. There
are two distinctly different types of point of view and
each of those two types has two variations.
• 1.In the first person point of view, the story is told by
a character within the story, a character using the first
person pronoun, i. If the narrator is the main character,
the point of view is first person protagonist.
• 2. If the narrator is a secondary character, the point of
view is first person observer.
• 3.In the third person point of view, the story is not
told by a character but by an “invisible author”,
using the third person pronoun(he, she, or it) to tell
the story. Instead of Huck Finn speaking directly to us,
“my name’s Huckleberry Finn” and telling us “i
killed a pig and spread the blood around so people
would think i’ d been killed”, the third person
narrator would say”: he killed a pig and spread the
blood......
• 4.if the third person narrator gives us the thoughts of
characters(he wondered where he’s lost his baseball
glove), then he is a third person omniscient(all
knowing)narrator.
• 5.If the third person narrator only gives us
information which could be recorded by a
camera and microphone (no thoughts),
then he is a third person dramatic narrator.
• 6.Besides elements above enumerated,
there are some other elements. They are
senses memory(emotion, sensual
response, posture, gesture, facial
expression, tone of voice, temperature,
heartbeat, muscle reaction, neural
change). yearning, fiction technique,
inspiring and Tone.
 Critical readings of selected
fiction (foreign and local)
• In its most narrow usage fiction refers to
novels, but it may also denote any “literary
narrative”, including novels, novellas, and
short stories. More broadly, fiction has come
to encompass imaginative storytelling in any
format, including writings, theatrical
performances, comics, films, television
programs, animations, games (most notably,
video games and role-playing games), and
so on.
• A critical reading means that you need to determine
whether the message in the content has been clearly
delivered by the writer or not. There are no hard and
fast rules in fiction writing, because the writer is not
supposed to write any reality. Nevertheless, the main
idea should be based on real life emotions and
feelings so that the readers can relate to the story.
• A critic should thoroughly read the fiction, and try to
know what it is all about. The message should be
conveyed properly. And if you find any issues, you
need to come up with logical points. One can not
have a biased opinion about a book of fiction.
 Instructions
1.Being unbiased is the key in this process. If the writer is
your friend, it is better o avoid this activity. It is important
to be unbiased in every aspect.
2.Determine whether the writer’s thoughts are clear as
well as understandable. A lot of writers write fiction just to
evoke a single emotional response in the readers. If the
author wants to convey so many things at the same time,
he/she is confused himself/herself.
3.After that, you are required to analyse the fiction’s
literary elements. Read the theme, characters, plot, conflicts
and other things with full concentration, and try to know
what point the writer has tried to make. Ask questions such
as: do the characters have flaws? Is the conflict justified?
Are the events confusing? And does the story contain irony?
4.If you find any flaws in the fiction, support your
arguments with reasons. Identify the area where the
writer has made a mistake. Also suggest that how could
he make it better.
5.You are also required to identity that whether the
writer has tried to manipulate things. Judge the story on
solid reasons, but don’t try to be extra critical. It is
fiction, and you have to give the writer a little room to
play with things.
6.Also find out that whether the conclusion is strong
enough. The writer may have done a terrific job
throughout, but if the ending is not strong, you cannot
ask others to read his/her work.
 author: Wang Zaozao,member of China
Writers' Association, her works are warm and
simple and profond, loved by young readers.
The master gives his three apprentices named
Ben,Jin and Ann a precious ancient lotus seed
respectively.
• He said to his three apprentices: “ these
are lotus seeds of thousands of years ago,
therefore they are very precious. you go
back to grow it”.
As soon as Ben got the seed, he buried it in the soil
hurriedly, but he didn't see a tiny sprout after waited for a
long long time, so he dug it up and threw hoe away.
• Jin riffled through all kinds of books about lotus, selected a glden vase,
carried it to a warmest room and then planted the seed using the most
expensive soil and medicinal liquid. after some days, the seed sprouted, and
Jin cover it using a beautiful golden cover to protect it. unfortunately, the
budle was died instead because of the lack of the sunshine and oxyen.
Ann put it inside the bag and hung upon the chest. the spring came and planted
it in the soil and watered it every day.
• some days later, the seed was burgeoning, then
grew many big green leaves.
Jin's lotus put forth a dozen beautiful lotus buds, while beads of
wate rolled about the leaves in an early morning of midsummer.
 Critical Reading
• Before reading the story, ask students
what do they think of and what is the
character, plot and conflict possibly
according to the title of the story and past
experiences.
• then read the story thoroughly with the
asssuption, and try to know what it is all
about. And if they find any issues which
should be supported by logical points. and
shouldn't have a biased opinion about their
point of view.
 Critical Reading
• when reading the story, readers can make their own
interpretation without relying too much on reading
guidance. in another word, readers may have different
opinion from the guide.
• maybe after reading it, some readers realize that it
wrong to pushes them down or throw them away, just
like Ben in the story just because of failure of the
blocks building.
• some others may get to know the importance of the
spirit of quiet study.
• still some may respect nature and start do things
according to the order of nature.
 The Red Badge of Courage
• the following passage appears in the Red
Badge of Courage, the calssic Civil War-
era work by Stephen Crane. in this
passage, the main character, Henry
Fleming, has just returned from battle and
is now receiving treatment for a nasty
head wound.
 The Red Badge of Courage
• “Yeh don't holler ner say nothin'...an' yeh
never squeaked. Yer a good un, Henry.
Most a men would a' been in th' hospital
long ago. A shot in th' head ain't foolin'
business...”
• the point seem clear enough. Henry is
receiving praise for his apparent fortitude
and bravery.but what is really happening in
this scene?
• during the confusion and terror of the battle,
Henry fleming had actually panicked and run
away, abandoning his fellow soldiers in the
process. he had received the blow in teh
chaos of retreat; not the frenzy of battle. in this
scene, he was feeling ashamed of himself.
• when we read this passage critically, we
actually read between the lines. by doing so,
we determine the message that the author is
really conveying. the words speak of bravery,
but the real message of this scene concerned
feelings of cowardice that tormented Henry.
• shortly after the scene above, Fleming
realizes that nobody in the entire regiment
knows the truth about his wound. they all
believe that the wound was the result of
fighting in the battle. his self-pride was now
entirely restored....He had performed his
mistakes in the dark, so he was still a man.
• despite the claim that Henry feels relieved,
we know by reflecting and thinking critically
that Henry isn't really comforted. By reading
between the lines, we know he is deeply
bothered by the shame.
• After reading the Red Badge of Courage,
reader would reflect back on many scenes
and look for a lesson or a message. what
is the writer trying to say about courage
and war? there isn't a right or wrong
answer. it's the act of forming a question
and offering our own opinion.
THANK YOU