Writing Genre Fiction: A Guide to the Craft

H. Thomas Milhorn

Universal-Publishers, 2006 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 364 pages

Several years ago, after many years of writing nonfiction, I decided to write a novel-a medical thriller in the mold of Robin Cook, Michael Crichton, and Michael Palmer. The problem was that, although I knew how to write and had received a number of awards for nonfiction works, I didn't know the how to write fiction. So, before putting fingers to keyboard I did a thorough search of the literature, which included reading numerous books and hundreds of website articles. What I discovered was that there simply wasn't one good source from which to learn the craft of writing genre fiction. "Writing Genre Fiction: A Guide to the Craft" is the book I was looking for when I set out on my quest to learn how to write fiction. It is an attempt to share what I learned from my research. It covers the six key elements of genre fiction; the various genres and subgenres; a large number of genre-fiction writing techniques; plot, subplots, and parallel plots; structure; scene and sequel; characterization; dialogue; emotions; and body language. It also covers additional information about copyrighting and plagiarism, where to get ideas, manuscript formatting and revision, and query letters and synopses. In addition, an appendix covers a large number of grammar tips.

Contents

• I: 1
• II: 2
• III: 3
• IV: 4
• VI: 6
• VII: 7
• VIII: 11
• IX: 12
• X: 14
• XI: 19
• XII: 20
• XIII: 21
• XVI: 22
• XVIII: 23
• XIX: 24
• XXI: 25
• XXII: 26
• XXIII: 27
• XXV: 28
• XXVI: 29
• XXIX: 30
• XXXI: 31
• XXXIII: 32
• XXXVI: 33
• XXXVIII: 34
• XXXIX: 35
• XLII: 36
• XLIII: 37
• XLV: 38
• XLVII: 39
• XLVIII: 43
• XLIX: 50
• L: 51
• LI: 52
• LIII: 54
• LIV: 55
• LV: 56
• LVII: 57
• LIX: 63
• LX: 64
• LXI: 65
• LXII: 66
• LXIV: 67
• LXV: 68
• LXVII: 69
• LXIX: 70
• LXX: 71
• LXXIII: 72
• LXXV: 73
• LXXVII: 77
• LXXVIII: 78
• LXXX: 79
• LXXXI: 80
• LXXXII: 81
• LXXXIII: 82
• LXXXV: 83
• LXXXVI: 86
• LXXXVIII: 87
• XC: 88
• XCI: 91
• XCII: 92
• XCIV: 95
• XCVI: 99
• XCVII: 100
• XCIX: 102
• C: 105
• CII: 111
• CV: 112
• CVIII: 113
• CX: 114
• CXI: 115
• CXIII: 116
• CXIV: 117
• CXV: 119
• CXVII: 120
• CXVIII: 123
• CXX: 125
• CXXII: 126
• CXXIII: 127
• CXXVI: 128
• CXXVIII: 132
• CXXIX: 134
• CXXX: 135
• CXXXIII: 136
• CXXXV: 137
• CXXXVI: 146
• CXXXVII: 147
• CXXXVIII: 151
• CXXXIX: 152
• CXLI: 153
• CXLII: 154
• CXLIII: 155
• CXLIV: 157
• CXLVI: 159
• CXLVIII: 161
• CXLIX: 172
• CL: 173
• CLI: 174
• CLII: 175
• CLIII: 177
• CLIV: 178
• CLV: 181
• CLVI: 182
• CLVIII: 183
• CLIX: 185
• CLX: 186
• CLXI: 187
• CLXII: 188
• CLXIV: 193
• CLXV: 194
• CLXVII: 196
• CLXVIII: 197
• CLXIX: 200
• CLXXI: 201
• CLXXII: 203
• CLXXIII: 208
• CLXXVI: 209
• CLXXIX: 210
• CLXXXI: 213
• CLXXXII: 214
• CLXXXIII: 218
• CLXXXIV: 219
• CLXXXV: 223
• CLXXXVII: 224
• CLXXXVIII: 225
• CLXXXIX: 227
• CXC: 228
• CXCII: 229
• CXCIV: 230
• CXCVI: 231
• CXCVII: 233
• CXCVIII: 236
• CXCIX: 238
• CC: 239
• CCI: 245
• CCII: 246
• CCIV: 249
• CCVI: 250
• CCVIII: 252
• CCIX: 253
• CCX: 255
• CCXII: 256
• CCXIV: 257
• CCXVIII: 258
• CCXIX: 259
• CCXXI: 260
• CCXXII: 261
• CCXXIV: 262
• CCXXVI: 263
• CCXXVII: 264
• CCXXIX: 265
• CCXXXI: 266
• CCXXXIV: 269
• CCXXXV: 270
• CCXXXVIII: 271
• CCXL: 276
• CCXLI: 277
• CCXLII: 283
• CCXLIII: 284
• CCXLV: 285
• CCXLVI: 286
• CCXLVII: 287
• CCXLVIII: 288
• CCXLIX: 289
• CCL: 293
• CCLI: 297
• CCLII: 299
• CCLIII: 300
• CCLIV: 301
• CCLV: 302
• CCLVII: 304
• CCLVIII: 309
• CCLIX: 312
• CCLX: 319
• CCLXI: 320
• CCLXII: 329
• CCLXIV: 330
• CCLXV: 331
• CCLXVI: 333
• CCLXVIII: 334
• CCLXXI: 335
• CCLXXIII: 336
• CCLXXIV: 338
• CCLXXV: 339
• CCLXXVII: 340
• CCLXXIX: 341

Bibliographic information

• Title: Writing Genre Fiction: A Guide to the Craft
• Author: H. Thomas Milhorn
• Publisher: Universal-Publishers, 2006
• ISBN: 1581129181, 9781581129182
• Length: 364 pages
• Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing; Reference / Writing Skills