Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques
Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques
Seasons
24.
Making a Life as a Fiction Writer
2014-11-14
You might have a mental image of the writer as a solitary genius toiling away in an ivory tower. But writers today must be adept at both the crafting of words and the business of publishing.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 24 Now
23.
Approaches to Researching Fiction
2014-11-14
Write what you know is a common dictum, but what happens when you run up against the limits of your knowledge? What if you want to write a story about something other than your own life?
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 23 Now
22.
Revision without Tears
2014-11-14
Revision is a necessary step in most writing projects. Take a case-study approach to see what techniques authors use to revise their stories.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 22 Now
21.
Should I Write in Drafts?
2014-11-14
So far, this course has focused on the individual elements of good fiction. Now that you have a complete toolkit of writing techniques, how do you put it all together to create a whole story?
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 21 Now
20.
Building Scenes
2014-11-14
A good scene serves two functions: it advances the larger narrative, and it's interesting in its own right. How do you build compelling scenes?
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 20 Now
19.
Pacing in Scenes and Narratives
2014-11-14
Every narrative has a tempo. Some stories are short, while others are long. Some move at breakneck speed, while others linger over every detail. Discover how to strike the right balance between length and time (the pacing), between length and detail (the density), and between scene and summary.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 19 Now
18.
Evoking Setting and Place in Fiction
2014-11-14
Time and place are critical in most recent fiction, so today's writer must know how to evoke a setting. But, as with so many techniques in this course, setting exists along a continuum, from the richly detailed (as in Bleak House) to just a few sparse details (as in Pride and Prejudice).
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 18 Now
17.
He, She, It - Third-Person Point of View
2014-11-14
While first-person narration is an effective way to tell a story, third-person narration offers a wonderful range and flexibility, and allows you to dive just as deeply into your characters' heads - if not more deeply - than the first-person perspective. Survey the spectrum of third-person voices, from the objective and external to the interior stream of consciousness.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 17 Now
16.
I, Me, Mine - First-Person Point of View
2014-11-14
First-person narration can be one of the most natural ways to tell a story - but there are several important guidelines to keep in mind. Professor Hynes helps you navigate the different types of first-person storytellers, including the double consciousness, the unreliable narrator, and the retrospective narrator.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 16 Now
15.
Seeing through Other Eyes - Point of View
2014-11-14
What happens in a story depends in large part on who tells it. The three-lecture unit on point of view begins with a quick tour of the major points of view, from the third-person omniscient to the subjective first person.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 15 Now
14.
Happily Ever After - How to End a Plot
2014-11-14
Starting a narrative may be daunting, but ending one can be just as tricky. After discussing some famous examples of bad endings, Professor Hynes gives you tips for creating believable, satisfying endings, whether this means finding an answer to the story's opening gambit, or tracing a narrative to its logical end.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 14 Now
13.
In the Beginning - How to Start a Plot
2014-11-14
Revisit beginnings. How do you get started with a story? In this lecture, Professor Hynes shifts from the techniques of plotting to offer several clear strategies for putting these techniques into action. He also provides invaluable advice about making choices on the page - and understanding the implications of those choices.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 13 Now
12.
Structuring a Narrative without a Plot
2014-11-14
Not all stories have a traditional plot that can be modeled along Freytag's Pyramid. Contemporary short fiction, for instance, is often relatively plotless.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 12 Now
11.
Adding Complexity to Plots
2014-11-14
Now that you've learned the basic elements of storytelling, it's time to go beyond the fundamentals and explore several smaller-scale techniques that can make your plot more subtle and satisfying. Your study includes the elements of suspense, flash-forwards, flashbacks, and foreshadowing.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 11 Now
10.
Plotting with the Freytag Pyramid
2014-11-14
Whether you're writing literary fiction or a potboiler, your story needs a structure. Freytag's Pyramid is the classic structure for moving a story from an initial situation through a series of conflicts to a resolution.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 10 Now
9.
And Then - Turning a Story into a Plot
2014-11-14
Characters breathe life into your story, but without plot, even the most engaging character can fall flat. This lecture opens a six-lecture unit on plotting, a critical skill for any writer who wants to keep the reader turning pages.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 9 Now
8.
Integrating Dialogue into a Narrative
2014-11-14
Turn from the mechanics of dialogue to discover how it can be used to evoke character or advance the story. After surveying how dialect is a powerful tool, if used carefully, Professor Hynes shows you how writers smoothly weave exposition into dialogue, and he considers the significance of what is not said in an exchange.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 8 Now
7.
The Mechanics of Writing Dialogue
2014-11-14
Shift your attention from building characters to figuring out what they should say. This lecture provides an overview of the nuts and bolts of dialogue, from the rules of punctuation to the way writers use dialogue tags to add clarity to a conversation.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 7 Now
6.
Characters - Round and Flat, Major and Minor
2014-11-14
Books come in all forms and sizes, and so do characters. Learn the hallmarks of different character types, like round vs.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 6 Now
5.
Call Me Ishmael - Introducing a Character
2014-11-14
Now that you now have a wealth of strategies for developing character, how do you get your character into your story? In this lecture, you'll run through five different ways authors introduce characters.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 5 Now
4.
Fictional Characters, Imagined and Observed
2014-11-14
Continue your study of character with a look at several approaches for building a character. Some writers draw from life, whereas others draw from the imagination.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 4 Now
3.
How Characters Are Different from People
2014-11-14
Characters are illusions, and the illusion often hinges on how much access a writer gives us to a character's thoughts. Begin this unit on character with an examination of how writers choose which moments in a character's life to dramatize, and then consider how knowledge of a character's thoughts affects the story.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 3 Now
2.
Building Fictional Worlds through Evocation
2014-11-14
Show, don't tell is the mantra of many writing workshops. But what does this mean? Find out how to choose just the right detail to evoke a scene, develop a character, and advance your story. After arming yourself with several strategies for "showing," you'll consider when it's OK to "tell."
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 2 Now
1.
Starting the Writing Process
2014-11-14
Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a writer like facing the blank page. Start your course in fiction writing with some strategies for beginnings.
Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques Season 1 Episode 1 Now
Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques is a series categorized as a new series. Spanning 1 seasons with a total of 24 episodes, the show debuted on 2014. The series has earned a no reviews from both critics and viewers. The IMDb score stands at undefined.
How to Watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques
How can I watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques online? Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques is available on The Great Courses Signature Collection with seasons and full episodes. You can also watch Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques on demand at Prime, Prime Video online.
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The Great Courses Signature Collection
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James Hynes
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