Continuing with my goal to read a writing-related book each month and post my thoughts here… I just concluded Damon Knight’s Creating Short Fiction. Like the book I read for January, I snagged this one at the library.
I’d heard mention of Knight’s how-to on writing several times over the years – in other books, forums, etc. The context was always positive, many considering it a must-have, if not the book to own on crafting short stories. So going in I had high hopes.
Boy was I disappointed.
It’s not that it is a bad book by any means. Knight knows what he’s talking about, and I respect the fact that he had a long career. He must’ve been doing something right.
It’s not that I didn’t learn anything from him either. My biggest problem with the book is that Knight’s approach to writing is overly formulistic, to the point of drawing elaborate diagrams, reducing art into equation.
As someone who writes from the gut, I had a hard time plodding through the material. Writing may not be the sexiest of topics, yet I always feel a thrill when browsing the shelves for my next how-to on the craft. I love to read about writing. But though I finished the book (once committed, I rarely walk away from something), my excitement died before the quarter mark.
Still, I always enjoy hearing from those who have done it before, and well. The portion I valued most was one of Knight’s published shorts annotated with the author’s comments about what he was thinking at the time, decisions he made and why, etc.
Worth a read? I have a hard time saying anything on writing is not worth reading. Let’s just say your mileage will very based on your approach to the craft.
Worth a purchase? Not for me.
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