Romance University has a special treat for readers today. Highly successful literary agent and author Donald Maass has kindly provided an excerpt from his newest release, The Fire in Fiction. This is a must-have reference book for writers. 

An excerpt from The Fire in Fiction… 

Have you ever skimmed through some scenes in the middle of a novel?  Worse, have you ever looked at middle scenes in your own manuscript and wondered if they are working? 

Middles are tough.  Too many in published novels and manuscripts alike are routine, lackluster, just there, nothing special.  What goes wrong?  Is it poor focus?  Is it a blank spot in an outline?  Were these ho-hum scenes written on rainy afternoons following disturbing parent-teacher conferences when inspiration, to say the least, was lacking? 

I suspect that many sagging middle scenes slump the way they do not because of bad planning or bad luck, but because their purpose hasn’t yet emerged.  As authors plow through the middle of their manuscripts they tend to write what they think ought to come next; furthermore, they write it in the first way it occurs to them to do so.  

What can one do about that?  To answer that question its first helpful to realize that every scene set down by an author usually has a reason to be.  The author may not grasp it just yet but the impulse to portray this particular moment, this particular meeting, this particular action, springs from the deep well of dreams from which all stories are drawn. 

It has a point, this scene.  The task is to draw it out.  

In his new book, New York literary agent Donald Maass illuminates the techniques of master contemporary novelists.  Some authors write powerhouse novels every time.  What are they doing differently on the page?  Maass not only explains, he shows you how you can right away use the techniques of greatness in your current manuscript.

The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great
by Donald Maass

Description: In his new book, New York literary agent Donald Maass illuminates the techniques of master contemporary novelists.  Some authors write powerhouse novels every time.  What are they doing differently on the page?  Maass not only explains, he shows you how you can right away use the techniques of greatness in your current manuscript.

Author bio: A literary agent in New York, Donald Maass’s agency sells more than 150 novels every year to major publishers in the U.S. and overseas.  He is the author of The Career Novelist (1996), Writing the Breakout Novel (2001), Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (2004) and The Fire in Fiction (2009).  He is a past president of the Association of Authors’ Representatives, Inc. 

The Fire in Fiction from the publisher.

The Fire in Fiction from bn.com

The Fire in Fiction on amazon.com

Join us again on Monday as Dorchester’s Brooke Borneman chats about their new cutting edge contest America’s Next Best Celler.

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