Writing Fiction Burroway
In a sentence
A comprehensive and practical guide for aspiring fiction writers on the essential elements of narrative craft, from brainstorming and drafting to characterization, plotting, and revision.
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft is an informal and practical text for aspiring writers that demystifies the creative process. Ranging from intuitive techniques like freewriting and clustering to the structured process of revision, this book breaks down the essential elements of narrative from a writer's perspective. It offers solutions to common problems in story structure, characterization, point of view, style, and theme. Through a combination of practical advice, illustrative examples from published stories, and hands-on writing assignments, author Janet Burroway provides a comprehensive toolkit to help writers develop their skills, find their voice, and transform their ideas into compelling fiction.
The model
This model, inferred from Janet Burroway's 'Writing Fiction,' outlines how a writer's application of specific narrative craft techniques (design levers) creates a set of psychological and behavioral states in the reader (mediators), leading to the creation of effective and significant fiction (outcomes). The model shows that successful storytelling is a deliberate craft, not just a mysterious inspiration.
Disciplined Writing Processdesign lever
The writer's consistent use of specific habits and techniques, such as journaling, freewriting, clustering, and systematic revision, to generate, develop, and refine fictional material.
Structured Narrative Formdesign lever
The deliberate construction of a story around a central conflict that builds through complications to a crisis and ends with a satisfying resolution, creating a pattern of change.
Vivid Prose Techniquedesign lever
The writer's practice of 'showing, not telling' through the use of significant, concrete details, active voice, and purposeful prose rhythm to create a sensory and immediate experience.
Multi-Faceted Characterizationdesign lever
The writer's use of direct (appearance, speech, action, thought) and indirect methods to create 'round,' believable, and 'consistently inconsistent' characters who are individual, typical, and universal.
Atmospheric Controldesign lever
The deliberate use of narrative place (setting, locale, weather) and time (summary, scene, flashback) to create mood, provide context, and reinforce the story's theme.
Point of View Managementdesign lever
The strategic selection of the narrative voice (person, distance, limitations, and reliability) to control the reader's perspective, information, and emotional relationship to the characters and events.
Figurative Language Usedesign lever
The employment of comparison, particularly fresh and apt metaphors, similes, and symbols, to create resonance, evoke emotion, and suggest deeper thematic meanings.
Reader Immersionpsychological state
The reader's subjective experience of being absorbed into the 'fictional dream,' where the story world feels immediate, real, and engrossing, causing a suspension of disbelief.
Reader Suspense and Curiositypsychological state
The reader's cognitive and emotional desire to know 'what happens next?' (suspense) and 'why?' (curiosity), driven by the narrative's structure of conflict and causality.
Character Empathypsychological state
The reader's ability to identify with, understand the perspective of, and feel concern for the characters in the story, fostering an emotional connection.
Perceived Credibilitypsychological state
The reader's acceptance of the story world and its characters as believable and internally consistent, a necessary condition for the suspension of disbelief.
Emotional Resonancepsychological state
The vicarious emotional experience (e.g., pity, fear, joy, awe) evoked in the reader by the narrative, which constitutes the story's affective impact.
Thematic Revelationpsychological state
The reader's cognitive and emotional grasp of the story's deeper meaning, truths, and worldview, often experienced as a moment of 'epiphany' or insight.
Fictional Effectivenessoutcome metric
The overall quality and success of the story, defined by its ability to engage, move, and illuminate the reader, creating a unified, coherent, and memorable artistic experience.
How they connect
- disciplined writing process → influences structured narrative form
- disciplined writing process → influences vivid prose technique
- disciplined writing process → influences multi faceted characterization
- structured narrative form → influences reader suspense and curiosity
- vivid prose technique → influences reader immersion
- multi faceted characterization → influences character empathy
- multi faceted characterization → influences perceived credibility
- atmospheric control → influences emotional resonance
- point of view management → influences character empathy
- figurative language use → influences thematic revelation
- reader immersion → influences fictional effectiveness
- reader suspense and curiosity → influences fictional effectiveness
- character empathy → influences fictional effectiveness
- perceived credibility → influences fictional effectiveness
- emotional resonance → influences fictional effectiveness
- thematic revelation → influences fictional effectiveness
The story
The reader An aspiring or developing fiction writer who feels a passionate desire to write but struggles with the process. They face writer's block, self-doubt, and technical challenges, wanting to transform their ideas and observations into compelling, finished stories but not knowing how.
External problem
They struggle to start writing, maintain momentum, and structure their ideas into a coherent story. They don't know how to create compelling characters, plot, or atmosphere, and their prose feels flat or unconvincing. Their drafts are often rejected as 'sensitive... but not a story.'
Internal problem
They feel frustrated, self-doubting ('I can't get it right'), and overwhelmed by the blank page. They fear they lack talent and feel a guilty paradox of wanting to write but doing anything else instead.
Philosophical problem
It's just plain wrong that someone with a deep, human need to connect through the written word should be blocked by technical confusion and the fear of failure. Everyone who wants to write should have access to the craft and competence to express their vision.
The plan
- Master the Writing Process: Learn techniques like freewriting, clustering, and journaling to overcome writer's block and get started.
- Understand Story Form: Grasp the fundamental structure of conflict, crisis, and resolution that turns an idea into a story.
- Learn to Show, Not Tell: Use significant detail, active voice, and prose rhythm to create a vivid, sensory experience for the reader.
- Master the Elements of Craft: Systematically learn the techniques of characterization, atmosphere, point of view, comparison, and theme.
- Revise for Excellence: Learn a systematic process for rewriting, treating criticism, and polishing your draft into a finished story.
Success
- The reader becomes a competent, confident writer who can transform their ideas into well-crafted stories with engaging plots.
- They write with more accuracy, eloquence, and originality, understanding that competence and excellence grow together.
- Their writing has a better sense of the relationship between language and truth, and they may even get published.
At stake
- The reader remains stuck, frustrated by their inability to translate their ideas onto the page, leading to unfinished drafts and continued self-doubt.
- Their desire to write is thwarted by a lack of craft, and their work is dismissed as 'sensitive... but not a story.'
- They may give up on writing, their voice unheard and their potential unrealized.
Related in the library