“All in all, an impressive introduction to a difficult subject, done with disarming candor. Franklin provides concise, no-nonsense tips … in a lively, easy-to-follow style that’s refreshingly free from the usual ‘creative writing’ jargon. It’s a technique that beginning journalists, and even those more experienced, will find especially helpful and revealing. Franklin knows what he’s talking about and shares his knowledge with admirable generosity.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Learning to write the short story, always a challenge for budding fiction writers, is for Franklin … the royal road to success in feature writing today, Thoroughly and methodically, he shows aspiring journalists how to ‘nail down’ the operative elements of a story—complication/resolution, flashback, foreshadowing, and pace—and, through close analysis of two of his prize-winning features, what to do and in what order to do it … a sound, fertile book, recommended for attaining effective writing skills.”
—Library Journal
Preface
I. The New School for Writers
II. Mrs. Kelly’s Monster
III. The Ballad of Old Man Peters
IV. Stalking the True Short Story
V. Structure
VI. The Outline
VII. Structuring the Rough
VIII. Contemplating the Structure
IX. Polishing
X. The Nature of Art and Artists
Appendix A: The Annotated Monster
Appendix B: The Annotated Ballad
