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This concise yet comprehensive study explores innovative practice in the novel and, from the perspective of creative writing, the astonishing resilience of the novel form. It offers a practical guide to the many possibilities available to the writer of the novel, with each chapter offering exercises to encourage innovation and to expand the creative writer's narrative skills. Beginning with early iterations of the novel in the 17th century, this book follows the evocation of innovation in the novel through Realism, Modernism, Postmodernism and into today's dizzying array of digital and interactive possibilities. While guiding the reader through the possibilities available (in both genre and literary fiction), this book encourages both aspiring and established writers to produce novels with imagination, playfulness and gravitas.
Dynamic and interactive, this text is distinctive in offering a grounding in the literary history of the novel, while also equipping readers to write in the form themselves. It is an essential resource for any student of creative writing, or anyone with an interest in writing their own novel.
List of contents
Introduction: The Novel
1.Rise of the Novel: It was a Dark and Stormy Night
2.Realism: The Willing Suspension of Disbelief
3.Modernism: The Fragmentation of Reality
4.Minimalism: Le Mot Juste
5.Magical Realism: How Flying Carpets Really Fly
6.Postmodernism: Constructing ‘Reality’
7.Metafiction: Writing About the Mirror
8.The Transgressive Novel: Writing with Dark Ink
9.Ecriture Feminine: Writing the Body
10.Postcolonialism: Writing Back to Empire
11. The Graphic Novel and Illustrated Books
12. Interactive Narrative and Digital Possibilities
Conclusion: Writing Innovative Fiction
About the author
Dr Paul Williams is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Program Coordinator at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia.
Summary
This concise yet comprehensive study explores innovative practice in the novel and, from the perspective of creative writing, the astonishing resilience of the novel form. It offers a practical guide to the many possibilities available to the writer of the novel, with each chapter offering exercises to encourage innovation and to expand the creative writer’s narrative skills. Beginning with early iterations of the novel in the 17th century, this book follows the evocation of innovation in the novel through Realism, Modernism, Postmodernism and into today’s dizzying array of digital and interactive possibilities. While guiding the reader through the possibilities available (in both genre and literary fiction), this book encourages both aspiring and established writers to produce novels with imagination, playfulness and gravitas.
Dynamic and interactive, this text is distinctive in offering a grounding in the literary history of the novel, while also equipping readers to write in the form themselves. It is an essential resource for any student of creative writing, or anyone with an interest in writing their own novel.
Additional text
With entertaining and provocative exercises, Paul Williams details the genesis and development of this essential art form, and includes a welcoming embrace of different voices and identities, as the novel arrives in the present moment.
