Were it not for Bell's insights regarding the fiction writer's juggling of craft and inspiration, a short-story writer might come away from this book completely paralyzed. Bell is well aware that the way in which a story comes into being is often as much of a mystery to the writer as to the reader. Probably could not have done so. One of the writer's projects is always to try, somehow, to turn this engagement into less of a battle, more of a partnership. This is the book I've wanted someone to offer for twenty years.
Structure is by far the most effective tool to teach beginning fiction writers.
Useful to classroom writers and writing students of every stripe. Mr. Bell examines the invisible structures that underlie fiction. In linear design, a writer would think of his or her material as a sculptor might, regarding one block of wood or granite by imagining the seemless, smooth shape that could be carved or chiseled out. In modular design, however, the writer's effort is not aimed at whittling away at the block until the form beneath is clear, but at assembling bits and pieces, as one would a mosaic. Looking at the work from a distance, the writer would thoughtfully place these bits and pieces in a meaningful, aesthetically pleasing way, letting the natural contrast between pieces, speak to the whole.