The Writing 21st Century Fiction workshop, May 4, 2013

The end of a day

The end of a day

D.Maass

Donald Maass

Donald Maass Workshop featured his suggestions for the writing trends of the 21st C. When Mr. Maass reviewed the New York Best Sellers list in 2011 he noticed a shift in those books that remained on the list for 117-48 weeks. He noted that books classified as literary fiction were selling as if they were commercial fiction. He calls the novels’ appeal high impact. “High impact comes from a combination of two factors: great stories and beautiful writing. High-impact novels utilize what is best about literary and commercial fiction.” (Writing 21st Century Fiction, p.2.)
Mr. Maass spent the day showing the workshop participant writers ways to achieve this high impact in our writing. He began by having us write some personal truths because he believes that the new novel is highly personal and readers relate to an authentic author.

For the remainder of the day we learned ways to tell great stories which were beautifully written.

Now I need to apply the many wonderful things I have learned. Of course I can always go back and review and complete the many exercises in the book as well:
Writing 21st Century Fiction High-Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling by Donald Maass.
Published by Writer’s Digest Books and WritersDigest.com Cincinnati, Ohio. ISBN-10: 1599634007
http://www.maassagency.com/

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