Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain

Looking back at our first question, why a reader would choose your story over another, you must think about your audience. They're proven methods on how to manipulate the reader into feeling what you want them to feel. If story can't be defined as one thing, then why all these 'rules' we've discussed in previous pieces? Remember, these aren't rules they're tools and therefore part of the process. I may not know what you're thinking, but I can hazard a guess. Process: The devices you use to fulfill that function. It makes more sense to think of it as a combination of function and process.įunction: To create a desired reaction in a given reader. The first step to writing successfully requires us to stop thinking of story as a thing, and more of something you do to a specific reader. Every person who reads and/or writes is different and defines story to fit his own tastes and prejudices.

Swain feels there is no single definition of story. What is really at the root of a satisfactory story? Why would a reader choose your story over the competition?Ģ. In order for us to tackle this, we have to answer a couple of key questions:ġ. This series of articles assumes you want to write stories and find an audience of loyal readers, who then influence new readers, who then themselves become loyal readers. 'Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.' - Mark Twain Your feedback is appreciated, and if you're so inclined, you can find further entries from the series on my blog. I believe a lot of budding writers will get some mileage from the articles and I highly recommend picking up your own copy of the book. I've spent the past six months reading and rereading this book, finding it valuable enough to want to share the insights I've gained from it. Swain's Techniques of the Selling Writer. I'm back with another entry in a series of articles I'm working on which focus on Dwight V.

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain