Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction is a book by three-time Fantasy World Award-winning author Jeff VanderMeer that is chockful of storytelling tips and sagely advice from the world’s top fantasy writers.
Featuring original illustrations, maps and exercises, it aims to smash the traditional dry analysis method in favour of a looser and more creative take on storytelling. Aspiring writers looking to craft mind-blowing stories would do well to read on.
VanderMeer suggests taking an organic approach to storytelling as opposed to breaking it down systematically. He reasons that writers should view stories like naturalists or zoologists and treat them as living creatures, as exemplified by one of the rules in the book called the ‘Story Lizard’.
Hugo Award-winner Kim Stanley Robinson believes exposition is underrated, saying that “tell, don’t show” is often what makes a story more interesting than laying everything out, while renown fantasy writer Neil Gaiman insists on the importance of choosing good names for characters.
Zombie Bible series author Stant Litore feels backstories are crucial in establishing and defining characters and their relationships with others, as well as their desires and obstacles they face. For Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, “leaving things lumpy” means imbuing characters with quirks and eccentricities as these make them more relatable to readers.
George R R Martin, author of the phenomenally successful Game of Thrones series, divides storytellers into Architects who plan everything beforehand, and Gardeners who nurture stories along the way, much like real-life gardeners who look after plants. He also emphasizes the importance of finishing what you write, which is adapted from Robert Heinlein’s Four Rules for Writing.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Diaz says playing with plot points and letting your imagination run wild allows the story to unfold and come to life. A final word of wisdom comes from Arthur C Clarke Award winner Lauren Beukes, who opines that the only way to grow as a writer is to expose yourself to diverse experiences and opinions through research and by talking to people.
Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction is published by Abrams Books and comes out 15 October 2013.
[via Fast Company]