Product Description

Looking for ways to fix your novel? Or: Is your fiction writing in peril?

Based on real advice gleaned from thousands of writing critiques, 179 Ways to Save a Novel is more than a collection of ideas for troubleshooting your work-in-progress (though it holds plenty of practical writing advice). This inspiring guide doubles as a thoughtful examination of the writing life–and not just with respect to writing, but to the reading habits and thought processes of writers.

The 179 meditations in this book are grouped under six headings: Substance; Structure; Style; Symbol, Myth & Metaphor; Soul; and Other Matters. Dip into the book at random when in need of nonspecific advice, inspiration, or criticism. Or read it straight through for a deeper examination of the writing life. However you encounter them, these meditations are guaranteed to challenge, inspire, provoke—and occasionally to tickle or annoy. But most of all they’ll awaken a deeper awareness of the fiction writer’s many challenges and thorny choices.

About the Author

Peter Selgin is the author of the Flannery O’Connor Award-winning story collection Drowning Lessons; Life Goes to the Movies, a novel; and By Cunning & Craft: Sound Advice and Practical Wisdom for Fiction Writers.

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“Peter Selgin’s 179 Ways to Save a Novel is brimming with sage and inspiring advice. Selgin writes about the craft of the novel with terrific lucidity, insight, and wit and his latest is a book that all aspiring novelists should have on their shelves.”

—Laura van den Berg, author of What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us

“… a wise and valuable guide! Selgin's masterful meditations provide the tools, knowledge and incentive to write meaningful fiction. A beautiful, supportive book, 179 Ways to Save a Novel belongs on every serious fiction-writer's desktop.”

—Mary E. Mitchell, author of Indie Next Great Read novel, Americans In Space

“What Peter Selgin talks about when he talks about writing is what every aspiring novelist needs to hear.”

—John Dufresne, author of The Lie That Tells the Truth

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #621288 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

About the Author
Melissa Kelly is the Guide for About.com's Secondary School Educators site. She has been teaching for more than nine years and spent the first seven in traditional classrooms before moving on to the Florida Virtual School where she is currently employed.