A college-level introduction to the short story and the novel, with readings and sample essays.
A text for students or writers studying fiction at the level of first or second year in college or the equivalent. This work has grown out of earlier versions I composed for distance learning courses (including study of the novel and writing of fiction), so its explanations should be useful to the person who is learning independently as well as to students enrolled in classroom courses. The main focus of this version is upon studying the short story, with some comments about novellas and a segment on novels. The section on writing about fiction is tailored for students in college courses, but the principles covered are applicable to other writing tasks. Furthermore, some of the sample essays could be useful resources in themselves.