Creating Stories Book Review

While I don't write much fiction, I was excited to receive Creating Stories by Hank Quense for review. 

Book Description

Do you have a story in you?

Do you know how to write it or how to tell it? Creating Stories has the answers. Hank Quense, the author of more than twenty books, tells you how to do it. He believes that stories come from the melding of three elements: getting ideas, story design and story-telling. Ideas have to come from the author. Creating Stories covers the last two. The book concentrates on developing characters including such rarely discussed requirements such as a dominant reader emotion and the character's biography. Plots are also covered in depth and a number of graphics are included to illustrate complex points. Another topic discusses subplots and how to utilize them and how to nest them within the main plot. A separate chapter discusses the relationship between the plot and the emotional arcs. Other topics covered are: character arcs, scene design, point-of-view, writing voice.

My Review

Though I don't write much fiction, I've always admired those who can. After reading this book, I have an even deeper appreciation for fiction writers.

This book is chalk full of information on how to write a good fiction story - whether it's a short story or a novel. Quense discusses how to formulate a plot, character development, scene development, story arcs, emotional arcs, and storytelling in an engaging way. He even discusses the different types of villains authors can use in their stories, how to effectively use suubplots, and how to use dialogue effectively. Something I really like about this book is that not only does Quense instruct authors on what to include in their stories, but he tells writers what not to include. He gives clear examples of things that will stall or stop the story and what will bore readers. Quense encourages authors to decide and include only the details that are really necessary to the story.

Quense illustrates everything with clear examples. I love that he gives examples of good writing as well as poor writing. He also uses diagrams, such as mind maps, to help authors understand complex concepts. 

Nonfiction books can easily become dull and boring. I didn't feel bored reading this book. I enjoyed all of the examples given throughout. Quense has an engaging writing style; I felt like he was talking to me. 

I believe this is an excellent book for beginning fiction writers. Because I don't write much fiction, I'm not sure how useful the book would be to more advanced fiction writers. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in trying their hand at fiction writing.

About the Author

Hank Quense has self-published his books for over 12 years. His non-fiction books cover fiction writing (Creating Stories), self-publishing (How to Self-publish and Market a Book, Self-publish a Book in 10 Steps), marketing (Book Marketing Fundamentals) and author business (Business Basics for Authors).

He also lectures on these subjects in schools, libraries and on webinars.

Hank recently started https://hankquense.podia.com/ The site provides solutions to pain points (problems) for fiction writers, self-publishing authors and authors who are trying to market their books.

You can purchase this book on Amazon. 

Connect with Hank Quense:

Facebook, X, Pinterest, YouTube, BookBub, Goodreads, and on his website.

CREATING STORIES Book Tour Giveaway

FTC Disclosure: I received a digital copy of "Creating Stories" by Hank Quense for a  fair and honest review. Receiving the digital copy of the book did not influence my opinions in any way. Fur Everywhere only shares information we feel will benefit our readers.