The Art of Creative Writing

By: Lajos Egri

Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman

Thousands of books have been written on the subject of writing and how to do it better. Among them are a few select classics that reveal the essential elements of good storytelling. The Art of Creative Writing is such a classic. As in the best-selling The Art of Dramatic Writing, still considered one of the most essential books on playwriting more than 75 years after publication, the author outlines in detail his highly acclaimed Egri method of creative writing and shows how to apply it to all fiction formats - novels, short stories, and screenplays.

Grounded in Egri's assertion that "Every type of creative writing depends upon the credibility of a character", here is concise, clear advice on the most important element of good writing: characterization. Step by step, Egri shows writers how to probe the secrets of human motivation to create flesh-and-blood characters who create suspense and conflict and who grow emotionally under stress and strain.  

As practical as it is inspiring, The Art of Creative Writing remains a timeless, illuminating guide that teaches every writer, and aspiring writer, how to create works that are both compelling and enduring.

(P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Two Writings Degrees … how did my teachers miss this gem

This should be required reading/listening for all writers of fiction. This book gives the best crash course on how and why characters (and the conflict generated by their particular selves) fuel stories. I wish I had read it when I started writing in high school.

Raging misogynist

I appreciated a number of the tips on characterization, but I can't give this more than two stars, primarily due to the fact that the author appears to be a raging misogynist masquerading as a philosopher.

The way he projects his own borderline concerning drive for personal importance onto the entirety of the human condition is also troubling; he presents it as a fundamental human truth rather than something he personally struggles with and is thus projecting. Unfortunately, that sentiment colors the entire text unrelentingly. I also condemn the experience he details of abusing his dog in the last section of Chapter 9 as wholly unacceptable (I don’t care if he mentioned it in an attempt to comment on human nature and thus further contextualize literary characterization).

The narrator was great, but as for the text itself, do not recommend.