ELEMENTS OF FICTION

Walter Mosley's contemplative essays give narrator Mirron Willis room to put emotion into the discussion of writing fiction. Willis brings sensitivity to Mosley's description of the "loose pebbles" on the path to a story. And he's emphatic as Mosley explains that a creative writing degree doesn't make a writer and tells writers to go ahead and let the story get away from them. Mosley's sample creations--sometimes melodramatic, sometimes poignant--also allow Willis to animate the material. Listeners may even chuckle as one sketched-out story leaves a man alone, eating barbecued potato chips after a breakup. There are a few practical lessons budding writers can take with them, but Mosley mostly wants writers to consider how they think about story. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2019]