Fiction-Writing Modes: Eleven Essential Tools for Bringing Your Story to Life (For Fiction Writers)

Tools you can use
I am working on my first novel, and this book a very helpful during the course of my writing. I was able to utilize all of the tools explained in the book.

A most useful tool.
A great piece of information to know for all writers. This book expanded my viewpoint as a writer.

Good content, frustrating presentation
Fiction-Writing Modes: Eleven Essential Tools for Bringing Your Story to Life, by Mike KlaassenMike Klaassen’s ambitious book has a wealth of information, examples, advice, and ideas; it also has an encouraging, heartfelt tone. But it needed another revision to make it reader-friendly: The book has significant problems with organization and clarity.Granted, Klaassen has undertaken a daunting task in trying to identify, define, illustrate, and differentiate these modes; he also takes on which mode to use, when. Much in this book is insightful, creative, and helpful to the writer of fiction. But it needs to be easier to take in.For example, the book’s front matter is a little wordy, wandering, and repetitious. Klaassen needs to name and define his eleven modes more quickly (especially since he focuses on immediate, to-the-point fiction). These modes are “sensation,” “emotion,” “introspection,” “recollection,” “action,” “summarization,” “dialogue,” “narration,” “description,” “exposition,” and “transition.” The Preface should be tightened, and the “Note to Reader” about the evolution of modes should be placed in an appendix.Also, when Klaassen first discusses modes, he moves from those more familiar to those less familiar. But when he defines the modes, he uses a different order. This is confusing. Plus, wouldn’t it make more sense to begin with modes that readers are familiar with and then move on to less-familiar modes?The book’s organizing principles and terminology suffer from fuzziness and overlap. Other than front and back matter, the book is divided into four parts for the eleven modes and a fifth section for combining and expanding the modes. The first four parts are labeled “Interiority,” “Activity,” “Dialogue,” and “Exteriority.” A more natural division, using the organizing principle of space, would have only two main sections: “Interiority” and “Exteriority” (with “Activity” and “Dialogue” both under “Exteriority”). And does it really make sense to put “physical reaction” (part of the “sensation” mode) under “Interiority,” as Klaassen does?The chapter structure of the book is also confusing. Klaassen says that he gives one chapter to each of the eleven modes, but there are actually nineteen chapters. This is because he gives the mode “Dialogue” several chapters, not one, and because the last chapter goes beyond the modes.Even on the sentence level, the book presents organizational problems and tautologies. Klaassen states, “Exposition may be delivered through three methods: narrative exposition, characters, or expository devices” [emphasis mine]. A rewording would help: “Exposition may be delivered through narration, characters, and devices,” or something like that.Now on to content, where things improve markedly.Each of the chapters on these modes shows thought and energy. Throughout the book, the content is useful, whether Klaassen is referencing others’ work or giving his own insights and examples. I am particularly grateful to have the examples.Klaassen also discusses creative ways to make novels more “real” for the reader. His advice would help writers become more conscious about what works and what doesn’t. And I found his chapter on “transition” especially interesting, as I hadn’t really thought much about this element before.The glossary is useful, too; and the “Note to Readers” might make an interesting appendix, discussing as it does different approaches that others have taken in their analyses of fiction.I am glad that I have a copy of this book, and I anticipate using it as I write.Klaassen writes that it is “most beneficial” to read this book straight through. However, unless he improves the book’s organization, Fiction-Writing Modes would best be used as a reference or troubleshooting book, or perhaps broken into eleven smaller booklets (one on each mode).As it is, the reader has to access the wonderful contents in spite of the current organization, and that can be frustrating.I got a free advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.Libby Stott, author of “Dancing with a Baptist”

A Clear and Practical Guide to Fiction Writing (a review by J. Eric McNeil)
Mike Klaassen’s Fiction-Writing Modes does what more writing books should: it breaks storytelling down into clear, functional parts. Instead of relying on vague advice like “show, don’t tell” or “make your prose sing,” Klaassen identifies eleven specific fiction-writing modes—sensation, introspection, action, exposition, and others—and provides a clear framework for understanding their role in narrative construction. He organizes them into four overarching categories (interiority, activity, dialogue, and exteriority), making it easy to see how each mode shapes a story.What makes this book stand out is its precision. Klaassen isn’t preoccupied with literary mystique or sweeping generalizations about “what makes great fiction.” He treats writing as a craft and gives writers concrete tools to work with. If a scene isn’t landing the way it should, this book helps pinpoint why. If a passage feels off, it offers ways to adjust the balance of action, dialogue, and exposition. It’s especially useful for writers who struggle with pacing or effective integration of different narrative elements.Fiction-Writing Modes is a book about technique, not style. Klaassen isn’t trying to teach writers how to find their voice. Instead, he offer’s a way to structure storytelling so they can refine their art with greater control. The more seasoned writers will find the book to be an excellent diagnostic tool during the revision process, where understanding how the modes play off each other can sharpen the narrative impact.Would I recommend this to my students? Absolutely. Fiction-Writing Modes is the kind of book that belongs on a writer’s desk—not necessarily to be read cover to cover in one sitting, but to be pulled out when a draft isn’t coming together and a new perspective is needed.

It is a book you want to read and have on your bookshelf or your iPad or some other tablet as a study reference. Fiction-Writing Modes: Eleven Essential Tools for Bringing Your Story to Life by Mike Klaassen is the summation of the most important steps used in writing. For the beginning writer, it answers questions, which can affect the way you write if you are opened to improving and expanding your skills. For the experienced writer who has already been published, it is a reminder of the processes needed to write good fiction when completing our final draft.Fiction-Writing Modes: Eleven Essential Tools for Bringing Your Story to Life helps you give your plot proper alignment in the right sequential order; it refines your writer’s voice, and it helps you define your world so the reader will hopefully keep turning the pages once he has invested in purchasing what you as a writer have written..Klaassen thinks it is most beneficial when you read the entire book. For beginners, this is not a bad idea. For the more seasoned writer, selecting the mode needed that pertains to your particular problem is perhaps most feasible.Either way, Fiction-Writing Modes: Eleven Essential Tools for Bringing Your Story to Life by Mike Klaassen should be a part of your writer’s tools, right next to Strunk’s, Element of Style.Shalom aleichem,Pat Garcia