Thing Feigned or Imagined: The Craft of Fiction

Larissa Liepins is a Toronto-based freelance journalist.

Novice and veteran writers alike should welcome the arrival of this
practical guide to the craft of writing short stories. Written with
elegance and wit by prize-winning Alberta novelist Fred Stenson, Thing
Feigned or Imagined is not another guide to finding inspiration and
story ideas. Rather, it describes the methods for sustaining what
Stenson calls “the spell” that hooks, propels, and satisfies a
reader of short fiction. Short, readable chapters breathe life into the
well-worn topics of structure, characterization, and point of view.
Stenson also prescribes less explored means of fine-tuning one’s
writing, such as establishing a connection among title, first sentence,
and climax.

The inclusion of short fiction by Canadian writers Edna Alford, Greg
Hollingshead, Diane Schoemperlen, and Rachel Wyatt, on which Stenson
draws to demonstrate his points, is a treat for anyone with a love of
literature and an interest in understanding its mechanics. As an example
of humorous writing, Stenson features a story of his own (the tale of a
wisecracking, down-on-his-luck hockey player, reminiscent of the Raymond
Chandler genre of detective fiction); it will not be to everyone’s
taste, and Stenson’s implicit assumption that all brands of humor are
universally appealing is a weak point in an otherwise convincing read.

The writing exercises at the end of each chapter illustrate the
author’s strength as an experienced mentor and leader of writer’s
workshops (most notably at the Banff Centre Writing Studios). He
provides a wealth of troubleshooting tips and stresses the value of
productive self-editing. His book concludes with sound advice on how to
approach publishers in Canada and an evenhanded assessment of the merits
of a degree in creative writing.

Like all good teachers, Stenson inspires through the voices of others,
and provides his students with the tools to best express themselves.