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Donald Maass Books

1 book·~10 min total read

Donald Maass is a veteran literary agent and author of several influential books on writing craft, including 'Writing the Breakout Novel' and 'The Fire in Fiction'. He is the founder of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York and is known for his workshops and seminars that help writers elevate their storytelling skills.

Known for: The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface

Books by Donald Maass

The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface

The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface

writing·10 min read

In this guide for fiction writers, literary agent and author Donald Maass explores how to evoke genuine emotional responses in readers by crafting stories that resonate on a deeper level. He provides techniques for developing characters, scenes, and narrative structures that engage readers’ empathy and imagination, helping writers move beyond surface-level storytelling to create emotionally powerful fiction.

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Key Insights from Donald Maass

1

Understanding Reader Emotion

Readers do not feel emotion because we tell them something sad happened—they feel because we awaken recognition, memory, and imagination. Emotion arises when readers identify with our characters, when they empathize with their struggle, and when their own inner lives intersect with what unfolds on t...

From The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface

2

The Emotional Landscape of Characters

Emotion in fiction begins with the people who inhabit it. Characters are the emotional engines of your story. But for a character’s feelings to touch readers deeply, those feelings must come from credible inner conflict—tension between desire, fear, duty, and truth. I show how to move beyond flat em...

From The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface

About Donald Maass

Donald Maass is a veteran literary agent and author of several influential books on writing craft, including 'Writing the Breakout Novel' and 'The Fire in Fiction'. He is the founder of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York and is known for his workshops and seminars that help writers elevate...

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Donald Maass is a veteran literary agent and author of several influential books on writing craft, including 'Writing the Breakout Novel' and 'The Fire in Fiction'. He is the founder of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York and is known for his workshops and seminars that help writers elevate their storytelling skills.

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Donald Maass is a veteran literary agent and author of several influential books on writing craft, including 'Writing the Breakout Novel' and 'The Fire in Fiction'. He is the founder of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York and is known for his workshops and seminars that help writers elevate their storytelling skills.

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