The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences

Sacha Black

May 2020 · Atlas Black Publishing

About this ebook

Do your sentences fail to sound the way you want? Are they lackluster, with flat characters and settings? Is your prose full of bad habits and crutches?

In The Anatomy of Prose, you’ll discover: 

A step-by-step guide to creating descriptions that sing

The key to crafting character emotions that will hook a reader

How to harness all five senses to make your stories come alive, deepening your reader's experience

Tips and tricks for balancing details at the sentence level 

Methods for strengthening each sentence through strategic word choice, rhythm and flow

Dozens of literary devices, and how to utilize them to give your prose power

Tactics for differentiating characters in dialogue as well as making it punchy and unforgettable 

A comprehensive prose-specific self-editing check list

How to embody your character's personality at the sentence level

The most common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid 

The Anatomy of Prose is a comprehensive writing guide that will help you create sensational sentences. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned writer, this book will power up your prose, eliminate line-level distractions and help you find the perfect balance of show and tell. By the end of this book, you'll know how to strengthen your sentences to give your story, prose and characters the extra sparkle they need to capture a reader's heart.

If you like dark humor, learning through examples and want to create perfect prose, then you’ll love Sacha Black’s guide to crafting sensational sentences. Read The Anatomy of Prose today and start creating kick-ass stories.

Ratings and reviews

This is one of the best books on writing craft I've ever read! Sacha Black is a fantastic teacher. Her writing style and voice is so unique (in a genre that can--let's face it--be a little dry). Some of my favourite chapters were those on: - Passive voice - Dialogue - Dialogue and Tag Inconsistency - Creating Fear in Prose - The Senses While we're on the topic of the senses, you should take Sacha's companion course on that topic, too!

Having previously enjoyed reading 13 Steps to Evil: How to Craft Superbad Villains (also by Sacha Black), I was looking forward to The Anatomy Of Prose, and it did not disappoint! This comprehensive guide is written in the Authors usual style, meaning it's entertaining, educational and sprinkled with sarcasm, quips and rebellious language that kept me wanting more! Despite being in-depth, this is an easy read and is full of useful tips and examples. I particularly loved the way it is broken down into easy to reference sections, with bullet pointed summaries at the end of each step making it easy to dip in and out of. A great resource, packed full of tools to craft a page-turning novel whatever stage you're at in your writing career, and will prove to be an essential "must have".

Even though this writing craft book is a chunky one, I read through it at lightning speed. As a writer, I'm always pushing to improve my craft, and The Anatomy of Prose filled a hole I didn't realize I needed when it comes to writing. We dive deep into sentence-level detail while following Sacha's hilarious voice on how you can make your writing sing. This is a MUST read for any author at any level of their career.

About the author

Sacha Black is an author, rebel podcaster and speaker. She has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules. Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing. When she's not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, sniffing musty old books, fangirling film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules. She lives in Hertfordshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son.