Here is one of the most intelligent and useful guides to the craft of fiction ever published. Acknowledged by teachers, students, and writers as the indispensable book in the field, Technique in Fiction has been in print for over two decades. For this fully updated second edition, Robie Macauley and George Lanning have rewritten their discussions of the major technical questions and practices of fiction: setting, plot, characterization, point-of-view, style, pace and tone, and theme. These and other crucial points are illustrated with examples from Tolstoy, Forster, and James through contemporary masters such as Carver, Updike and Beattie. The result is a discerning guide to the essentials of writing fiction; in the author's words, "It is a how-it-was-done book -- and also a how-it-wasn't-done book."