Outline of Ayn Rand's "Art of Fiction"

1. The Art of Fiction by Ayn Rand
Inspiration – the sum of your subconscious collection of materials that has been translated
into manageable bits.
Theme – the general abstraction in relation to which the events serve as the concretes. Be
sure that your story has a theme.
I love being Literal!
Always account for what you like and dislike about certain books. Just store this list in your
subconscious.
Remember to show – telling takes away from the fiction.
Naturalists – believe that man's destiny is pre-ordained and is a plaything for the gods,
predominance of characterization over action, naturalists are shallow, describes things as
they are
Romanticists – believe that man controls his own destiny, use action, “How can you let others
decide for you?”, romanticists are not shallow, describes things as they should be
Coincidences – bad idea for writing/avoid use of
Establish a worry line – things that readers can worry about
Educate your mind to think about essentials, think about why you like or don't like certain
individuals – what are the pieces of that like/dislike?, to be a good writer you have to be a
good thinker
When you build a story, remember to resolve all your conflicts, try deciphering the resolution
to the conflict first, and then what leads to that resolution
Your subconscious does not forget
Write only as much as you are sure of, do not force your characters or write in trite clichés,
always keep your writing focused
Do not try to imitate another's style, you will only succeed in becoming a lesser version of
them, your style is your own and it will grow over time
Do not communicate with the reader as in, “hey,reader, I was going to tell you about mr smith
but I won't.”
Make every word count, do you need all those adjectives?
Describe the places you mention, at some point mcdonalds may no longer be a household
name
Let your writing sing like a symphony not like a child playing chopsticks
Hide your ideas, themes, descriptions in your writing, allow them to appear smoothly and not
in your face
Incidentals can be narrated; complex pieces should appear in a flashback (do not confuse the
reader as you go from present to past to present

2. Try to tie the action into the scene
Try to tie transitions into the scene
Do not use obscenities, instead suggest what you are trying to convey, what is your point
Do not use foreign words in narrative, why would the germans speaking german suddenly
insert a german word?
It is proper to laugh at evil; it is obscene to laugh at the good; just satirizing the bad only for
the sake of that satire is bad, if it points to a good then it is ok
Think about why you read fiction and non-fiction