In 1958, Ayn Rand, legendary author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, gave an informal course to friends and acquaintances on the art of reading and writing fiction.

Now the edited transcripts of these sessions are available to readers and aspiring writers.

Ayn Rand discusses how a writer combines abstract ideas with concrete action and description to achieve a unity of theme, plot, characterization, and style, the four essential elements of fiction.

She explains why "You cannot borrow another man's soul, and you cannot borrow his style," and why "Every writer is a moral philosopher."

Here, too, are Rand's illuminating analyses of passages from writers like Victor Hugo and Thomas Wolfe, as well as fascinating rules for building dramatic plots and characters with depth.