William Wallace Cook (1867–1933) also known by the pen-name John Milton Edwards, was an American journalist and writer of popular fiction. His works include westerns, adventure stories, dime novels, serials and screen and stage plays.[1] He is best remembered for his science-fiction works.[2]

William Wallace Cook
Born(1868-04-11)April 11, 1868
Marshall, Calhoun County, Michigan, United States
DiedJuly 20, 1933(1933-07-20) (aged 65)
Marshall, Calhoun County, Michigan, United States
OccupationAuthor
GenreWesterns and Dime novels

Cook also created Plotto, a system for plot suggestion and content structure that fiction writers can use. This came out in the 1920s, and in 1934 came out with a 7 part instruction guide.[3]

As by John Milton Edwards he wrote The Fiction Factory: Being the Experience of a Writer Who, for Twenty-Two Years, has Kept a Story-Mill Grinding Successfully in 1912.

The home of William Wallace Cook

Works edit

  • Cast Away at the Pole (1904)
  • Adrift in the Unknown (1905)
  • Marooned in 1492 (1905)
  • The Fiction Factory (1912)
  • Gold Grabbers (1914)
  • Around The World In Eighty Hours (1920)
  • A Round Trip to the Year 2000 (1925)
  • Plotto (1928).
  • Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots (1934, 1941)

References edit

  1. ^ "William Wallace Cook papers". The New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts. The New York Public Library. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Authors : Cook, William Wallace : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". www.sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  3. ^ "'Plotto': An Algebra Book For Fiction Writing". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-10-17.

External links edit