| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| |
| Preparing to Write | |
| |
| |
| Find a Comfortable Place to Write | |
| |
| |
| Tools of the Trade | |
| |
| |
| Get into the Spirit of Creative Writing | |
| |
| |
| Waking Up Your Muse | |
| |
| |
| Keep Writing | |
| |
| |
| The Jarring "J"--Jealousy and Judgment | |
| |
| |
| Choose Your Format | |
| |
| |
| The Writing Process | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Short Story | |
| |
| |
| It's Not Just a Short Story | |
| |
| |
| The Short Story Versus the Novel | |
| |
| |
| In Short | |
| |
| |
| Short Story Starters | |
| |
| |
| A Great, Gripping End | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Short-Story Writer Susan Fry | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Novel | |
| |
| |
| A Novel Definition | |
| |
| |
| What's Your Theme? | |
| |
| |
| About Characters | |
| |
| |
| The Plot Line | |
| |
| |
| Chronological Disorder | |
| |
| |
| More on Dialogue | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Literary Novelist Susanne Pari | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Science Fiction Author James Morrow | |
| |
| |
| |
| Books for Prereaders | |
| |
| |
| It's Not Child's Play | |
| |
| |
| Books for Babies | |
| |
| |
| Books for Toddlers | |
| |
| |
| Picture Books | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Picture-Book Author and Illustrator Leslie Tryon | |
| |
| |
| |
| Books for Children and Young Adults | |
| |
| |
| Easy Readers | |
| |
| |
| Chapter Books | |
| |
| |
| Books for the Middle Grades | |
| |
| |
| Young Adult Books | |
| |
| |
| Nonfiction | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Screenplay | |
| |
| |
| Writing for the Movies | |
| |
| |
| Screenplay Versus Novel | |
| |
| |
| In Three Acts | |
| |
| |
| Scene Elements | |
| |
| |
| Exposition | |
| |
| |
| Learning the Lingo | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Screenwriter Bert Salzman | |
| |
| |
| |
| Functional Nonfiction | |
| |
| |
| Dispelling the Fiction | |
| |
| |
| Letter to the Editor | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Letter-to-the-Editor Writer Shirley Ledgerwood | |
| |
| |
| The Press Release | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Business Writer Annalisa McMorrow | |
| |
| |
| The Travel Piece | |
| |
| |
| Destination Articles | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Travel Writer Louise Purwin Zobel | |
| |
| |
| |
| Literary Nonfiction | |
| |
| |
| The Memoir | |
| |
| |
| Stitching It Together | |
| |
| |
| Evaluating Your Work | |
| |
| |
| Literary Criticism | |
| |
| |
| The Literary Analysis | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Literary Critic Ocean Howell | |
| |
| |
| |
| Poetry | |
| |
| |
| Defining Poetry | |
| |
| |
| The Basics | |
| |
| |
| Words and Images | |
| |
| |
| Figures of Speech and Figurative Language | |
| |
| |
| Putting Words on the Page | |
| |
| |
| Poetry Pointers | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Poet Louis Phillips | |
| |
| |
| |
| Getting Ideas | |
| |
| |
| Ideas Are Everywhere | |
| |
| |
| Where to Look | |
| |
| |
| How to Generate Ideas | |
| |
| |
| Idea Exercises | |
| |
| |
| Choosing the Best Idea | |
| |
| |
| Run with It | |
| |
| |
| How They Do It | |
| |
| |
| |
| Planning | |
| |
| |
| Developing Your Idea | |
| |
| |
| Characters | |
| |
| |
| Conflict | |
| |
| |
| Point of View | |
| |
| |
| Tone | |
| |
| |
| Viewpoint and Tone Exercises | |
| |
| |
| |
| Researching | |
| |
| |
| Research Is Fun! | |
| |
| |
| Researching for Nonfiction | |
| |
| |
| Make It Real | |
| |
| |
| Determine What You Need to Know | |
| |
| |
| Gathering the Information | |
| |
| |
| Now Start Digging | |
| |
| |
| Doing an Interview | |
| |
| |
| Sorting and Storing | |
| |
| |
| |
| Organizing | |
| |
| |
| The Organizational Process | |
| |
| |
| Review the Material | |
| |
| |
| Decide Which Areas to Cover | |
| |
| |
| Decide the Order | |
| |
| |
| Make an Outline | |
| |
| |
| Group Your Materials | |
| |
| |
| |
| Drafting | |
| |
| |
| Getting Something onto the Page | |
| |
| |
| Starting at the Beginning | |
| |
| |
| Traveling to the Middle | |
| |
| |
| Reaching the End | |
| |
| |
| Example of a Successful Ending | |
| |
| |
| |
| Editing | |
| |
| |
| Rewriting Is Important | |
| |
| |
| How to Start | |
| |
| |
| What to Look For | |
| |
| |
| Do a Character Check | |
| |
| |
| Make Your Changes | |
| |
| |
| Now, Do It Again | |
| |
| |
| |
| Evaluating | |
| |
| |
| Assess Your Achievement | |
| |
| |
| Send Your Baby out into the World | |
| |
| |
| Look Back in Order to Look Ahead | |
| |
| |
| What Are Your Goals? | |
| |
| |
| Consider Publishing | |
| |
| |
| Moving Forward | |
| |
| |
| |
| Rhetorical Devices | |
| |
| |
| Words at Your Disposal | |
| |
| |
| Alliteration | |
| |
| |
| Allusion | |
| |
| |
| Analogy | |
| |
| |
| Metaphor and Simile | |
| |
| |
| Onomatopoeia | |
| |
| |
| Personification | |
| |
| |
| Repetition | |
| |
| |
| Understatement | |
| |
| |
| |
| Word Usage Pitfalls | |
| |
| |
| Part of the Rewriting Process | |
| |
| |
| Cliches | |
| |
| |
| Weak Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs | |
| |
| |
| Unnecessary Words | |
| |
| |
| Unclear, Unvaried, and Run-on Sentences | |
| |
| |
| Inconsistent or Inappropriate Tone | |
| |
| |
| Excessive Use of Passive Voice | |
| |
| |
| |
| Overcoming Writer's Block | |
| |
| |
| When Your Creative Juices Aren't Flowing | |
| |
| |
| Causes of Writer's Block | |
| |
| |
| Dealing with the Problem | |
| |
| |
| If You Are Stuck | |
| |
| |
| If You Lost the Energy | |
| |
| |
| If You Are Stressed | |
| |
| |
| A Change of Scenery | |
| |
| |
| Additional Strategies | |
| |
| |
| |
| Working with Others | |
| |
| |
| Collaboration | |
| |
| |
| Winning Teams | |
| |
| |
| Joining a Writers' Group | |
| |
| |
| A Group of Critics | |
| |
| |
| Taking a Writing Class or Attending a Workshop | |
| |
| |
| |
| Getting Published | |
| |
| |
| Making It Happen | |
| |
| |
| Protecting Your Work | |
| |
| |
| Starting Small | |
| |
| |
| Getting an Agent | |
| |
| |
| Dealing with Rejection | |
| |
| |
| Self-Publishing | |
| |
| |
| Interview with Magazine Editor Mark Whiteley | |
| |
| |
| |
| Writing Samples | |
| |
| |
| Short-Story Excerpt | |
| |
| |
| Screenplay Excerpt | |
| |
| |
| Letter to the Editor | |
| |
| |
| Travel Piece | |
| |
| |
| Essay Excerpt | |
| |
| |
| Poem | |
| |
| |
| |
| Writing Resources | |
| |
| |
| Books | |
| |
| |
| References | |
| |
| |
| Web Sites | |
| |
| |
| Writing Programs | |
| |
| |
| Writers' Workshops and Colonies | |
| |
| |
| Writing Guilds | |
| |
| |
| Index | |