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xvii | |
| Acknowledgments |
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xix | |
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What Is This Thing Called Creative Writing? |
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1 | (28) |
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Reconciling the Method with the Madness |
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1 | (2) |
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3 | (1) |
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Writing That Is Surprising Yet Convincing |
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3 | (1) |
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4 | (1) |
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Sentiment, Not Sentimentality |
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5 | (4) |
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Our First Job as Writers: To Notice |
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9 | (1) |
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Avoiding the ``Writerly'' Voice |
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10 | (1) |
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11 | (1) |
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``I Don't Know Why I Remember...'' |
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11 | (1) |
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12 | (1) |
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13 | (1) |
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13 | (8) |
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21 | (8) |
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29 | (32) |
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30 | (2) |
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What You Don't Know (about What You Know) |
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32 | (1) |
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On Rendering the Mysteries That Surround Us |
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33 | (2) |
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Moving from ``Triggering'' to Real Subject |
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35 | (1) |
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Surprise Yourself, Interest Others |
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36 | (1) |
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Obsession as a Creative Virtue |
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37 | (1) |
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38 | (1) |
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Things I Was Taught / Things I Was Not Taught |
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38 | (1) |
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39 | (1) |
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40 | (1) |
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Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? |
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40 | (13) |
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53 | (8) |
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61 | (35) |
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The Basic Building Blocks |
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61 | (2) |
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Defining ``Image'' within a Literary Context |
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63 | (1) |
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Imagery That Works on Two Levels |
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64 | (2) |
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On Seeing the General in the Particular |
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66 | (2) |
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On Crowding Out the Reader |
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68 | (1) |
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Don't Lose Any of Your Senses |
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69 | (1) |
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Use and Abuse of Metaphor |
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69 | (3) |
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When Should You Use Metaphor? |
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72 | (1) |
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The ``S'' Word: Avoiding Conscious Symbols |
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72 | (1) |
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Imagery as Creative Source |
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73 | (2) |
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75 | (1) |
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Harper's Index on a Personal Level |
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75 | (3) |
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Render a Tree, Capture the Forest |
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78 | (1) |
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79 | (1) |
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79 | (13) |
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92 | (4) |
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96 | (51) |
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96 | (2) |
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The Conflict-Crisis-Resolution Model |
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98 | (3) |
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Linear versus Modular Stories |
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101 | (1) |
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To Epiphany or Not to Epiphany? |
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102 | (2) |
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Is Change Necessary? (The Debate Continues) |
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104 | (1) |
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On Not Becoming Slaves to Theory |
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105 | (2) |
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107 | (1) |
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False Epiphanies I Have Had |
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107 | (1) |
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108 | (1) |
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109 | (1) |
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What Makes a Short Story? |
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109 | (9) |
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118 | (19) |
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137 | (10) |
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Why You Need to Show and Tell |
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147 | (43) |
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Dramatizing and Narrating |
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147 | (1) |
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Why ``Show, Not Tell'' Is Such Common Advice |
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148 | (2) |
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The Show-and-Tell Balancing Act |
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150 | (3) |
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Traditional Uses of Narration (Telling) |
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153 | (1) |
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Why Narration Is Such an Important Tool |
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154 | (2) |
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How Showing and Telling Complement Each Other |
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156 | (1) |
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Good Intentions, Bad Advice |
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156 | (1) |
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The Showing-Telling Continuum |
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157 | (4) |
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161 | (1) |
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161 | (1) |
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What Everyone Knows / What I Know |
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162 | (1) |
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163 | (1) |
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163 | (15) |
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Everything That Rises Must Converge |
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178 | (12) |
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Who's Telling This Story? |
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190 | (44) |
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190 | (1) |
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191 | (1) |
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192 | (2) |
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194 | (2) |
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196 | (4) |
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200 | (1) |
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Distance and Point of View |
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200 | (2) |
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Shifts in Narrative Distance |
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202 | (1) |
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203 | (2) |
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Common Point of View Problems |
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205 | (1) |
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206 | (1) |
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Changing Point of View: Experiments in Narration |
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206 | (1) |
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Using Point of View as a Way ``In'' to Difficult Material |
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207 | (1) |
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208 | (1) |
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The Lady with the Little Dog |
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208 | (12) |
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220 | (14) |
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How Reliable Is This Narrator? |
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234 | (23) |
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How Point of View Affects Our Understanding |
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How We Judge the Integrity of Stories |
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234 | (1) |
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First Person Point of View and Reliability |
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234 | (4) |
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Third Person Point of View and Reliability |
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238 | (3) |
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241 | (1) |
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241 | (1) |
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See What I See, Hear What I Hear |
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242 | (1) |
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243 | (1) |
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A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain |
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243 | (9) |
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A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings |
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252 | (5) |
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257 | (21) |
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Crafting Effective Dialogue |
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What Dialogue Is Good For |
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257 | (1) |
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258 | (2) |
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260 | (1) |
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Five Important Things to Remember about Dialogue |
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260 | (4) |
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264 | (1) |
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265 | (1) |
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266 | (1) |
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267 | (1) |
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267 | (1) |
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268 | (1) |
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269 | (1) |
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Hills Like White Elephants |
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269 | (4) |
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273 | (5) |
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278 | (48) |
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Story versus Plot: Some Basic Definitions |
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278 | (1) |
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279 | (1) |
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Render How---Don't Try to Answer Why |
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280 | (1) |
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281 | (1) |
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282 | (1) |
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282 | (2) |
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284 | (3) |
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Avoiding Scenes a Faire: Recognizing Cliched Plot Twists |
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287 | (1) |
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288 | (1) |
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What's Behind the Door of Room 101? |
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288 | (1) |
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``By the Time You Read This...'' |
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289 | (1) |
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290 | (1) |
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290 | (23) |
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313 | (13) |
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326 | (40) |
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Flat versus Round Characters |
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326 | (2) |
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Eschewing the General in Favor of the Particular |
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328 | (1) |
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329 | (1) |
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Ways of Defining Character |
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329 | (4) |
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333 | (2) |
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335 | (1) |
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Characters in Relationships |
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336 | (2) |
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338 | (1) |
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338 | (1) |
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Sins of Commission, Sins of Omission |
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339 | (1) |
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Seven or Eight Things I Know about Him / Her |
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340 | (2) |
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342 | (1) |
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342 | (11) |
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353 | (13) |
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366 | (31) |
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Your Contract with the Reader |
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366 | (1) |
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Characteristics of a Good Opening |
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367 | (1) |
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368 | (1) |
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369 | (2) |
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371 | (1) |
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372 | (1) |
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On the Nature of Suspense |
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373 | (1) |
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374 | (1) |
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374 | (1) |
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374 | (1) |
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375 | (1) |
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376 | (1) |
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376 | (12) |
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388 | (9) |
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What's This Story Really About? |
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397 | (30) |
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True Emotions, Sensory Events |
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Many Different Answers to the Same Question |
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397 | (1) |
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Writing about What Matters |
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398 | (1) |
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Transference: Borrowing from Freud |
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399 | (1) |
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399 | (1) |
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400 | (1) |
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401 | (1) |
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Making Things Carry More Emotional Weight than They Logically Should |
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401 | (3) |
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404 | (1) |
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Getting an Image to Spill Its Secrets |
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404 | (1) |
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405 | (1) |
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406 | (1) |
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406 | (11) |
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417 | (10) |
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427 | (54) |
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Advice for Writers from Writers |
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428 | (1) |
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429 | (1) |
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429 | (3) |
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Undue Influence: A Cautionary Tale |
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432 | (1) |
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The Developmental Stages of a Creative Work |
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433 | (1) |
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``Hot Spots'' and Other Noteworthy Aspects of an Early Draft |
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434 | (1) |
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An Exercise-Based Approach to Deep Revision |
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434 | (1) |
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435 | (1) |
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436 | (1) |
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Analytical / Mechanical Exercises |
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436 | (1) |
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437 | (1) |
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438 | (1) |
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438 | (1) |
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439 | (16) |
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444 | (11) |
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455 | (1) |
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455 | (3) |
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458 | (5) |
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463 | (18) |
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481 | (8) |
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The Lowdown on Literary Magazines |
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481 | (1) |
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Preparing Your Manuscript |
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482 | (1) |
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Choosing Your Target Publications---and Following Directions Carefully |
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482 | (2) |
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484 | (1) |
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484 | (1) |
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485 | (1) |
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All Rejections Are Not Equal |
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486 | (1) |
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486 | (1) |
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Publishing: A Case History |
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486 | (3) |
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489 | (86) |
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491 | (8) |
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499 | (13) |
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512 | (7) |
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519 | (10) |
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In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried |
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529 | (6) |
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535 | (14) |
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549 | (3) |
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552 | (15) |
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567 | (3) |
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570 | (5) |
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| Authors |
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575 | (16) |
| Glossary |
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591 | (4) |
| Bibliography |
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595 | (8) |
| Permissions |
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603 | (6) |
| Index |
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609 | |
