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The Practice of Creative Writing

Fourth  Edition©2021  Heather Sellers

ISBN:9781319321161

ISBN:9781319215958

About

A friendly, supportive book especially for creative writers


Whether you’re a fiction writer, a poet, a playwright, or memoirist, The Practice of Creative Writing teaches the essential techniques for crafting powerful work. Rather than constraining you or your writing, this course embraces creative play, experimentation, and five-minute, flash and micro forms.  Included in this volume are dozens of writing prompts, resources for publishing and presenting your work, and a wide range of engaging samples by popular contemporary authors. Be bold. Write well. Have fun.

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Table of Contents


*indicates new selection (please add this on the page)

Preface                                                                                       
Introduction
     How The Practice of Creative Writing Works
     Asking Generative Questions   

Part One
FOUNDATIONS

1  Finding Focus 
The Mind’s Eye 
Subject as Focus
Developing Focus 
Lack of Focus 
     *Neil Gaiman’s “8 Rules for Writing”
Writing Projects 
Readings 
     *Jarod Rosello, Robot Camp
          *Writers on Writing (Jarod Rosello)
     *John Brehm, The Poems I Have Not Written
          *Writers on Writing (John Brehm)
     *Och Gonzalez, What I Do on My Terrace Is None of Your Business
          Writers on Writing (Och Gonzalez)
 
2  Reading as a Writer 
Tips for Reading as a Writer
To Read Is To Travel
Strategies for Close Reading
Genres: An Overview
Closely Reading Your Own Work
Reading Work By Peers
Reading to Write
WRITING PROJECTS 
READINGS 
     Van Jordan, af•ter•glow
     Sebastian Matthews, Buying Wine
     *Lee Herrick, My California
           *Writers on Writing (Lee Herrick)
     *Ira Sukrungruang, Chop Suey
     *Nancy Stolham, I Found Your Voodoo Doll on the Dance Floor After Last Call
     Vincent Scarpa, I Go Back to Berryman’s
          *Writers on Writing (Vincent Scarpa)
    * Ted Chiang, The Great Silence
     Marco Ramirez, I am not Batman
 
3 Creating from Components 
Core Components of Creative Writing
Genre-Specific Components
  Components of Narrative: Memoir, Creative Nonfiction,    Fiction
  Components of Poetry
     Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool 
  Components of Plays
WRITING PROJECTS 
COMPONENTS WORKSHOP 
READINGS 
     Kim Addonizio, First Poem for You 
     Terrance Hayes, Liner Notes for an Imaginary Playlist 
     Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night 
     Brenda Miller, Swerve 
          Writers on Writing (Brenda Miller)
     Raymond Carver, Cathedral  
 
Part Two
STRATEGIES
 
4  Images 
The Principles of Images 
Creating with Images 
A Word on Ideas
WRITING PROJECTS
IMAGES WORKSHOP
READINGS 
     *Ross Gay, Ode to Sleeping in My Clothes
     Natalie Diaz, My Brother at 3 a.m. 
     Dylan Landis, In My Father’s Study upon His Death 
          Writers on Writing (Dylan Landis)
     *Thao Thai, Counting Bats
     Mary Robison, Pretty Ice 
     Akhil Sharma, Surrounded by Sleep    
 
5 Energy 
The Principles of Energy 
Manipulating Energy 
TROUBLESHOOTING ENERGY
WRITING PROJECTS 
ENERGY WORKSHOP
READINGS 
     Betsy Sholl, Genealogy
     Brian Turner, What Every Soldier Should Know
     *Jamila Osman, Fluency
     *Beth Ann Fennelly, One Doesn’t Always Wish to Converse on Airplanes
     *Beth Ann Fennelly, Small Talk at Evanston General
     *Beth Ann Fennelly, Why I’m Switching Salons
     *Beth Ann Fennelly, Two Phone Conversations
          Writers on Writing (Beth Ann Fennelly)
     Brian Arundel, The Things I’ve Lost 
     Rick Moody, Boys
     *Brenda Peynado, What We Lost
     *Rebecca Roanhorse, Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™ 
      *Kristina Halvorson, Now We’re Really Getting Somewhere
 
6  Tension 
The Principles of Tension                            
Maintaining Tension 
Manipulating Tension    
WRITING PROJECTS 
TENSION WORKSHOP 
READINGS 
     *Natalie Diaz, Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation
     Jenifer Hixson, Where There’s Smoke
     Rod Kessler, How to Touch a Bleeding Dog
     Marisa Silver, What I Saw from Where I Stood 
     Jessica Shattuck, Bodies 
     Peter Morris, Pancakes 
 
7 Pattern 
Pattern by Ear   
     E. E. Cummings, (Me up at does) 
Pattern by Eye 
WRITING PROJECTS
PATTERN WORKSHOP 
READINGS 
     Gregory Orr, The River 
     Randall Mann, Pantoum 
     *Edna St. Vincent Millay, What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why
     *Julie Azzam, How to Erase an Arab
          *Writers on Writing (Julie Azzam)
     *Ken Liu, Paper Menagerie
     
8  Insight 
Reading for Insight
Principles of Insight 
PRACTICING INSIGHT 
Three Pitfalls
WRITING PROJECTS
INSIGHT WORKSHOP
READINGS 
     *Julia Koets, Boys
          *Writers on Writing (Julia Koets)
    * Pablo Neruda, Ode to My Suit
     *Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses (part one)
     *Dana Spiotta, Control
     Brian Doyle, Two Hearts
     Michael Cunningham, White Angel 
 
9 Shape
Principles of Shape
Additional Techniques for Shaping Your Work
Pitfalls
Shaping a Story:  A Writer at Work
EDITING AND PROOFREADING
WRITING PROJECTS 
SHAPE WORKSHOP
 
Part Three
FORMS
 
10  Finding Form 
Forms: Recipes for Writers
Creating a Portfolio of Forms
Abecedarius 
Anaphora 
Braid 
Comics and Graphic Narratives 
Flash 
Ghazal 
Journey 
List 
Monologue 
Pantoum 
Play/Screenplay 
Sestina 
Sonnet 
Villanelle 
 
Part Four
THE WRITING LIFE 
 
11  Reaching Readers
Preparing to Publish
Live Readings 
Literary Magazines: Print and Digital
Portfolios and Chapbooks
QUESTIONS TO ASK: Writing an Artist’s Statement 
 
12  Writing Resources  
Smart Searching
Social Media 
Resources 
Instruction in Specific Genres 

Heather Sellers

Heather Sellers is professor of English in the graduate and undergraduate writing programs at the University of South Florida, where she was honored with a university-wide teaching award. She offers courses for creative writers in hybrid and experimental writing, fiction, memoir, essays, and poetry as well as a course for teachers of creative writing. Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, she earned her PhD in English/Creative Writing at Florida State University. She has taught at New York University, the University of Texas–San Antonio, St. Lawrence University, and for almost two decades, Hope College, where she was elected Professor of the Year. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Fiction and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers award for her short story collection Georgia Under Water, she has published widely in a variety of genres. Her work appears in the New York Times; The Pushcart Prize anthology; The Best American Essays; O, the Oprah Magazine; Good Housekeeping; Reader’s Digest; Parade; Real Simple; On the Seawall; Adroit; Longreads; Creative Nonfiction; and frequently in The Sun Magazine. Her memoir You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know: A True Story of Family, Face Blindness, and Forgiveness was a Michigan Notable Book of the Year and Editor’s Choice at The New York Times Book Review. Other publications include Drinking Girls and Their Dresses: Poems; and Spike and Cubby’s Ice Cream Island Adventure, a children’s book. She lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Her website is heathersellers.com.