Includes bibliographical references (p. 647-655) and index.
Contents:
"Welcome to cancerland" / pt. 3. What is this thing called creative writing? -- pt. 1. The basics -- Getting started -- Reconciling the method with the madness -- Some basic definitions -- Creative nonfiction : a working definition -- Writing that is surprising yet convincing -- Resisting paraphrase -- Creative nonfiction : capturing what has eluded capture -- On sentiment and sentimentality -- Our first job as writers : to notice -- Avoiding the "writerly" voice -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : "I don't know why I remember..." -- Exercise 2 : I am a camera -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "On keeping a notebook" / Barbara Ehrenreich -- "Emergency" / Denis Johnson -- ch. 2. The splendid gift of not knowing -- pt. 1. Writing as discovery -- Getting started -- What do you know? -- Creative nonfiction : making the ordinary extraordinary -- Writing down what you don't know (about what you know) -- On rendering, not solving, the mysteries that surround us -- Moving from "triggering" to real subject -- Surprise yourself, interest others -- Obsession as a creative virtue -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : Things I was taught/things I was not taught -- Exercise 2 : I want to know why -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "Where are you going, where have you been?" / Joyce Carol Oates -- "Welcome to cancerland" / Barbara Ehrenreich -- "The "Nebraska" / pt. 1. Concrete details as the basic building blocks of good creative writing -- Getting started -- On thinking small -- Defining "images" within a literary context -- Imagery that works on two levels -- On seeing the general in the particular -- On crowding the reader out of his own space -- Don't lose any of your senses -- Use of concrete details in creative nonfiction -- Use and abuse of metaphor -- When should you use metaphor? -- Avoiding the "S" word : banishing conscious symbols from your writing -- Imagery as creative source -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : Harper's Index on a personal level -- Exercise 2 : Render a tree, capture the forest -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "The things they carried" / Ron Hansen -- "Nebraska" / Ron Hansen -- pt. 3. "Winner take nothing" / pt. 1. Defining the short story -- Getting started -- Some basic definitions -- The conflict-crisis-resolution model -- Linear vs. modular stories -- To epiphany or not to epiphany? -- Is change necessary? (the debate continues) -- On not becoming slaves to theory -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : False epiphanies I have had -- Exercise 2 : Opportunities not taken -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "What makes a short story?" / Bernard Cooper -- "Helping" / Robert Stone -- ch. 5. Why you need to show and tell -- pt. 1. The importance of narration -- Getting started -- Some basic definitions -- Why "show not tell" is such common advice -- The show-and-tell balancing act -- Traditional uses of narration (telling) -- Why narration is such an important creative tool -- How showing and telling complement each other -- Good intentions, bad advice -- The showing-telling continuum -- Showing and telling in creative nonfiction -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : Tell me a story -- Exercise 2 : What everyone knows/What I know -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "Brownies" / ZZ Packer -- "Winner take nothing" / Bernard Cooper -- pt. 3. "Inside the bunker" / pt. 1. Introduction to point of view -- Getting started -- Some basic definitions -- First person -- Whose story is it? -- Second person -- Third person -- A word about attitude -- Distance and point of view -- Shifts in narrative distance -- Choosing a point of view for your creative work -- Point of view and creative nonfiction -- Common point of view problems -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : Change point of view and dance -- Exercise 2 : Using point of view as a way "in" to difficult material -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "The lady with the little dog" / John Sack -- "Moonrise" / Penny Wolfson -- ch. 7. How reliable is this narrator? -- pt. 1. How point of view affects our understanding of a story -- Getting started -- How we judge the integrity of the stories we hear and read -- First person point of view and reliability -- Third person point of view and reliability -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : He said, she said -- Exercise 2 : See what I see, hear what I hear -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "The swimmer" / John Cheever -- ch. 8. You talking to me? -- pt. 1. Crafting effective dialogue -- Getting started -- What dialogue is good for -- What dialogue is not -- A word about attribution -- Five important tips on dialogue -- On subtext -- A word about dialect -- Using placeholders -- Dialogue in creative nonfiction -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : Nonverbal communication -- Exercise 2 : Them's fighting words -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "Hills like white elephants" / Ernest Hemingway -- "Inside the bunker" / John Sack -- pt. 3. "No name woman" / pt. 1. Figuring out what happens next -- Getting started -- Story vs. plot : some basic definitions -- A word about causality -- Render how - don't try to answer why -- On metafiction -- Character-based plotting -- On conflict -- Analyzing plot points -- Avoiding Scènes à Faire : recognizing clichéd plot twists -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : What's behind the door of room 101? -- Exercise 2 : "By the time you read this..." -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "Sonny's blues" / Maxine Hong Kingston -- ch. 10. Recognizable people -- pt. 1. Creating surprising-yet-convincing characters -- Getting started -- Flat vs. round characters -- Eschewing the general in favor of the particular -- Consistency as the hobgoblin of characters -- Ways of defining character -- Character and plot -- Wants and needs -- Characters in relationships -- Character in creative nonfiction -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : Emptying pockets -- Exercise 2 : Sins of commissions/Sins of omission -- Exercise 3 : Seven or eight things I know about him/her -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "Surrounded by sleep" / Akhil Sharma -- "No name woman" / Maxine Hong Kingston -- "The knife" / pt. 1. Beginning your story, novel, or nonfiction piece -- Getting started -- Your contract with the reader -- Characteristics of a good opening -- Unbalancing acts -- Starting in the middle -- Beginning with action -- On the nature of suspense -- Beginning your creative nonfiction piece -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : Give it your best shot -- Exercise 2 : Start in the middle -- Exercise 3 : Make them squirm -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "People like that are the only people here : canonical babbling in Peed Onk" / Richard Selzer -- ch. 12. What's this creative work really about? -- pt. 1. The art of transferring true emotions onto sensory events -- Getting started -- Many different answers to the same question -- Writing about what matters -- Transference : borrowing from Freud -- We are made of dust -- The road to universality -- But it's the truth! and other common pleas for clemency -- Creative nonfiction : on being true as well as factual -- Making things carry more emotional weight than they logically should -- Transference and creative nonfiction -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Exercise 1 : Getting an image to spill its secrets -- Exercise 2 : What I lost -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "Ralph the duck" / Frederick Busch -- "The knife" / Richard Selzer -- pt. 2. Index. pt. 1. On revision -- Getting started -- Advice for writers from writers -- Perfection is our enemy -- The workshop method -- Undue influence : a cautionary tale -- The developmental stages of a creative work -- "Hot spots" and other noteworthy aspects of an early draft -- An exercise-based approach to deep revision -- A word about constraints -- pt. 2. Exercises -- Analytical/mechanical exercises -- Creative exercises -- Research-based exercises -- Chance-based exercises -- Revision example : "The company of men" / Katha Pollitt -- pt. 3. Reading as a writer -- "Shitty first drafts" / Anne Lamott -- "The Carver chronicles" / D. T. Max -- "The bath" / Raymond Carver -- "A small, good thing" / Raymond Carver -- ch. 14. Getting beyond facts to truth -- pt. 1. Some final thoughts on creative nonfiction -- Getting started -- Just the facts, ma'am -- Recollections and re-creations -- Ethical considerations -- Subjectivity vs. objectivity -- A trip of self-discovery -- To be in or out of the story? -- pt. 2. Reading as a writer -- "Learning to drive" / Katha Pollitt -- Glossary-- Bibliography -- List of stories -- Permissions -- Index.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.