"A beloved writing teacher compiles fifteen years of her expertise, exercises, and examples in a new primer for creative writers on the art of fiction and nonfiction"--Back cover

Acknowledgments --

ch.1.

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" / Joan Didion --- "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

ch. 3.

Details, details --

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" / Tim O'Brien -- "Nebraska" / Ron Hansen

ch. 4.

The shapely story --

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?" / Francine Prose -- "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

ch. 6.

Who's telling this story, anyway? --

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" / Anton Chekhov -- "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

ch. 9.

The plot thickens --

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" / James Baldwin --

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

ch. 11.

Raising the curtain --

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" / Lorrie Moore --

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

ch. 13.

Learning to fail better --

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" / Jan Ellison --

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