Creative Writing

Preface: A Few Words to Instructors

A Few Things You Should Know about Creative Writing

A Few Words about Revision

1 Writing Poetry

Write before you read

The elements of poetry

The short poem: Three models

Gail White, My Personal Recollections of Not Being Asked to the Prom

*Donika Kelly, Fourth Grade Autobiography

Rae Armantrout, Duration

Lines and stanzas

Meter and rhythm

The music of poetry

Images, symbols, and figurative language

Diction, syntax, and the language of poetry

Poetic forms

Getting started writing poetry

Kick-Starts: Beginning your poems

A few tips for participating in a poetry workshop

An Anthology of Short Poems

2 Writing the Short-Short Story

Write before you read

The elements of fiction

The short-short story: Three models

Isaac Babel, Crossing the River Zbrucz

Donald Barthelme, The Baby

*Jennine Capó Crucet, Animal Control

Structure and design

Creating characters

Writing dialogue

Setting the scene

Deciding on point of view, developing tone and style

Getting started writing the short-short story

Kick-Starts: Beginning your story

A few tips for participating in a short fiction workshop

An Anthology of Short-Short Stories

3 Writing Short Creative Nonfiction

Write before you read

The elements of creative nonfiction

Short creative nonfiction: Three models

Rebecca McClanahan, Liferower

*Ylonda Gault Caviness, We Go Way Back

David Sedaris, Jesus Shaves

Organizing creative nonfiction

Telling the truth

Creative nonfiction as narrative

The poetry of creative nonfiction

Writing yourself into creative nonfiction

Ethics and edicts

Getting started writing short creative nonfiction

Kick-Starts: Beginning your creative nonfiction

A few tips for participating in a creative nonfiction workshop

An Anthology of Short Creative Nonfiction

4 Writing the Ten-Minute Play

Write before you read

The elements of playwriting

The ten-minute play: Three models

David Ives, Sure Thing

Tina Howe, The Divine Fallacy

A. Rey Pamatmat, Some Other Kid

Structuring the ten-minute play

Creating believable characters

Writing convincing dialogue

Crafting a theme

Onstage: The elements of production

Getting started writing the ten-minute play

Kick-Starts: Beginning your play

A few tips for participating in a ten-minute play workshop

Playscript Format: A Model

An Anthology of Ten-Minute Plays

A Few Words about Getting Your Work Published and Produced

A Few Words about Hybrid Creative Writing

Sabrina Orah Mark, It’s Dark in There: Confessions of a Prose Poem

A Few Words about Writing for Social Change

*Claude McKay, If We Must Die

A Few Words of Farewell

Glossary

Acknowledgments

Index

*Indicates new selection