Preface: A Note on Format and Contents Instant Inspiration: A Selection of Quotes on Writing Introduction: Why Do You Write? Chapter One: Advanced Fiction Writing: A Field Guide Craft Terms: A Quick Review Writing-Mind, Morality, and Ethics: Some Big Issues Student Craft Studio: Shannon Baker, "Habits" (See Appendix 1) Craft Studio: Tobias Wolff (1945-), "Bullet in the Brain" (The New Yorker, 1995) Exercises Chapter Two: Getting It Done: From Mind to Page Process Geekout: Notebooks, Drafts, and Getting the Stories Down Real Talk from the Writing-Mind: The Terrain of Risk (part 1): Personal: "Will my mom freak out?" The Terrain of Risk (part 2): Public: Socrates, Orwell, and #metoo The Terrain of Risk (part 3): Collegial: Giving and Receiving Feedback ... Nevertheless, It's Worth It. Exercises Chapter Three: Dreams, Conviction, and Risk "Thrill Me:" Doing A New Thing Starting with the Image - and Following It (Borges, "Inferno 1:32") Tuning In To The Frequency (Tolstaya, "Aspic") Keeping It [Deceptively] Simple (Cheever, "Reunion") Invented Language and the Deliberately Strange (Kingsnorth, The Wake excerpt) A Dream That's Not A Dream (Howland, "A Visit") Micro-Fiction: Six Words, Twenty Minutes, and Tiny Love Stories (Dybek, "Misterioso" and Egan, "To Do") Craft Studio: James Baldwin (1924-1987), "Sonny's Blues" (Partisan Review, 1957) Exercises Chapter Four: Writing In Color: Culture, Identity, and Art Some Starting Points: Keywords and Philosophies But Who Are You? Writing the Other, or Writing in Color Crossing: Who's Done It, and How? Stereotypes: Beyond the "Magical Negro," Tiny Tim, and the Gay Best Friend Writing Across the Aisle: The Political Other Thinking It Through: Some Questions Putting It Into Practice: Techniques for Writing In Color Writing and Crossing: My Experience Student Craft Studio: Levi Bird, "On Stable Ground" Craft Studio: Eudora Welty (1909-2001): "Where Is The Voice Coming From?" (The New Yorker, 1963) Exercises Chapter Five: Where You Stand to Move The World What This Is Really About: Drawing Your Story's Heart Too Close? Too Far? Just Right?: Psychic Distance Who's At The Controls: Writing Point of View Finding Your Platform: Connecting Verb Tense, Psychic Distance, and Point of View Too Much Alike: The Author-Narrator-Character Merge Student Craft Studio: Andrew Tiede, "Till Death" Craft Studio: Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), "The Yellow Wall-paper" (The New England Magazine, 1892) Chapter Six: Building A World on the Page -And In Your Reader's Mind Theory of Mind and Writerly Mirroring Starting the IV Drip: How Information Enters the Story Worldbuilding: Fantasy, Dystopia, and History Building Alternate Worlds on the Page: Some Practical Tips "A Shared Emotional Genealogy:" You And Your Character Research for Writers; or, Feeding Mary Shelley Why Are You Hurting Me?: Violence and Fiction Student Craft Studio: Joel Murillo, "Cracker Jack" Craft Studio: Deborah Eisenberg (1945-), "Window" (2007) Exercises Chapter Seven: When, Where, and How: Structure, Chronology, and Meaning Committing to the Moment: Fully Inhabiting Your Scene - and Your Story Where Are We?: Writing the Physical World Raising Stakes and Significance Moving Through Time: Structure, Section Breaks, and the Time-Travel Graph Driving or Spinning Your Wheels?: Through-Lines, Scene-Relationships, and Narrative Momentum Framing and Multiple Narrators: What Really Works, and What You Really Need Student Craft Studio: Kari Myers, "Fields of Ash" Craft Studio: Charles Dickens (1812-1870), from Great Expectations (1861) Chapter Eight: Writing at Length: Linked Stories, Novels, and Beyond Letting Go of Old Work: Who Are You Now? Beyond the Short Story: Longer Forms (Collections, novel-in-stories, novellas) The Novel: Form, Complication, and "Novel Time" Exercises Chapter Nine: Revision at Length Issues and Evasions: What's Really Going On Here? Revision in Any Form: Some Common Problems Exercises Chapter Ten: What's Next For Your Work? Getting Out There: Finding Communities and Companions Writers' Conferences: The Best Summer Camps Self-Professionalizing: AWP, the Internet, and Beyond Submitting Short Stories to Journals Designing A Collection Finishing A Book Finding An Agent Finding A Publisher Give Yourself A Hand - And Start Again Recommended Reading Bibliography Index
Show morePreface: A Note on Format and Contents Instant Inspiration: A Selection of Quotes on Writing Introduction: Why Do You Write? Chapter One: Advanced Fiction Writing: A Field Guide Craft Terms: A Quick Review Writing-Mind, Morality, and Ethics: Some Big Issues Student Craft Studio: Shannon Baker, "Habits" (See Appendix 1) Craft Studio: Tobias Wolff (1945-), "Bullet in the Brain" (The New Yorker, 1995) Exercises Chapter Two: Getting It Done: From Mind to Page Process Geekout: Notebooks, Drafts, and Getting the Stories Down Real Talk from the Writing-Mind: The Terrain of Risk (part 1): Personal: "Will my mom freak out?" The Terrain of Risk (part 2): Public: Socrates, Orwell, and #metoo The Terrain of Risk (part 3): Collegial: Giving and Receiving Feedback ... Nevertheless, It's Worth It. Exercises Chapter Three: Dreams, Conviction, and Risk "Thrill Me:" Doing A New Thing Starting with the Image - and Following It (Borges, "Inferno 1:32") Tuning In To The Frequency (Tolstaya, "Aspic") Keeping It [Deceptively] Simple (Cheever, "Reunion") Invented Language and the Deliberately Strange (Kingsnorth, The Wake excerpt) A Dream That's Not A Dream (Howland, "A Visit") Micro-Fiction: Six Words, Twenty Minutes, and Tiny Love Stories (Dybek, "Misterioso" and Egan, "To Do") Craft Studio: James Baldwin (1924-1987), "Sonny's Blues" (Partisan Review, 1957) Exercises Chapter Four: Writing In Color: Culture, Identity, and Art Some Starting Points: Keywords and Philosophies But Who Are You? Writing the Other, or Writing in Color Crossing: Who's Done It, and How? Stereotypes: Beyond the "Magical Negro," Tiny Tim, and the Gay Best Friend Writing Across the Aisle: The Political Other Thinking It Through: Some Questions Putting It Into Practice: Techniques for Writing In Color Writing and Crossing: My Experience Student Craft Studio: Levi Bird, "On Stable Ground" Craft Studio: Eudora Welty (1909-2001): "Where Is The Voice Coming From?" (The New Yorker, 1963) Exercises Chapter Five: Where You Stand to Move The World What This Is Really About: Drawing Your Story's Heart Too Close? Too Far? Just Right?: Psychic Distance Who's At The Controls: Writing Point of View Finding Your Platform: Connecting Verb Tense, Psychic Distance, and Point of View Too Much Alike: The Author-Narrator-Character Merge Student Craft Studio: Andrew Tiede, "Till Death" Craft Studio: Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), "The Yellow Wall-paper" (The New England Magazine, 1892) Chapter Six: Building A World on the Page -And In Your Reader's Mind Theory of Mind and Writerly Mirroring Starting the IV Drip: How Information Enters the Story Worldbuilding: Fantasy, Dystopia, and History Building Alternate Worlds on the Page: Some Practical Tips "A Shared Emotional Genealogy:" You And Your Character Research for Writers; or, Feeding Mary Shelley Why Are You Hurting Me?: Violence and Fiction Student Craft Studio: Joel Murillo, "Cracker Jack" Craft Studio: Deborah Eisenberg (1945-), "Window" (2007) Exercises Chapter Seven: When, Where, and How: Structure, Chronology, and Meaning Committing to the Moment: Fully Inhabiting Your Scene - and Your Story Where Are We?: Writing the Physical World Raising Stakes and Significance Moving Through Time: Structure, Section Breaks, and the Time-Travel Graph Driving or Spinning Your Wheels?: Through-Lines, Scene-Relationships, and Narrative Momentum Framing and Multiple Narrators: What Really Works, and What You Really Need Student Craft Studio: Kari Myers, "Fields of Ash" Craft Studio: Charles Dickens (1812-1870), from Great Expectations (1861) Chapter Eight: Writing at Length: Linked Stories, Novels, and Beyond Letting Go of Old Work: Who Are You Now? Beyond the Short Story: Longer Forms (Collections, novel-in-stories, novellas) The Novel: Form, Complication, and "Novel Time" Exercises Chapter Nine: Revision at Length Issues and Evasions: What's Really Going On Here? Revision in Any Form: Some Common Problems Exercises Chapter Ten: What's Next For Your Work? Getting Out There: Finding Communities and Companions Writers' Conferences: The Best Summer Camps Self-Professionalizing: AWP, the Internet, and Beyond Submitting Short Stories to Journals Designing A Collection Finishing A Book Finding An Agent Finding A Publisher Give Yourself A Hand - And Start Again Recommended Reading Bibliography Index
Show moreChapter One: What Makes Advanced Fiction Writing “Advanced?” Student Craft Studio: Shannon Baker, “Habits” Craft Studio: James Joyce, “Araby” (1914) Exercises Chapter Two: Getting It Down: Self-Organizing, From Mind to Page Exercises Chapter Three: Mystery, Conviction, Form, and Risk Student Craft Studio: Levi Bird, “On Stable Ground” Craft Studio: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892) Exercises Chapter Four: Writing in Color: Culture, Identity, and Art Student Craft Studio: Ian Wreisner, “The New Chicago” Craft Studio: Rebecca Makkai, from The Great Believers: A Novel (2018) Exercises Chapter Five: Invisible Engines: Purpose, Psychic Distance, and Point of View Student Craft Studio: Andrew Tiede, “Till Death” Craft Studio: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The American Embassy” (2003) Exercises Chapter Six: Building a World – For Your Readers and Yourself Student Craft Studio: Joel Murillo, “Cracker Jack” Kari Myers, “Fields of Ash” Craft Studio: Angela Carter, “The Tiger’s Bride” (1979) Exercises Chapter Seven: Trust the Process: Revising, Editing, and Writing At Length Teacher Craft Studio: Amy Weldon, “The Serpent” (2018) Exercises Chapter Eight: Creative Writing and Your Future Student Career Studio: Andrew Chan, Derek Lin, Reed Johnson, MD, and Annika Dome MFA Studio: Keith Lesmeister, “East of Ely” (2017) Dr Weldon’s Fiction Prescriptions
For writers already confident in the basics, this textbook pairs the principles of story craft, issues of writing, interactive examples and exercises with a broad ranging anthology to challenge budding authors to write more sophisticated and innovative fiction.
Amy E. Weldon is Professor of English at Luther College, USA. She is the author of The Hands-On Life: How to Wake Yourself Up and Save the World (2018), The Writer’s Eye: Observation and Inspiration for Creative Writers (Bloomsbury, 2018), and Eldorado, Iowa: A Novel (2019). Her website is amyeweldon.com.
"The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History is not only an incredibly readable and illuminating guide to the art of writing alternate history, it's also a superb introduction to alternate history as a genre. This book will be of great interest to anyone involved in writing or teaching alternate history and related kinds of literature." --Dr Sean Seeger, Senior Lecturer in Literature, University of Essex, UK
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