Preface. Invitation. PART I: THE ELEMENTS OF CRAFT.
1. Image. Image and Imagination.
Concrete, Significant Details.
Metaphor and Simile
Essays. The Giant Water Bug, Annie Dillard.
from
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers.
Fiction. Sister Godzilla, Louise Erdrich.
Car Crash While Hitchhiking, Denis Johnson.
Poems. The Hawk in the Rain, Ted Hughes.
The Haunted Ruin, Robert Pinsky.
Facing It, Yusef Komunyakaa.
The Surface, May Swenson.
How to Use This Body, David Kirby.
Why Regret?, Galway Kinnell.
Drama. Act Without Words, Samuel Beckett.
The Drummer, Athol Fugard.
2. Voice. Your Voice.
Persona.
Character Voice.
Point of View.
Essays. from
Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt.
Invitation to a Transformation, Vladimir Nabokov.
Fiction. In the Kindergarten, Ha Jin.
The School, Donald Barthelme.
Poems. Order in the Streets, Donald Justice.
Black Hair, Gary Soto.
Hawk Roosting, Ted Hughes.
Kong Looks Back on His Tryout with the Bears, William Trowbridge.
Father, Hilda Raz.
A Mown Lawn, Lydia Davis.
The Language of Bees, Barbara Hamby.
Drama. Handler, and French Fries, Jane Martin.
3. Character. As Desire.
As Image, Voice, Action, Thought.
As Presented by the Author.
As Conflict.
Essays. The Inheritance of Tools, Scott Russell Sanders.
Fiction. Ysreal, Juno Diaz.
Poems. I Knew a Woman, Theodore Roethke.
Stonecarver, Carole Simmons Oles.
My Brother's Work, Stephen Dunn.
Old Man Hansen Comes in at Ten to, Fred Wah.
One Flesh, Elizabeth Jennings.
Old Men Playing Baseball, B.H. Fairchild.
Portrait of a Writer, Edward Hirsch.
Drama. Brother, Mary Gallagher.
4. Setting. As the World.
As a Camera.
As Mood and Symbol.
As Action.
Essays. At the Dam, Joan Didion.
Landscape and Narrative, Barry Lopez.
Fiction. Snow, Charles Baxter.
Poems. Deer Ghost, Joy Harjo.
Earthmoving Malediction, Heather McHugh.
Vacation, Rita Dove.
Nude Interrogation, Yusef Komunyakaa.
Advice from the Extractor, George MacBeth.
Drama. Dutchman, Imamu Amiri Baraka.
5. Story. As a Journey.
As a Power Struggle.
As Connection/Disconnection.
Essays. Red Sky in the Morning, Patricia Hampl.
Fiction. Missing, Robert Olen Butler.
Worry, Ron Wallace.
Poems. A Story About the Body, Robert Haas.
Digging for China, Richard Wilbur.
Short Story, Ellen Bryant Voigt.
Woodchucks, Maxine Kumin.
The Hammock, Li-Young Lee.
Vita Nova, Louise Gluck.
Drama. The Battle of Bull Run Always Makes Me Cry, Carole Real.
6. Development and Revision. Developing a Draft.
Revision and Editing.
The Workshop.
Examples. First and Final Drafts of One Art, Elizabeth Bishop.
The Opening of
Time Lapse: A Revision Narrative, Janet Burroway.
Undrafting.
Line Editing.
PART II: THE GENRES
7. Essay. Kinds of Essay.
Essay Techniques.
Fact and Truth.@CHAPTER = Readings.
The Female Body, Margaret Atwood.
Those Words, Jamaica Kincaid.
The Knife, Richard Selzer.
Belongings, Susan Lester.
8. Fiction. Story and Plot.
Scene and Summary.
Backstory and Flashback.
Text and Subtext.
Readings. The Diamond Mine, Nadine Gordimer.
Your Fears are Justified, Rick De Marinis.
Mockingbird, Laurie Berry.
It's Water, It's Not Going to Kill You, Heather Sellers. @AHEADS = Tomorrow's Bird, Ian Frazer.
9. Poetry. Free Verse and Formal Verse.
Imagery, Connotation, and Metaphor.
Density and Intensity.
Prosody, Rhythm, and Rhyme.
Readings. Stillborn, Sylvia Plath.
The Grammar Lesson, Steve Kowit.
The Poet, Trying to Surprise God, Peter Meinke.
Like This Together, Adrienne Rich.
Romantic, At Horseshoe Key, Enid Shomer.
Locking Yourself Out, Then Trying to Get Back In, Raymond Carver.
Prose Poem, James Tate.
Black Silhouettes of Shrimpers, Dave Smith.
Ghazal, Aga Shahid Ali.
Repetition, Ruth Stone.
The Language of the Brag, Sharon Olds.
Dream Song 14, John Berryman.
My Uncle Guillermo Speaks at His Own Funeral, Yvonne Sapia.
10. Drama. The Difference Between Drama and Fiction.
Sight: Sets, Action, Costumes, Props.
Sound: Nonverbal and Verbal.
Some Notes on Screenwriting.
Readings. The Road to Ruin, Richard Dresser.
Duet for Bear and Dog, Sybil Rosen.
Gas, Jose Rivera.
Eukiah, Lanford Wilson.
The Philadelphia, David Ives.
Appendix A: Collaborative Exercises. Appendix B: Formats. Appendix C: Prosody. Appendix D: Glossary. Index. 