Everyday Creative Writing : Panning for Gold in the Kitchen Sink

by Smith, Michael C.; Greenberg, Suzanne

• ISBN13: 9780658002281
• ISBN10: 0658002287
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Summary

These 45 enjoyable "invention exercises, " drawing on everyday experiences, could help novice and experienced writers strike gold. Included are guidelines for getting started, assessing the quality of work, overcoming writer's block, and getting work published.

Author Biography

Michael C. Smith teaches creative writing at California State University, Fullerton, California. Suzanne Greenberg directs the M.F.A. program at California State University, Long Beach, California.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Introduction	xvii
Provisions and Prospecting Tools	1	(24)
Provisions	2	(5)
Optional Provisions	7	(1)
Prospecting Tools	7	(13)
Freewriting	8	(1)
Brainstorming	9	(1)
Listing	10	(1)
Clustering	11	(1)
Free Association	11	(2)
Puzzles, Games, and Computers	13	(2)
Using Your Computer	15	(2)
Resistance as a Tool	17	(1)
Using a Combination of Tools	18	(2)
What Form Should You Choose?	20	(5)
Consider Writing a Poem from an Exercise if	20	(1)
Consider Writing a Story from an Exercise if	21	(1)
Consider Writing an Essay from an Exercise if	22	(3)
Around the House	25	(52)
Why I Will Not Get Out of Bed	26	(4)
Holding On and Letting Go	30	(4)
Furniture Movers	34	(3)
Baggage	37	(4)
At the Dinner Table	41	(4)
Paper Trails	45	(3)
I Have Been Eating Boredom	48	(3)
Home Contractors	51	(3)
Honey, I'm Home	54	(3)
The Evolution of Mini-Skills	57	(3)
The Note Read, ``There Are More Where These Came From''	60	(3)
Quilting	63	(4)
The Family Normal	67	(4)
Photo Album	71	(3)
Product Warnings	74	(3)
Down the Street	77	(48)
Getting Lost, Finding the Way	78	(3)
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses	81	(3)
Caught Up in the News	84	(2)
Neighborly and Unneighborly Neighbors	86	(4)
Customs and the Customary	90	(3)
Building Codes and Zones	93	(3)
``I Would Have Burned My Hair for That Waitress''	96	(3)
Community Service	99	(3)
The Road Not Taken	102	(3)
The Backpack	105	(3)
Around the Water Cooler	108	(4)
Checking Out the Checkout Line	112	(2)
Exit Interview	114	(4)
Modern Romance	118	(3)
Half Accountant, Half Bartender	121	(4)
In the Gold Mine	125	(50)
The Elements	126	(3)
Folk Remedies	129	(3)
The Cliche's the Thing	132	(4)
Crossing Relationship Boundaries	136	(2)
What Things Say	138	(3)
Changes in Preference	141	(2)
Subtitles and Doubletalk	143	(3)
Setting as Character	146	(3)
Comparing Apples and Orangutans	149	(3)
Citizen Oz	152	(4)
He Said, Winkingly	156	(4)
Character by Association	160	(4)
``My Mother Was Like an Ornate Castle''	164	(3)
As Restless as Pantyhose	167	(3)
Implausible Causes and Unlikely Effects	170	(5)
Assaying: How Do You Know it's Gold?	175	(12)
Does It Glitter: Freshness and Originality	177	(6)
The Topic or Piece of Writing Keeps Coming Back to You	177	(1)
You Find Yourself ``Working'' on the Piece Without Deliberately Trying To	178	(1)
The Beginning of the Piece Helped You Discover Something You Didn't Know About Yourself or Someone Else or the Human Condition	178	(1)
You Are Intrigued by an Odd or Original Connection You Have Made Between Two Seemingly Very Different Things	178	(1)
You Introduced a Character You Like a Great Deal and Are Concerned About What Might Happen to Her or Him	179	(1)
You Introduced a Character You Dislike and Are Concerned About the Damage He or She May Do	179	(1)
You Love the Sound of the Words You Have Strung Together	180	(1)
You Feel Like You Could Write a Lot More About This	180	(1)
You're Dying to Send/Show the Piece to Others	180	(1)
You Feel That What You Have Written Is Fresh or Original	180	(2)
You Believe That What You Have Written Honestly Expresses Some of Your Feelings	182	(1)
You Have Created Tension or Conflict	182	(1)
How to Sort Real Gold from Fool's Gold	183	(2)
Be Sure That What You Have Written Doesn't Descend into Cliche	183	(2)
Beware of What Too Easily Amuses or Impresses You	185	(1)
Some Final Thoughts	185	(2)
From Nuggets to Artifacts: Finishing What You Started	187	(12)
When You Get Stuck Writing a Poem	189	(4)
Play Out the Language	189	(2)
Choose Random Words from Another Source	191	(1)
Start Saying the Opposite	191	(1)
Repeat the Last Word, Phrase, Line, or Stanza	192	(1)
Rhyme the Last Line and Move in the Direction of the Rhymed Word	192	(1)
Transpose the First Stanza and the Last Stanza	192	(1)
Inject a Memory or a Dream	192	(1)
When You Get Stuck Writing a Story	193	(2)
Add a Character	193	(1)
Let Your Characters Lead	193	(1)
Create a Scene	193	(1)
Add Weather	194	(1)
Add Trouble	194	(1)
Raise the Stakes	194	(1)
Add a Second Story	194	(1)
When You Get Stuck Writing a Creative Essay	195	(1)
Interview Someone	195	(1)
Interview Yourself	195	(1)
Look Up Unusual Facts Surrounding Your Subject	195	(1)
Employ Fictional Techniques	195	(1)
Begin Your Next Paragraph with a Particular Moment	195	(1)
Create a Bold, New Organizing Strategy	195	(1)
Take a Trip	196	(1)
When You Get Stuck in General	196	(3)
Don't Insist on Knowing Where You're Going	196	(1)
Use Exercises in this Book as Prompts for Scenes, Stanzas, or New Ideas	197	(1)
Start a List	197	(1)
Start in the Middle of the Story, Poem, or Essay	197	(1)
Shift Something: Point of View, Time Period, Voice, or Tone	197	(1)
Write About What Is Going On in or Around You at the Moment You Get Stuck	198	(1)
Stop Writing in the Middle of a Scene, Stanza, or Line	198	(1)
Gold Futures: Prospects for Publication	199	(6)
Finding a Home for Your Work	200	(2)
Contests and Vanity Presses	201	(1)
Publishing on the Internet	202	(1)
How to Submit Work	202	(1)
Include a Very Brief Cover Letter	203	(1)
Include a Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope	203	(1)
Manuscript Mechanics	203	(2)
For Further Reading	205	(4)
Acknowledgments	209	(4)
Subject Index	213	(4)
Author/Title Index	217