Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction

by Miller, Brenda; Paola, Suzanne

• ISBN13: 9780071444941
• ISBN10: 0071444947
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-16
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Summary

Demonstrating the range of creative nonfiction from memoir to travel writing to the lyric essay, "Tell It Slant" combines practical guidance with an illustrative anthology of 34 essays from Margaret Atwood, David Sedaris, E.B. White, Virginia Woolf, and others. The result is a stimulating collection of writing and activities that makes it easy and enjoyable for students to begin to write and to try new modes of writing..

Author Biography

Brenda Miller has received four Pushcart Prizes for her work in creative nonfiction. Her essays have twice been selected as Notable Essays by The Best American Essays series, and her collection, Season of the Body, was a finalist for the Pen American Center Award in creative nonfiction. She is an associate professor of English at Western Washington University.

Suzanne Paola is the author of Body Toxic, a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the American Book Award. She was awarded the Brittingham Prize for her third volume of poetry, Bardo.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Where to Begin	vii
PART 1 Unearthing Your Material
1 The Body of Memory	3	(14)
2 Writing the Family	17	(8)
3 "Taking Place": Writing the Physical World	25	(14)
4 Writing the Spiritual Autobiography	39	(8)
5 Gathering the Threads of History	47	(6)
6 Writing the Arts	53	(8)
7 Writing the Larger World	61	(12)
PART 2 The Forms of Creative Nonfiction
8 The Particular Challenges of Creative Nonfiction	73	(18)
9 The Personal Essay	91	(14)
10 The Lyric Essay	105	(12)
11 The Basics of Personal Reportage	117	(18)
PART 3 Honing Your Craft
12 The Basics of Good Writing in Any Form	135	(16)
13 The Writing Process and Revision	151	(10)
14 The Writing Group	161	(10)
Last Words	171	(4)
Bibliography: What Should I Read Now, and Where Can I Find It?	175	(12)
Index	187