Intersecting Genre: A Skills-Based Approach to Creative Writing

Creative writing takes on many genres, or forms: fiction, poetry, nonfiction and dramatic writing. Whilst all have their own principles and ’rules’, all modes of writing overlap and borrow from each other, and so what you learn in one form can influence, inform and inspire your practice in others. Intersecting Genreholds this idea at its heart, embracing the dissolution of disciplinary and genre boundaries to discuss the ways each genre supports the others. Whilst traditional approaches typically discuss one genre independent of others, this book explores genre relationships with each chapter focusing on the intersection between 2 modes and what you can learn and the skills you can transfer by combining the wisdom gained from the study of, for example, fiction and poetry together.

With most introductory creative writing courses aiming to apprise you of such mechanics of writing as narrative, pace, vocabulary, dialogue, imagery and viewpoint, Intersecting Genre is the ideal companion, offering a unique methodology that analyses these ideas as they feature across the different genres, thus giving you the ultimate, well-rounded introduction before you settle into the modes of writing that best suit you as your progress with your writing. Covering fiction, poetry, nonfiction, writing plays and screenwriting, and also taking stock of the forms that do not fit neatly into any genre silo, this book uses models, critical questions, writing warm-ups and writing practice exercises to give you a solid understanding of the points discussed and encouraging you to put them to practice in your own work. With the field of creative writing evolving constantly, and with approaches to teaching and learning the subject vast and continually expanding, this book offers a dynamic, and uniquely holistic method for developing your writing skills, asking you to deeply consider the issues, and possibilities, present in genre.

Jason Olsen is Associate Professor of English at Utah State University, USA. He received his Ph.D. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing (poetry) from Western Michigan University, USA. His publications include a book of poetry, Parakeet, which was published by BatCat Press in 2017, Mark Gruenwald and the Star Spangled Symbolism of Captain America, 1985-1995 (2021) and his poetry and short fiction have been widely published in literary journals. His website is www.jason-olsen.com