m.a. sheila bender

Using Creative Writing DeMYSTiFieD, you'll learn to combine your life experience and imagination in the genre of your choice. The skillful exercises conceived by author Sheila Bender and dozens of writers she admires will have you writing confidently and clearly. The information shared about writing as a profession, craft elements, and genres will help you quickly become a creative writing insider.

With Creative Writing DeMYSTiFieD, you'll practice and develop the skills you need to be fearless when trying your hand at poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Writing to evoke and examine the world, you'll find your own words smarter than you imagined possible.

This fast and easy guide features:

-Clear explanations of the elements that constitute good writing

-Anecdotes and examples from the author as well as other prominent writers about the process of creative writing

-Exercises in each chapter for starting, continuing, and polishing your writing

-Step-by-step guidance through the creative process, from idea to finished work

Sheila Bender is a poet, essayist, and esteemed author of over ten books on writing. She has taught English Literature, composition, and creative writing at community colleges as well as universities around the country for more than thirty years.

Bender writes instructional articles for magazines such as Writer's Digest and The Writer. She is the founder of Writing It Real, an online magazine for those who write from personal experience, as well as director of the annual Writing It Real writers’ conferences.

Preface: Clearing the Fog, Savoring the Mystery;
Introduction: About Creative Writing;
Chapter 1. On What Beginning Feels Like;
Chapter 2. What is Creative Writing;

Part One. Building Your Creative Writing Muscle;
Chapter 3. What are the Elements of Good Creative Writing;
Chapter 4. Receiving and Using First Reader Response to Work-in-Progress;
Chapter 5. Exercises to Build Your "Good Writing" Muscles;

Part Two: Poetry;
Chapter 6. What is Poetry;
Chapter 7. Why Do People Write Poetry;
Chapter 8. The Three Main Subgenres of Poetry: Lyric, Narrative, and Prose;
Chapter 9. A Few More Contemporary Poetry Subgenres: Language, Performance, Cowboy Poetry;
Chapter 10. Practice for Writing Poetry;

Part Three. Creative Nonfiction;
Chapter 11. What is Creative Nonfiction;
Chapter 12. Why Do People Write Creative Nonfiction;
Chapter 13. Creative Nonfiction Subgenres;
Chapter 14. Practice for Writing Creative Nonfiction;

Part Four: Fiction;
Chapter 15. What is Fiction;
Chapter 16. Why do People Write Fiction;
Chapter 17. Literary Versus Genre Fiction - What Do the Labels Mean;
Chapter 18. Fiction Subgenres;
Chapter 19. Practice for Writing Fiction;

Epilogue: A Juncture! More Travel Ahead!;
Contributors' Notes;
About the Author