Introduction.
I. WRITING AND WRITING PRACTICE. 1. Writing as a Journey.
2. Writing Habits.
3. A Writer’s Skill: Capturing Details.
II. TECHNIQUES, GENRES, AND THE CRAFT OF WRITING. 4. The Vision of Poetry.
5. The Sound of Poetry.
6. The Rhythm of Poetry.
7. The Form of Poetry.
Poetry Anthology.
In Memory of Radio, Imamu Amiri Baraka.
One Art, Elizabeth Bishop.
My Last Duchess, Robert Browning.
On The Hill Below the Lighthouse, James Dickey.
The Spider as an Artist, Emily Dickinson.
Merle Bascom’s .22, Donald Hall.
Ode to a Grecian Urn, John Keats.
Ghazal 7/24/68:ii, Adrienne Rich.
How Annandale Went Out, Edwin Arlington Robinson.
Mother, Among the Dustbins, Steve Smith.
Sestina from the Home Gardener, Diane Wakoski.
8. Literary Nonfiction.
9. The Heart of a Story: Character and Conflict.
10. The Structure of a Story: Setting and Plot.
11. The Voice of a Story: Point of View.
Narration Anthology.
From Stop-Time, Frank Conroy.
From Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne Moody.
Fiction.
Popular Mechanics, Raymond Carver.
The Swimmer, John Cheever.
Misery, Anton Chekov.
King of the Bingo Game, Ralph Ellison.
Fleur, Louise Erdrich.
Sweat, Zora Neale Hurston.
Follow the Eagle, William Kotzwinkle.
The Woman Who Came at Six O’Clock, Gabriel Garcia Marquuez.
Shiloh, Bobbie Ann Mason.
A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor.
A Pair of Tickets, Amy Tan.
12. Writing Drama: Constructing the Story.
13. Staging the Drama: Characters in Action.
Drama Anthology.
The Actor’s Nightmare, Christopher Durang.
Andre’ Mother, Terrence McNally.
III. REVISING, PUBLISHING, AND THE BUSINESS OF WRITING. 14. Revision: Seeing and Writing Again.
15. Marketing Your Manuscript.
Appendices.
Writing Every Day: 365 Journal Prompts.
Glossary.
Bibliography.