Unlock your creativity and choose the genre of writing that suits you bestDo you have an idea that you’re burning to get down on paper? Do you want to document your travels to far-flung places, or write a few stanzas of poetry? Whether you dream of being a novelist, a travel writer, a poet, a playwright or a columnist, Creative Writing For Dummies shows you how to unlock your creativity and choose the genre of writing that suits you best. Walking you through characterisation, setting, dialogue and plot, as well as giving expert insights into both fiction and non-fiction, it’s the ideal launching pad to the world of creative writing. Creative Writing For Dummies covers:Part I: Getting started Chapter 1: Can Everyone Write?Chapter 2: Getting into the Write MindChapter 3: Finding the Material to work with Part II: The Elements of Creative Writing Chapter 4: Creating CharactersChapter 5: Discovering DialogueChapter 6: Who is telling the story?Chapter 7: Creating your own worldChapter 8: Plotting your wayChapter 9: Creating a StructureChapter 10: Rewriting and editing Part III: Different Kinds of Fiction Writing Chapter 11: Short storiesChapter 12: NovelsChapter 13: Writing for childrenChapter 14: PlaysChapter 15: ScreenplaysChapter 16: PoetryPart IV: Different kinds of Non-fiction writing Chapter 17: Breaking into journalism - Writing articles/ magazine writingChapter 18: Writing from life and autobiographyChapter 19: Embroidering the facts: Narrative non-fictionChapter 20: Exploring the world from your armchair - Travel writingChapter 21: Blogging – the new big thingPart V: Finding an audience Chapter 22: Finding editors/ publishers/ agents Chapter 23: Becoming a professionalPart VI: Part of Tens Chapter 24: Ten top tips for writers Chapter 25: Ten ways to get noticed
Maggie Hamand is a novelist, non-fiction author and journalist. In 1998, Maggie founded the hugely successful Complete Creative Writing Course at the Groucho Club in London, and has been teaching there since: her students have included many published authors. She is the author of two novels, The Resurrection of the Body and The Rocket Man.
Introduction 1Part I: Getting Started 7Chapter 1: You and Your Writing 9Chapter 2: Getting into the Write Mind 27Chapter 3: Finding Material to Work With 43Part II: Introducing the Elements of Creative Writing 55Chapter 4: Creating Characters 57Chapter 5: Discovering Dialogue 71Chapter 6: Choosing a Narrator 83Chapter 7: Describing Your World 97Chapter 8: Plotting Your Way 109Chapter 9: Creating a Structure 127Chapter 10: Rewriting and Editing 141Part III: Writing Fiction 153Chapter 11: When Less is More: Crafting Short Stories 155Chapter 12: Writing the Novel 169Chapter 13: Once Upon a Time: Writing for Children 183Chapter 14: Penning Plays 195Chapter 15: Writing Screenplays 207Chapter 16: Rhymes and Reasons: Writing Poetry 219Part IV: Exploring Non-Fiction 231Chapter 17: Breaking into Journalism 233Chapter 18: Writing from Life 245Chapter 19: Crafting Narrative Non-Fiction 263Chapter 20: Travel Writing: Tales for Armchair Explorers 273Chapter 21: All About Blogging 281Part V: Finding an Audience 289Chapter 22: Finding Professionals to Publish Your Book 291Chapter 23: Becoming a Professional 311Part VI: The Part of Tens 325Chapter 24: Ten Top Tips for Writers 327Chapter 25: Ten Ways to Get Noticed 333Chapter 26: Ten Pieces of Writing to Inspire You 339Index 347