The Prompts You Need to Help You Write the Book You Want to Write

Co-founders of Cambridge University's Master's programme in creative writing, Sarah Burton and Jem Poster draw on a wealth of teaching experience in a variety of contexts, from informal community education to Ph.D. supervision. Sarah is a novelist (The Strange Adventures of H, 2020), biographer (A Double Life: A Biography of Charles and Mary Lamb, 2004, shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year award) and social historian (Impostors: Six Kinds of Liar, 2000). Sarah and Jem are co-authors of a handbook for fiction writers, The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and a historical detective novel, Eliza Mace (2024). Together they run Between the Lines, an online mentoring programme for writers. Co-founders of Cambridge University's Master's programme in creative writing, Sarah Burton and Jem Poster draw on a wealth of teaching experience in a variety of contexts, from informal community education to Ph.D. supervision. Jem is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, Aberystwyth University; he is also a novelist (Courting Shadows, 2002; Rifling Paradise, 2006), poet (Brought to Light, 2001) and literary critic/editor (Edward Thomas, Prose Writings Vol. III, 2018). Sarah and Jem are co-authors of a handbook for fiction writers, The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and a historical detective novel, Eliza Mace (2024). Together they run Between the Lines, an online mentoring programme for writers.

• 1. Memory and imagination; 2. Character; 3. Structuring plot; 4. Dialogue; 5. Point of view; 6. Narrative voice; 7. Beginnings and endings; 8. Pace and tension; 9. Description; 10. Research; 11. Editing; 12. Wordplay.

'The prompts in this comprehensive and deeply considered collection are an invitation to explore every aspect of the fiction-writer's craft. Reassuring and inspiring in equal measure, Burton's and Poster's long experience as teachers of creative writing rings out from every page. Used alone, or in combination with its sister volume, the book is a route to learning and embedding a rich palette of new writing skills.' Helena Attlee, author of The Land Where Lemons Grow and Lev's Violin; tutor for the Arvon Foundation