Description

Book Synopsis
A unique creative writing text that will appeal to a wide range of readers and writers - from grade nine through college and beyond. The exercises use a broad range of creative approaches, aesthetics, and voices, all with an emphasis on demystifying the writing process and having fun.

Table of Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Part 1. Genres and Forms Galore
  • Chapter 1. I'll Put a Spell on You by Pia Simone Garber, A. B. Gorham, Megan Paonessa, and Betsy Seymour
  • The art of spell writing, using repetition, and chanting.
  • Chapter 2. Bake a Cake in an Earthquake: How-To Guides and Process Descriptions by Pia Simone Garber, A. B. Gorham, Megan Paonessa, and Betsy Seymour
  • Let a story emerge from your instructions.
  • Chapter 3. Guidebooks Galore! Chart Uncharted Places by Pia Simone Garber, A. B. Gorham, Megan Paonessa, and Betsy Seymour
  • Create a guide to your room, cell phone, refrigerator, and more.
  • Chapter 4. Postcard Stories by Zachary Doss, Meredith Noseworthy, and Bethany Startin
  • Two characters have an exotic exchange through postcards.
  • Chapter 5. Creative Nonfiction by Kenny Kruse
  • Twenty little memoir projects, plus a squirrel.
  • Chapter 6. Tropes Unlimited: Genre Fiction by Kristin Aardsma and Brian Oliu
  • Explore the habits of genre fiction (fantasy, horror, sci-fi, mystery, etc.) and put them to use.
  • Chapter 7. Where Frankenstein Meets Frodo, Part One: Creating a Character for Genre Fiction by Creating Their Facebook Page by Kristin Aardsma and Brian Oliu
  • Like Frankenstein's creator, build a character bit by bit until it's ready to come to life in your own genre fiction.
  • Chapter 8. Where Frankenstein Meets Frodo, Part Two: Our Hero's Hundred-Story Hotel and Other Settings for Your Genre Fiction Character by Kristin Aardsma and Brian Oliu
  • Give your main character a room (or rooms) of their own.
  • Chapter 9. What's Your Alibi? by Jessie Bailey, Jesse Delong, A. B. Gorham, and Lisa Tallin
  • How will your character explain their way out of this one?
  • Chapter 10. Interviews: For Groups Large and Small by Jenny Gropp and Stephen Hess
  • “I feel that I am as necessary as my face”: conduct an absurdist interview.
  • Chapter 11. Once Upon a Time in the Twenty-First Century: Retelling Fairy Tales by Pia Simone Garber
  • Why was Little Red Riding Hood so readily tricked by the Big Bad Wolf and what would you have done in her place?
  • Chapter 12. “Is He for Real?”: Character-Based Flash Fiction, Part One: Defining a Character through Action and Dialogue by Katie Berger, Laura Kochman, and Brandi Wells
  • Conjure up a living, breathing character in as few words as possible.
  • Chapter 13. “Is He for Real?”: Character-Based Flash Fiction, Part Two: Defining a Character through an Unexpected Setting by Katie Berger, Laura Kochman, and Brandi Wells
  • “The mermaid sitting in my tree was drenched . . .”
  • Chapter 14. Collaboration with Fly: Learning from Lydia Davis by Stephen Hess
  • Be inspired by this flash fiction master's work to write your own flash fiction.
  • Chapter 15. The Relationship between Truth and Fiction by Ashley Chambers, Annie Hartnett, and Christopher McCarter
  • How can “truth” inspire a writer of fiction?
  • Chapter 16. Little Novels by Jessie Bailey and Pia Simone Garber
  • Condense classic novels and movies into tiny pieces.
  • Chapter 17. It Is By Chance That We Meet: Writing A One-Act Play Through Collaboration by Alex Czaja, Romy Feder, Stephen Thomas
  • Here, you and three others will write a one-act play.
  • Chapter 18. Quick Found-Language Sonnets by Molly Goldman, Kenny Kruse, and Sally Rodgers
  • Recycle language into fourteen-line poems.
  • Chapter 19. Social Network Haiku by Chapin Gray and Kirk Pinho
  • Update the haiku form by writing away messages and Facebook haiku.
  • Chapter 20. Rhymes Real Cool: Studies in Rap Lyrics by Christopher McCarter
  • Tap some rhymes to use in rap.
  • Chapter 21. Oral Poetry: The Physical Landscape of Your Poetic Voice by Curtis Rutherford
  • Tones, tempos, and timbres—shape your poem with your voice.
  • Chapter 22. Collaborative Ghazal by Chapin Gray and Kirk Pinho
  • Explore this mesmerizing Arabic form and write one with a group or on your own.
  • Chapter 23. Collaborative Abecedarian (For up to Twenty-Six Writers) by Sally Rodgers
  • Fall in love with the alphabet all over again and use it to organize and inspire a poem.
  • Chapter 24. The Triolet by Pia Simone Garber
  • A French poetic form full of rhymes and repetition.
  • Chapter 25. Oh, Ode! by Leia Wilson
  • Swoon! Celebrate! Write an ode and then try an Exquisite Corpse ode as a group.
  • Chapter 26. Sestinas: Six Words, Obsessed! by Chapin Gray, Jenny Gropp, and Kirk Pinho
  • Learn the basic sestina form, “cheat” your way to an abridged sestina, write a giant sestina, and take the Ode-Sestina Challenge.
  • Chapter 27. Nonce, Not Nonsense: Poetry Meets the Future by Jenny Gropp and Emma Sovich
  • Work with the “Century” and the “Portion,” and then create your own unique poetry form.
  • Chapter 28. Poetry from Math: The Fib and Beyond by Jenny Gropp and Emma Sovich
  • Learn a poetic form based on the Fibonacci sequence, and then head further into the realm of poetry and equations.
  • Chapter 29. Pillow Book Lists: Observing Experience for Creative Nonfiction by Katie Berger and Pia Simone Garber
  • Get started with autobiographical writing by making expressive lists and snatching up the details right by your side.
  • Chapter 30. A Travel Guide of the Self by Katie Berger and Pia Simone Garber
  • Take yourself on a tour of you through travel writing and second-person point of view.
  • Chapter 31. Expert Experience: The Art of the Unlikely, Opinionated Review by Katie Berger and Pia Simone Garber
  • Creative nonfiction meets the review when you write your own brief, detailed—and unexpected—review of something you know a lot about.
  • Part 2. Ye Olde Language Lets Loose
  • Chapter 32. TNT Prose: Explodable, Expandable Text by Jenny Gropp and Kirsten Jorgenson
  • Use your own words as dynamite to blow out the words of an existing text, revealing a new piece of writing when the dust clears.
  • Chapter 33. Take It Away: Erasure by Jenny Gropp and Kirsten Jorgenson
  • Erase your way to a new piece.
  • Chapter 34. Ye Olde Language Made New: “False” Translation by Jenny Gropp
  • Take a text from another language and “translate” it according to several zany methods.
  • Chapter 35. Sounds into Words, Words into Sounds by Molly Goldman
  • Turn a sound jumble into a poem.
  • Chapter 36. Starting from a Song, Part One: Remixing a Song in Writing by Tasha Coryell and Steve Reaugh
  • Be a one-hit wonder!
  • Chapter 37. Starting from a Song, Part Two: Under the (Musical) Influence by Tasha Coryell and Steve Reaugh
  • Let music put you in a writing mood.
  • Chapter 38. Balderdash for Writers: New Stories from an Old Box by Jesse Delong and Megan Paonessa
  • Create stories by playing a few rounds of this classic word game.
  • Chapter 39. Disaster City: A Facebook-y Adventure by Rachel Adams, Jessie Bailey, and Kirsten Jorgenson
  • Map out a city and fill it with characters and plot twists in this collaborative fiction activity that uses moves that you might recognize from Facebook.
  • Chapter 40. Consequences: A Parlor Game of Surprise Narratives by Kit Emslie and Sarah Kelly
  • First played by the Victorians, Consequences is a parlor game similar to the famous Surrealist exercise “exquisite corpse.”
  • Chapter 41. Constraints, Odd Characters, and Secret Postcards: A Fresh Approach to Character and Context by Kirsten Jorgenson, Betsy Seymour, and Danilo Thomas
  • Create questions that generate eccentric characters and then write their secrets down on postcards in this group activity.
  • Chapter 42. Broken Picture Telephone: Modernist Poets Meet the Grade-School Game of Telephone by Rachel Adams, Pia Simone Garber, Kirsten Jorgenson, and Betsy Seymour
  • Explore the tie between thought and image by making a miniature deck of phrase and image cards, and then use the cards like a modernist poet.
  • Chapter 43. Magazine Shuffle: From Image to Character, Narrative, and Third-Person-Limited Point of View by Rachel Adams, Pia Simone Garber, Kirsten Jorgenson, and Betsy Seymour
  • Combine simple images from magazines to create characters and then narrate their stories from the third-person-limited point of view.
  • Chapter 44. Improv at the Zombie Diner: Platform and Dialogue by Holly Burdorff, Luke Percy, and Maggie Smith
  • In this exercise, you're going to be put in a dangerous situation, and you're going to have to act fast.
  • Chapter 45. Comicpalooza: The Art of the Panel by Rachel Adams, Pia Simone Garber, Kirsten Jorgenson, and Betsy Seymour
  • See how comic books use narrative, then build your own characters, images, and a story to make a new comic.
  • Chapter 46. Fast Talkers and Faster Writers: Speed Transcription by Chapin Gray, Brian Oliu, and Kirk Pinho
  • Practice writing while someone reads a text as fast as possible, picking up what you can and freeing up your associative writer's imagination along the way.
  • Chapter 47. Obsessions: Seven Way by Kristin Aardsma and Breanne LeJuene
  • Chocolate truffles, the color purple, America . . . obsess on your obsession!
  • Chapter 48. Grand Theft Writing: Swiped Beginnings by Chapin Gray, Brian Oliu, and Kirk Pinho
  • Use the beginning of another text to get your momentum going.
  • Chapter 49. Crazy Headlines and Hyperlink Chasing: Finding and Using a Bizarre Persona by Chapin Gray, Brian Oliu, and Kirk Pinho
  • Use hyperlinks to uncover a subject for your new piece.
  • Chapter 50. Genetically-Modified Franken-Poems by Chapin Gray and Breanne LeJuene
  • Cut up magazines and newspapers to create new poems, both individually and in groups.
  • Chapter 51. The Exploding Poem: How to Keep on Writing by Chapin Gray and Breanne LeJuene
  • Pull an image or object from a poem, write a new poem based on it, and then stuff it back in.
  • Chapter 52. Nice Hat, Thanks: Word-by-Word Poems by Kristin Aardsma, Breanne LeJuene, and Brian Oliu
  • With a partner, create improvisational writing one word at a time.
  • Chapter 53. Translation Mutation: Using Online Plot Generators and Translators by Kristin Aardsma, Breanne LeJuene, and Brian Oliu
  • Bounce a text through several languages using an online translator and then work with the unrecognizable results.
  • Chapter 54. Mad Lib Translations of Marquez by Jenny Gropp, Laura Kochman, and Jill Smith
  • Zany translations that go beyond Babelfish.
  • Chapter 55. Pictures and Words by Greg Houser and Emma Sovich
  • Write about—and beyond—the painting and its frame.
  • Chapter 56. “The Horse in Motion”: Poems in Response to Photographs and Paintings of Motion by Jenny Gropp
  • Learn about the history of capturing the body in motion in the visual arts and then extend the practice into your own poetry and prose.
  • Chapter 57. Book Flip!: Using Found Phrases by Jenny Gropp, Laura Kochman, and Jill Smith
  • Grab a book or magazine and flip your way to a new piece of writing.
  • Chapter 58. New Takes on the News: Obituaries, Classifieds, and Dear Abby by Greg Houser, Jill Smith, and Jessica Trull
  • Write hilarious news items.
  • Chapter 59. Now with Twenty Billion Readers: Writing a Craigslist “Missed Connection” by Greg Houser, Jill Smith, and Jessica Trull
  • What would you like to say to that stranger?
  • Chapter 60. From These Old Sayings to This Fresh Story: Revamping ClichÉ Phrases and Plots by Jesse Delong, Lisa Tallin, and Danilo Thomas
  • Take clichÉs like “head over heels” and well-known similes like “hard as a rock” and turn them into fresh ideas and complex plots.
  • Part 3. Slews of Styles and Subjects
  • Chapter 61. Realism: Tips from Tom Wolfe and Flannery O'Connor by Krystin Gollihue
  • Use an angle to depict settings and characters.
  • Chapter 62. World Building: Nonrealistic Characters and a Six-Sentence Story by Jess E. Jelsma and Matt Jones
  • Kafka and you.
  • Chapter 63. Rage Against the Creative Writing Machine: Dada in the House by Pia Simone Garber and Kirsten Jorgenson
  • Get introduced to the Dada movement and then write a “bad” poem and cut it up Dada style.
  • Chapter 64. The Beats and Scribbled Secret Notebooks: Chosen Words and Automatic Writing by Stephen Hess and Curtis Rutherford
  • An introduction to Beat poetry complete with how to write like Jack Kerouac.
  • Chapter 65. “I'm with You in Rockland”: “Howl” and Praise Poems by Stephen Hess and Curtis Rutherford
  • Like Allen Ginsberg writing “Howl,” write your own praise poem.
  • Chapter 66. A Call to Arms: Rally the Troops by Curtis Rutherford
  • Like the Beats, turn your anger into writing that explodes from the page, calling society and your fellow writers to action.
  • Chapter 67. Stealing Tone: Picking Up Where Your Favorite Authors Left Off by Molly Goldman
  • Identify an author's moves and make them your own.
  • Chapter 68. A Journal of Particulars: Become a Zen Master of Your Senses by Jenny Gropp and Kirsten Jorgenson
  • In this journal-based exercise, get better acquainted with the five senses and write places into a more vivid existence.
  • Chapter 69. When Garlic Has Hips: Food Writing and Personification by Jenny Gropp and Kirsten Jorgenson
  • Make everyday foods more vivid by giving them human characteristics and lives.
  • Chapter 70. Pets of the Roman Empire, Dinosaurs of Today: Avoiding the Cute Kitty Cat When Writing about Animals by Kirk Pinho
  • Envision a major world event that was caused by a pet.
  • Chapter 71. Perilous Points of View: Giant Toads! Cockroaches! by Jessie Bailey, Jesse Delong, A. B. Gorham, and Lisa Tallin
  • Create an animal character and then stretch its wings (or gills or tentacles) out in story after story.
  • Chapter 72. When the Wrecking Ball Falls in Love: Reviving an Inanimate Object by Jessie Bailey, Jesse Delong, A. B. Gorham, and Lisa Tallin
  • Inhabit the mind, body, and soul of a strange and wondrous inanimate object of your choosing, and tell its tale.
  • Chapter 73. The Fairest of Them All: Talking to Objects for a Reason by Theodora Ziolkowski
  • What if we could write to our favorite piece of fruit or that cool poster hanging from our bedroom wall?
  • Chapter 74. Time for Rhyme by Pia Simone Garber, Jenny Gropp, Emma Sovich, and Leia Wilson
  • In this introduction to the many types of rhyme, like poet Robert Frost said, “all the fun's in how you say a thing.”
  • Chapter 75. Love Poems and Refrains: Better than “Lemon Ice” by Pia Simone Garber and Curtis Rutherford
  • Throw the fanciful and flowery talk aside and be a filthy mess of affection in your own amped-up love poems.
  • Chapter 76. Death Poems: The Tragic and the Comic by Pia Simone Garber and Curtis Rutherford
  • Make your reader feel the gravity of death in different ways, writing both a comic poem and then a sincere elegy.
  • Chapter 77. Political Poems: Big Brother Is Watching You! by Pia Simone Garber and Curtis Rutherford
  • Brainstorm some experiences all people share (love, death, family, etc.) and use them to overturn common ideas about politics.
  • Chapter 78. Things That Go Bump in the Night: Reappropriating Stock Vampires, Witches, Zombies, and Other Creatures for a Twenty-First Century Scare by Tasha Coryell, Freya Gibbon, Molly Goldman, Krystin Gollihue, Jess E. Jelsma, Matt Jones, Meredith Noseworthy, Steve Reaugh, Sally Rodgers, and Bethany Startin
  • Time for The Ultimate Makeover: Zombie Edition.
  • Chapter 79. The Adult As Villain by Annie Hartnett
  • Try a child's point of view.
  • Chapter 80. Objects and Elements: Set Your Imagination Loose! by Megan Paonessa and Danilo Thomas
  • Take the smallest, seemingly most inconsequential thing and turn it into a grand presence.
  • Chapter 81. Weapons of Voice: Practicing Long and Short Sentence Styles by Jesse Delong, Lisa Tallin, and Danilo Thomas
  • Imitate both sparse and long-winded writers in this fiction exercise.
  • Chapter 82. Exercises in Style: The Endless Possibilities of Language by Jenny Gropp
  • Use a hatful of strategies and games to tell the same story over and over again without it ever looking the same.
  • Chapter 83. The N 7 Game: From “The Snow Man” to “The Soap Mandible” by Jenny Gropp, Laura Kochman, and Jill Smith
  • Learn about the French literary movement Oulipo, and then grab a dictionary and an existing piece of writing for the N 7 game.
  • Chapter 84. Cramming It In: Jamming Narrative into a Short Space by Katie Berger, Laura Kochman, and Brandi Wells
  • Tell entire stories using only one sentence—no more!
  • Chapter 85. “Licking a Glacier Can Change Your DNA”: Landscape in Prose Poetry and Flash Nonfiction by Katie Berger, Laura Kochman, and Brandi Wells
  • Look at different methods for creating landscape in short forms, write out a landscape you've never seen, and then, in the final activity, put your hometown on Mars.
  • Chapter 86. Zero to Hero!: A Superhero of Uncommon Valor by Megan Paonessa and Danilo Thomas
  • Construct a superhero unlike any the world has ever seen.
  • Chapter 87. World Domination: Planets, Species, Disasters by Megan Paonessa and Danilo Thomas
  • Guide your superhero into battle on a strange and unheard-of planet.
  • Chapter 88. Demystifying the Publishing Process by Rachel Adams, A. B. Gorham, and Lisa Tallin
  • The sooner, the better: this applies to eating ice cream under the sun, finishing your history homework, and publishing your poems and stories. Here are a few hints on ways to publish your work.
  • Contributors
  • Literary Sources

    Once Upon a Time in the TwentyFirst Century

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        Publisher: The University of Alabama Press
        Publication Date: 12/30/2020 12:00:00 AM
        ISBN13: 9780817359423, 978-0817359423
        ISBN10: 0817359427
        Also in:
        Creative writing

        Description

        Book Synopsis
        A unique creative writing text that will appeal to a wide range of readers and writers - from grade nine through college and beyond. The exercises use a broad range of creative approaches, aesthetics, and voices, all with an emphasis on demystifying the writing process and having fun.

        Table of Contents
        • Acknowledgments
        • Introduction
        • Part 1. Genres and Forms Galore
        • Chapter 1. I'll Put a Spell on You by Pia Simone Garber, A. B. Gorham, Megan Paonessa, and Betsy Seymour
        • The art of spell writing, using repetition, and chanting.
        • Chapter 2. Bake a Cake in an Earthquake: How-To Guides and Process Descriptions by Pia Simone Garber, A. B. Gorham, Megan Paonessa, and Betsy Seymour
        • Let a story emerge from your instructions.
        • Chapter 3. Guidebooks Galore! Chart Uncharted Places by Pia Simone Garber, A. B. Gorham, Megan Paonessa, and Betsy Seymour
        • Create a guide to your room, cell phone, refrigerator, and more.
        • Chapter 4. Postcard Stories by Zachary Doss, Meredith Noseworthy, and Bethany Startin
        • Two characters have an exotic exchange through postcards.
        • Chapter 5. Creative Nonfiction by Kenny Kruse
        • Twenty little memoir projects, plus a squirrel.
        • Chapter 6. Tropes Unlimited: Genre Fiction by Kristin Aardsma and Brian Oliu
        • Explore the habits of genre fiction (fantasy, horror, sci-fi, mystery, etc.) and put them to use.
        • Chapter 7. Where Frankenstein Meets Frodo, Part One: Creating a Character for Genre Fiction by Creating Their Facebook Page by Kristin Aardsma and Brian Oliu
        • Like Frankenstein's creator, build a character bit by bit until it's ready to come to life in your own genre fiction.
        • Chapter 8. Where Frankenstein Meets Frodo, Part Two: Our Hero's Hundred-Story Hotel and Other Settings for Your Genre Fiction Character by Kristin Aardsma and Brian Oliu
        • Give your main character a room (or rooms) of their own.
        • Chapter 9. What's Your Alibi? by Jessie Bailey, Jesse Delong, A. B. Gorham, and Lisa Tallin
        • How will your character explain their way out of this one?
        • Chapter 10. Interviews: For Groups Large and Small by Jenny Gropp and Stephen Hess
        • “I feel that I am as necessary as my face”: conduct an absurdist interview.
        • Chapter 11. Once Upon a Time in the Twenty-First Century: Retelling Fairy Tales by Pia Simone Garber
        • Why was Little Red Riding Hood so readily tricked by the Big Bad Wolf and what would you have done in her place?
        • Chapter 12. “Is He for Real?”: Character-Based Flash Fiction, Part One: Defining a Character through Action and Dialogue by Katie Berger, Laura Kochman, and Brandi Wells
        • Conjure up a living, breathing character in as few words as possible.
        • Chapter 13. “Is He for Real?”: Character-Based Flash Fiction, Part Two: Defining a Character through an Unexpected Setting by Katie Berger, Laura Kochman, and Brandi Wells
        • “The mermaid sitting in my tree was drenched . . .”
        • Chapter 14. Collaboration with Fly: Learning from Lydia Davis by Stephen Hess
        • Be inspired by this flash fiction master's work to write your own flash fiction.
        • Chapter 15. The Relationship between Truth and Fiction by Ashley Chambers, Annie Hartnett, and Christopher McCarter
        • How can “truth” inspire a writer of fiction?
        • Chapter 16. Little Novels by Jessie Bailey and Pia Simone Garber
        • Condense classic novels and movies into tiny pieces.
        • Chapter 17. It Is By Chance That We Meet: Writing A One-Act Play Through Collaboration by Alex Czaja, Romy Feder, Stephen Thomas
        • Here, you and three others will write a one-act play.
        • Chapter 18. Quick Found-Language Sonnets by Molly Goldman, Kenny Kruse, and Sally Rodgers
        • Recycle language into fourteen-line poems.
        • Chapter 19. Social Network Haiku by Chapin Gray and Kirk Pinho
        • Update the haiku form by writing away messages and Facebook haiku.
        • Chapter 20. Rhymes Real Cool: Studies in Rap Lyrics by Christopher McCarter
        • Tap some rhymes to use in rap.
        • Chapter 21. Oral Poetry: The Physical Landscape of Your Poetic Voice by Curtis Rutherford
        • Tones, tempos, and timbres—shape your poem with your voice.
        • Chapter 22. Collaborative Ghazal by Chapin Gray and Kirk Pinho
        • Explore this mesmerizing Arabic form and write one with a group or on your own.
        • Chapter 23. Collaborative Abecedarian (For up to Twenty-Six Writers) by Sally Rodgers
        • Fall in love with the alphabet all over again and use it to organize and inspire a poem.
        • Chapter 24. The Triolet by Pia Simone Garber
        • A French poetic form full of rhymes and repetition.
        • Chapter 25. Oh, Ode! by Leia Wilson
        • Swoon! Celebrate! Write an ode and then try an Exquisite Corpse ode as a group.
        • Chapter 26. Sestinas: Six Words, Obsessed! by Chapin Gray, Jenny Gropp, and Kirk Pinho
        • Learn the basic sestina form, “cheat” your way to an abridged sestina, write a giant sestina, and take the Ode-Sestina Challenge.
        • Chapter 27. Nonce, Not Nonsense: Poetry Meets the Future by Jenny Gropp and Emma Sovich
        • Work with the “Century” and the “Portion,” and then create your own unique poetry form.
        • Chapter 28. Poetry from Math: The Fib and Beyond by Jenny Gropp and Emma Sovich
        • Learn a poetic form based on the Fibonacci sequence, and then head further into the realm of poetry and equations.
        • Chapter 29. Pillow Book Lists: Observing Experience for Creative Nonfiction by Katie Berger and Pia Simone Garber
        • Get started with autobiographical writing by making expressive lists and snatching up the details right by your side.
        • Chapter 30. A Travel Guide of the Self by Katie Berger and Pia Simone Garber
        • Take yourself on a tour of you through travel writing and second-person point of view.
        • Chapter 31. Expert Experience: The Art of the Unlikely, Opinionated Review by Katie Berger and Pia Simone Garber
        • Creative nonfiction meets the review when you write your own brief, detailed—and unexpected—review of something you know a lot about.
        • Part 2. Ye Olde Language Lets Loose
        • Chapter 32. TNT Prose: Explodable, Expandable Text by Jenny Gropp and Kirsten Jorgenson
        • Use your own words as dynamite to blow out the words of an existing text, revealing a new piece of writing when the dust clears.
        • Chapter 33. Take It Away: Erasure by Jenny Gropp and Kirsten Jorgenson
        • Erase your way to a new piece.
        • Chapter 34. Ye Olde Language Made New: “False” Translation by Jenny Gropp
        • Take a text from another language and “translate” it according to several zany methods.
        • Chapter 35. Sounds into Words, Words into Sounds by Molly Goldman
        • Turn a sound jumble into a poem.
        • Chapter 36. Starting from a Song, Part One: Remixing a Song in Writing by Tasha Coryell and Steve Reaugh
        • Be a one-hit wonder!
        • Chapter 37. Starting from a Song, Part Two: Under the (Musical) Influence by Tasha Coryell and Steve Reaugh
        • Let music put you in a writing mood.
        • Chapter 38. Balderdash for Writers: New Stories from an Old Box by Jesse Delong and Megan Paonessa
        • Create stories by playing a few rounds of this classic word game.
        • Chapter 39. Disaster City: A Facebook-y Adventure by Rachel Adams, Jessie Bailey, and Kirsten Jorgenson
        • Map out a city and fill it with characters and plot twists in this collaborative fiction activity that uses moves that you might recognize from Facebook.
        • Chapter 40. Consequences: A Parlor Game of Surprise Narratives by Kit Emslie and Sarah Kelly
        • First played by the Victorians, Consequences is a parlor game similar to the famous Surrealist exercise “exquisite corpse.”
        • Chapter 41. Constraints, Odd Characters, and Secret Postcards: A Fresh Approach to Character and Context by Kirsten Jorgenson, Betsy Seymour, and Danilo Thomas
        • Create questions that generate eccentric characters and then write their secrets down on postcards in this group activity.
        • Chapter 42. Broken Picture Telephone: Modernist Poets Meet the Grade-School Game of Telephone by Rachel Adams, Pia Simone Garber, Kirsten Jorgenson, and Betsy Seymour
        • Explore the tie between thought and image by making a miniature deck of phrase and image cards, and then use the cards like a modernist poet.
        • Chapter 43. Magazine Shuffle: From Image to Character, Narrative, and Third-Person-Limited Point of View by Rachel Adams, Pia Simone Garber, Kirsten Jorgenson, and Betsy Seymour
        • Combine simple images from magazines to create characters and then narrate their stories from the third-person-limited point of view.
        • Chapter 44. Improv at the Zombie Diner: Platform and Dialogue by Holly Burdorff, Luke Percy, and Maggie Smith
        • In this exercise, you're going to be put in a dangerous situation, and you're going to have to act fast.
        • Chapter 45. Comicpalooza: The Art of the Panel by Rachel Adams, Pia Simone Garber, Kirsten Jorgenson, and Betsy Seymour
        • See how comic books use narrative, then build your own characters, images, and a story to make a new comic.
        • Chapter 46. Fast Talkers and Faster Writers: Speed Transcription by Chapin Gray, Brian Oliu, and Kirk Pinho
        • Practice writing while someone reads a text as fast as possible, picking up what you can and freeing up your associative writer's imagination along the way.
        • Chapter 47. Obsessions: Seven Way by Kristin Aardsma and Breanne LeJuene
        • Chocolate truffles, the color purple, America . . . obsess on your obsession!
        • Chapter 48. Grand Theft Writing: Swiped Beginnings by Chapin Gray, Brian Oliu, and Kirk Pinho
        • Use the beginning of another text to get your momentum going.
        • Chapter 49. Crazy Headlines and Hyperlink Chasing: Finding and Using a Bizarre Persona by Chapin Gray, Brian Oliu, and Kirk Pinho
        • Use hyperlinks to uncover a subject for your new piece.
        • Chapter 50. Genetically-Modified Franken-Poems by Chapin Gray and Breanne LeJuene
        • Cut up magazines and newspapers to create new poems, both individually and in groups.
        • Chapter 51. The Exploding Poem: How to Keep on Writing by Chapin Gray and Breanne LeJuene
        • Pull an image or object from a poem, write a new poem based on it, and then stuff it back in.
        • Chapter 52. Nice Hat, Thanks: Word-by-Word Poems by Kristin Aardsma, Breanne LeJuene, and Brian Oliu
        • With a partner, create improvisational writing one word at a time.
        • Chapter 53. Translation Mutation: Using Online Plot Generators and Translators by Kristin Aardsma, Breanne LeJuene, and Brian Oliu
        • Bounce a text through several languages using an online translator and then work with the unrecognizable results.
        • Chapter 54. Mad Lib Translations of Marquez by Jenny Gropp, Laura Kochman, and Jill Smith
        • Zany translations that go beyond Babelfish.
        • Chapter 55. Pictures and Words by Greg Houser and Emma Sovich
        • Write about—and beyond—the painting and its frame.
        • Chapter 56. “The Horse in Motion”: Poems in Response to Photographs and Paintings of Motion by Jenny Gropp
        • Learn about the history of capturing the body in motion in the visual arts and then extend the practice into your own poetry and prose.
        • Chapter 57. Book Flip!: Using Found Phrases by Jenny Gropp, Laura Kochman, and Jill Smith
        • Grab a book or magazine and flip your way to a new piece of writing.
        • Chapter 58. New Takes on the News: Obituaries, Classifieds, and Dear Abby by Greg Houser, Jill Smith, and Jessica Trull
        • Write hilarious news items.
        • Chapter 59. Now with Twenty Billion Readers: Writing a Craigslist “Missed Connection” by Greg Houser, Jill Smith, and Jessica Trull
        • What would you like to say to that stranger?
        • Chapter 60. From These Old Sayings to This Fresh Story: Revamping ClichÉ Phrases and Plots by Jesse Delong, Lisa Tallin, and Danilo Thomas
        • Take clichÉs like “head over heels” and well-known similes like “hard as a rock” and turn them into fresh ideas and complex plots.
        • Part 3. Slews of Styles and Subjects
        • Chapter 61. Realism: Tips from Tom Wolfe and Flannery O'Connor by Krystin Gollihue
        • Use an angle to depict settings and characters.
        • Chapter 62. World Building: Nonrealistic Characters and a Six-Sentence Story by Jess E. Jelsma and Matt Jones
        • Kafka and you.
        • Chapter 63. Rage Against the Creative Writing Machine: Dada in the House by Pia Simone Garber and Kirsten Jorgenson
        • Get introduced to the Dada movement and then write a “bad” poem and cut it up Dada style.
        • Chapter 64. The Beats and Scribbled Secret Notebooks: Chosen Words and Automatic Writing by Stephen Hess and Curtis Rutherford
        • An introduction to Beat poetry complete with how to write like Jack Kerouac.
        • Chapter 65. “I'm with You in Rockland”: “Howl” and Praise Poems by Stephen Hess and Curtis Rutherford
        • Like Allen Ginsberg writing “Howl,” write your own praise poem.
        • Chapter 66. A Call to Arms: Rally the Troops by Curtis Rutherford
        • Like the Beats, turn your anger into writing that explodes from the page, calling society and your fellow writers to action.
        • Chapter 67. Stealing Tone: Picking Up Where Your Favorite Authors Left Off by Molly Goldman
        • Identify an author's moves and make them your own.
        • Chapter 68. A Journal of Particulars: Become a Zen Master of Your Senses by Jenny Gropp and Kirsten Jorgenson
        • In this journal-based exercise, get better acquainted with the five senses and write places into a more vivid existence.
        • Chapter 69. When Garlic Has Hips: Food Writing and Personification by Jenny Gropp and Kirsten Jorgenson
        • Make everyday foods more vivid by giving them human characteristics and lives.
        • Chapter 70. Pets of the Roman Empire, Dinosaurs of Today: Avoiding the Cute Kitty Cat When Writing about Animals by Kirk Pinho
        • Envision a major world event that was caused by a pet.
        • Chapter 71. Perilous Points of View: Giant Toads! Cockroaches! by Jessie Bailey, Jesse Delong, A. B. Gorham, and Lisa Tallin
        • Create an animal character and then stretch its wings (or gills or tentacles) out in story after story.
        • Chapter 72. When the Wrecking Ball Falls in Love: Reviving an Inanimate Object by Jessie Bailey, Jesse Delong, A. B. Gorham, and Lisa Tallin
        • Inhabit the mind, body, and soul of a strange and wondrous inanimate object of your choosing, and tell its tale.
        • Chapter 73. The Fairest of Them All: Talking to Objects for a Reason by Theodora Ziolkowski
        • What if we could write to our favorite piece of fruit or that cool poster hanging from our bedroom wall?
        • Chapter 74. Time for Rhyme by Pia Simone Garber, Jenny Gropp, Emma Sovich, and Leia Wilson
        • In this introduction to the many types of rhyme, like poet Robert Frost said, “all the fun's in how you say a thing.”
        • Chapter 75. Love Poems and Refrains: Better than “Lemon Ice” by Pia Simone Garber and Curtis Rutherford
        • Throw the fanciful and flowery talk aside and be a filthy mess of affection in your own amped-up love poems.
        • Chapter 76. Death Poems: The Tragic and the Comic by Pia Simone Garber and Curtis Rutherford
        • Make your reader feel the gravity of death in different ways, writing both a comic poem and then a sincere elegy.
        • Chapter 77. Political Poems: Big Brother Is Watching You! by Pia Simone Garber and Curtis Rutherford
        • Brainstorm some experiences all people share (love, death, family, etc.) and use them to overturn common ideas about politics.
        • Chapter 78. Things That Go Bump in the Night: Reappropriating Stock Vampires, Witches, Zombies, and Other Creatures for a Twenty-First Century Scare by Tasha Coryell, Freya Gibbon, Molly Goldman, Krystin Gollihue, Jess E. Jelsma, Matt Jones, Meredith Noseworthy, Steve Reaugh, Sally Rodgers, and Bethany Startin
        • Time for The Ultimate Makeover: Zombie Edition.
        • Chapter 79. The Adult As Villain by Annie Hartnett
        • Try a child's point of view.
        • Chapter 80. Objects and Elements: Set Your Imagination Loose! by Megan Paonessa and Danilo Thomas
        • Take the smallest, seemingly most inconsequential thing and turn it into a grand presence.
        • Chapter 81. Weapons of Voice: Practicing Long and Short Sentence Styles by Jesse Delong, Lisa Tallin, and Danilo Thomas
        • Imitate both sparse and long-winded writers in this fiction exercise.
        • Chapter 82. Exercises in Style: The Endless Possibilities of Language by Jenny Gropp
        • Use a hatful of strategies and games to tell the same story over and over again without it ever looking the same.
        • Chapter 83. The N 7 Game: From “The Snow Man” to “The Soap Mandible” by Jenny Gropp, Laura Kochman, and Jill Smith
        • Learn about the French literary movement Oulipo, and then grab a dictionary and an existing piece of writing for the N 7 game.
        • Chapter 84. Cramming It In: Jamming Narrative into a Short Space by Katie Berger, Laura Kochman, and Brandi Wells
        • Tell entire stories using only one sentence—no more!
        • Chapter 85. “Licking a Glacier Can Change Your DNA”: Landscape in Prose Poetry and Flash Nonfiction by Katie Berger, Laura Kochman, and Brandi Wells
        • Look at different methods for creating landscape in short forms, write out a landscape you've never seen, and then, in the final activity, put your hometown on Mars.
        • Chapter 86. Zero to Hero!: A Superhero of Uncommon Valor by Megan Paonessa and Danilo Thomas
        • Construct a superhero unlike any the world has ever seen.
        • Chapter 87. World Domination: Planets, Species, Disasters by Megan Paonessa and Danilo Thomas
        • Guide your superhero into battle on a strange and unheard-of planet.
        • Chapter 88. Demystifying the Publishing Process by Rachel Adams, A. B. Gorham, and Lisa Tallin
        • The sooner, the better: this applies to eating ice cream under the sun, finishing your history homework, and publishing your poems and stories. Here are a few hints on ways to publish your work.
        • Contributors
        • Literary Sources

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