The Handbook of Creative Writing

546 Pages·2014·1.633 MB·English

by  Steven Earnshaw

The Handbook of Creative Writing

The Handbook of
Creative Writing
Second edition
Edited by
Steven Earnshaw
First edition © Edinburgh University Press 2007. Copyright in the individual
contributions retained by the authors.
Second edition © editorial matter and organisation Steven Earnshaw, 2014
© the chapters their several authors, 2014
First published by Edinburgh University Press in 2007.
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
The Tun – Holyrood Road
12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry
Edinburgh EH8 8PJ
www.euppublishing.com
Typeset in 10/12pt Adobe Goudy by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport Cheshire,
and printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7486 8939 2 (paperback)
ISBN 978 0 7486 8977 4 (webready PDF)
ISBN 978 0 7486 8978 1 (epub)
The right of Steven Earnshaw to be identified as Editor of this work has been asserted in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Copyright and
Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Preface to Second Edition x
Introduction
Steven Earnshaw 1
Section One – Writing: Theories and Contexts
1. Theories of Creativity and Creative Writing Pedagogy
Anna Leahy, Mary Cantrell and Mary Swander 11
2. The Evaluation of Creative Writing at MA Level (UK)
Jenny Newman 24
3. The Creative Writing MFA
Stephanie Vanderslice 37
4. Creative Writing and Critical Theory
Lauri Ramey 42
5. Literary Genres
David Rain 54
6. The Writer as Artist
Steven Earnshaw 65
7. The Future of Creative Writing
Paul Dawson 78
Section Two – The Craft of Writing
Prose
8. Reading, Writing and Teaching the Short Story
E. A. Markham 95
vi Contents
9. Writing the Memoir
Judith Barrington 109
10. Introduction to the Novel
Jane Rogers 116
11. Crime Fiction
John Dale 126
12. Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy
Crawford Kilian 134
13. How Language Lives Us: Reading and Writing Historical Fiction
Brian Kiteley 146
14. Writing Humorous Fiction
Susan Hubbard 154
15. Writing for Children
Alan Brown 162
16. Writing for Teenagers
Linda Newbery 169
17. The ‘Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Creative Nonfiction,
But were too Naïve or Uninformed to Ask’ Workshop Simulation
Lee Gutkind 176
Poetry
18. Introduction to Poetry
Sean O’Brien 183
19. What is Form?
W. N. Herbert 199
20. New Poetries
Aaron Kunin 211
21. The Poet in the Theatre: Verse Drama
Sean O’Brien 229
22. The Sequence and the Long Poem
George Szirtes 236
Scriptwriting
23. Introduction to Scriptwriting
Mike Harris 251
24. Writing for the Stage
Brighde Mullins 263
25. Writing for Radio
Mike Harris 273
Contents vii
26. Writing for Television
Stephen V. Duncan 282
27. Writing for Television – UK Differences
John Milne 291
28. Writing for Film
Bonnie O’Neill 293
Other Writing
29. Song Lyrics and Poetry
Pat Pattison 305
30. Flash Fiction
Tony Williams 315
31. Writing as Experimental Practice
Thalia Field 324
32. Creative–Critical Hybrids
Hazel Smith 331
33. Writing as ‘Therapy’
Fiona Sampson 341
34. Writing in the Community
Linda Sargent 349
35. Writing for the Web
James Sheard 356
36. The Role of the Critical Essay
Scott McCracken 361
37. Translation
Susan Bassnett 367
38. Collaboration in the Theatre
Timothy Braun 374
39. Creative Writing Doctorates
Graeme Harper 383
40. How to Start a Literary Magazine
Rebecca Wolff 391
Section Three – The Writer’s Life
41. How to be a Writer
John Milne 401
42. How to Present Yourself as a Writer
Alison Baverstock 407
viii Contents
43. Meet Your Public: Creative Writing and Social Media
Lou Treleaven 414
44. Publishing Fiction
Mary Mount 424
45. American PoBiz
Chase Twichell 432
46. Publishing Poetry in Britain
Sean O’Brien 439
47. The Literary Agent (Novel)
David Smith 446
48. The Film Agent
Julian Friedmann 453
49. The Literary Agent: Television, Theatre and Radio
Alan Brodie 460
50. Copyright
Shay Humphrey, with Lee Penhaligan 470
51. Self-Publishing and the Rise of the Indie Author
Jane Rowland 486
52. Literary Life: Prizes, Anthologies, Festivals, Reviewing, Grants
Tom Shapcott 494
53. The Writer as Teacher
Gareth Creer 503
54. Making a Living as a Writer
Livi Michael 510
Glossary 518
Useful Websites 525
Contributors 527
Index 535
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Sean O’Brien, Jane Rogers and Mike Harris for their help in con-
structing the sections on poetry, prose and script. Lauri Ramey has been an invaluable
bridge across the Atlantic throughout, answering my queries on American matters. I would
also like to thank the contributors, many of whom I know only through the marvellous
if precarious medium of email. I have found generosity everywhere, and it has made the
book a pleasure to edit. Finally, I would like to thank Jackie Jones at EUP, whose idea this
book was.
Preface to Second Edition
After The Handbook was first published I presumed my role in it, other than a brief flurry of
publicity at the start, was ended, and I was content with the idea that nothing more could
be added to improve the book, because advice on how to write well was good for a very
long time, if not forever. However, in the intervening period there have been significant
changes in the world of publishing and social media which affect the world of the writer,
and at least two new genres have been spotted. In addition, some people quite rightly felt
that there were gaps in the original book. This Second Edition has therefore taken stock
of a new world and new genres, and remedied previous omissions.
The Craft section has been augmented with chapters on ‘Song Lyrics’, ‘Creative–
Critical Hybrids’, ‘Flash Fiction’ and ‘Collaboration’. Pat Pattison’s ‘Song Lyrics and
Poetry’ takes the reader through a rigorous critique of the popular assertion that a ‘lyric’ is
the same entity as a ‘poem’. ‘Really?’ he responds, and takes off from there, pursuing the
profound differences in musicality, rhythm, sound versus sight, and density of meaning.
Hazel Smith is one of the foremost commentators and exponents of creative–critical hybrid
writing, a genre which fuses two types of writing traditionally regarded as distinct, and she
explains the theory and practice of such fusion before setting out exercises for the aspiring
hybridist to attempt. Tony Williams grapples with another ‘new’ genre – ‘flash fiction’ – a
genre that is not just ‘shorter short stories’, but a prose offering which has its own particular
demands and outlets. Here is a chance to extend your repertoire, he urges, with the added
benefit that it may improve your longer narratives. Timothy Braun elaborates on the role
that collaboration has in theatre for the playwright, the kinds of negotiation that such a
process demands, and provides guidelines for keeping your voice in an environment where
you will always at some point have to hand your work over to others.
The most noticeable sea-change has been the expansion of digital media into social
networks and the world of publishing. Two new chapters cover the possibilities and pit-
falls: Jane Rowland looks at ‘Self-Publishing and the Rise of the Indie Author’, and shows
just how ‘liberating’ self-publishing can be for writers; Lou Treleaven illuminates the
ways in which you can ‘Meet Your Public’ through the (careful) embrace of social media,
demonstrating how ‘a creative use of social networking can turn the general public into
your public’. These chapters are, of course, complementary, since they both register the
idea that modern writers are expected to closely engage in the promotion of themselves
and their writing. I suggest reading these alongside Alison Baverstock’s updated chapter