Click the link below to see all the books the SPCC Libraries have in print from our opposing viewpoints series.
1200 Creative Writing Prompts by
If you're looking for writing ideas, you've come to the right place. Perfect for writers who are feeling uninspired or who simply want to tackle a new writing challenge, 1200 Creative Writing Prompts has something for everyone. Whether you write fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction, you'll find plenty of fresh ideas inside this book. The fiction prompts cover a range of genres, including literary, mystery, thriller, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, horror, romance, historical, humor, satire, children's and young adult. Poetry prompts offer poem starters, subject matter, word lists, and imagery. The creative nonfiction prompts will inspire journal sessions as well as ideas for writing memoir pieces, personal essays, and a bunch of prompts to help you explore your own writing goals and practices. This book doesn't come with rules. Use a fiction prompt to inspire a personal essay. Use a creative nonfiction prompt to inspire a poem. Combine prompts to come up with interesting and unique story ideas. As long as you engage your imagination and have fun, it's all good!
The Cambridge Companion to Creative Writing by
Creative writing has become a highly professionalised academic discipline, with popular courses and prestigious degree programmes worldwide. This book is a must for all students and teachers of creative writing, indeed for anyone who aspires to be a published writer. It engages with a complex art in an accessible manner, addressing concepts important to the rapidly growing field of creative writing, while maintaining a strong craft emphasis, analysing exemplary models of writing and providing related writing exercises. Written by professional writers and teachers of writing, the chapters deal with specific genres or forms - ranging from the novel to new media - or with significant topics that explore the cutting edge state of creative writing internationally (including creative writing and science, contemporary publishing and new workshop approaches).
The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing by
This pioneering book introduces students to the practice and art of creative writing and creative reading. It offers a fresh, distinctive and beautifully written synthesis of the discipline. David Morley discusses where creative writing comes from, the various forms and camouflages it has taken, and why we teach and learn the arts of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. He looks at creative writing in performance; as public art, as visual art, as e-literature and as an act of community. As a leading poet, critic and award-winning teacher of the subject, Morley finds new engagements for creative writing in the creative academy and within science. Accessible, entertaining and groundbreaking, The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing is not only a useful textbook for students and teachers of writing, but also an inspiring read in its own right. Aspiring authors and teachers of writing will find much to discover and enjoy.
Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief by
Learning to write poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama in a single creative writing course is a real challenge, and David Starkey's Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief is designed to help you meet it. Here's how: It maps out the basics of composing and crafting each genre. You can learn a lot very quickly from Starkey's concise, lively explanations and focused writing checklists. It provides only very short models of literature for you to read and emulate. Short works invite your concentrated reading and rereading; in turn, writing short literary works opens up more time for you to draft and, especially, to revise. It inspires with writing prompts and projects that will capture your imagination. Every writer can find a path into writing through Starkey's wide array of "Kick-Starts" assignments. Book jacket.
Novel Ideas by
Novel Ideas provides a substantial introduction to the elements of fiction followed by in-depth interviews with successful novelists who speak with candor and insight into the complex process by which a novel is made. This edition includes new and updated interviews as well as writing exercises to enhance its use in the writing classroom. Dorothy Allison recalls "deliciously self-indulgent" days of writing in her bathrobe, wrapped in misery and exultation; Peter Cameron explains how he made the move from short fiction to the novel with the aid of a music composer's notebook to track the movement of his characters. Writers as different as Ha Jin, Jill McCorkle, Richard Ford, and Michael Chabon describe their unique approaches to their work while consistently affirming the necessity of committing to the hard effort of it while also remaining open to surprise. Aspiring novelists will find hands-on strategies for beginning, working through, and revising a novel; accomplished novelists will discover new ways to solve the problems they face in process; and serious readers of contemporary fiction will enjoy a glimpse into the way novels are made. Includes interviews with:Dorothy AllisonLarry BrownPeter CameronMichael ChabonMichael CunninghamRobb Forman DewRichard FordHa JinPatricia HenleyCharles JohnsonWally LambValerie MartinJill McCorkleSena Jeter NaslundLewis NordanSheri ReynoldsS. J. RozanJane SmileyLee SmithTheodore Weesner
The Portable MFA in Creative Writing by
Get the core knowledge of a prestigious MFA education without the tuition. Have you always wanted to get an MFA, but couldn't because of the cost, time commitment, or admission requirements? Well now you can fulfill that dream without having to devote tons of money or time. The Portable MFA gives you all of the essential information you would learn in the MFA program in one book. Covering fiction, memoirs, personal essays, magazine articles, poetry, and playwriting, this book provides you with- .Inspiration and tips on revision, stamina, and productivity .Clear instruction on the craft behind the art .Detailed reading lists to expand your literary horizons .Exercises to improve your writing endeavors By heeding the advice in The Portable MFA, you will gain the wisdom and experience of some of today's greatest teachers, all for just the price of a book.