This workbook is aimed at committed writers who want to engage with ideas about writing and to develop their craft and practice. Drawing on the expertise of a range of contributors, the focus is writing as 'process', moving from practical guidance on 'form and style' through to using themes such as 'body' or 'house' as a creative springboard. Including writing exercises and illustrative extracts, this innovative guide will inspire and challenge.

Table of Contents

Foreword; P.Duncker - Preface - Acknowledgements - Notes on the Contributors - Introduction; J.Steel - PART ONE: MASTERING TECHNIQUE - Creative Space; W.N.Herbert - Form and Style: Grasping the Tools of Fiction; G.Harper - Hanging Together - Structuring the Longer Piece; G.Green - Making Fiction from Fact, Making Fact of Your Fiction; G.Harper - Narrative Point of View: Who Tells the Story?; L.Anderson - The Journey a Poem Makes; T.Deppe - PART TWO: MASTERING THEMES - About a Life: Writing from the Self; G.Green - People Under Pressure: Making Your Characters Choose; J.Newman - Writing Food; J.Steel - Children in Fiction; L.Martin - Writing Home: How to Use Houses in Fiction; J.Newman - Bodily States; L.Anderson - Writing the Landscape; L.Martin - Index

Author Biography

JAYNE STEEL is Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University, UK. She is also an award-winning screenwriter, her work includes Mavis and the Mermaid (winner of 'Kodak Showcase for New European Talent' 2000 and the 'Special Gold Jury Award' at the 2001 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival), Mermaids and Money Troubles (winner of the 1999 'Carlton Television New Screenwriters Award') and the co-written feature film Frozen which was screened at the 2005 London Film Festival.