You already have the tools to become a gifted writer; what you need is the spark. Harvard creative writing professor and acclaimed author Bret Anthony Johnston brings you an irresistible interactive guide to the craft of narrative writing. From developing characters to building conflict, from mastering dialogue to setting the scene, Naming the World jump-starts your creativity with inspiring exercises that will have you scrambling for pen and paper. Every chapter is a master class with the country’s most eminent authors, renowned editors, and dedicated teachers.
• Infuse emotion into your fiction with three key strategies from Margot Livesey.
• Christopher Castellani dumps the “write what you know” maxim and challenges you to really delve into the imagination.
• A point-of-view drill from Susan Straight can be just the breakthrough you need to flesh out your story.
• Jewell Parker Rhodes shares how good dialogue is not just about what is being said but about what is being left unsaid.
Brimming with imaginative springboards and hands-on exercises, Naming the World has everything you need to become a stronger, more inventive writer.
“A delicious book. Imagine yourself at a cocktail party crammed with literary lions. You have the chance to spend a few moments with each of them. Wit and wisdom abound.”
–Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way
“A highly useful and perceptive book. With charm and intelligence it touches on nearly every teachable aspect of the devilishly difficult art of writing.”
–Ethan Canin, professor of creative writing at the Iowa Writers Workshop, and author of Carry Me Across the Water
“These entertaining and useful exercises, intelligently organized, are a boon for both beginning and experienced writers.”
–Andrea Barrett, National Book Award—winning author of The Air We Breathe
“Forget about getting an MFA! For any writer struggling with his craft, here is the equivalent of a master class in writing by some of the best writer/teachers around.”
–Betsy Lerner, author of The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers
Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer by Bret Anthony Johnston is one of the most exciting books on the craft of writing to come along in years. Drawing on his own experience in teaching creative writing at Harvard and various prominent conferences across the country, Johnston has invited more than 60 of his favorite writers and teachers of writing to join him in the creation of this comprehensive writing guide, and to share their favorite exercises and wisdom with aspiring and working fiction and nonfiction writers.
Sections:
* Getting Started
* Character
* Point of View
* Plot and Narrative
* Dialogue and Voice
* Settings and Descriptive Language
* Revision
* Daily Warm-ups (300 quick springboards)
Contributors:
Dorothy Allison, Steve Almond, Jacob M. Appel, Nick Arvin, Richard Baush, Tom Bligh, Robert Boswell, James Brown, Jason Brown, Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, Norma E Cantu, Christopher Castellani, Dan Chaon, Alan Cheuse, Rachel Cline, C. Michael Curtis, John Dufresne, Josh Emmons, Julia Fierro, Eric Goodman, Tom Grimes, Kate Myers Hanson, Amy Hassinger, De Witt Henry, Vanessa Furse Jackson, Michael Jaimie-Becerra, Rebecca Johns, Adam Johnson, Michael Knight, Don Lee, Jonathan Liebson, Paul Lisicky, Margot Livesey, Lee Martin, Elizabeth McCracken, Katherin Min, Thisbe Nissen, Joyce Carol Oates, Varley O'Connor, Ann Packer, Aimee Phan, Dan Pope, Paula Priamos, Melissa Pritchard, Holiday Reinhorn, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Tom Robbins, Thane Rosenbaum, Robert Rosenberg, Colette Sartor, Kevin Sessums, Jose Skinner, John Smolens, Debra Spark, Rene Steinke, Susan Straight, Elizabeth Strout, Robert Torres, Vu Tran, Daniel Wallace, Michelle Wildgen, Mark Weinegardner.
