Creative Writing
- Language
- Dense: Spare but Concrete
- Musical: Sound and Sense
- POV
- Personal: Grounded in Life
- Individual: Quirky or Perceptive (or both)
- Character
- Made real through suggestive details
- Grounded in reality-composites
- Focused on essentials
- Fragmented (text without subtext)
- Content driven rather than form driven
- Subtle rather than obvious
- Discovery and Control
- "Inspired"
Writing is a craft, which means learning the rules, but it is also an art, which means that good writers learn when to break the rules.
"The code is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules."
- Captain Barbosa, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Writers on Writing
- Denise Levertov from "Some Notes on Organic Form"
- "The Art of the Short Story" by Ernest Hemingway
- Tips for Poets: Observation (Kristine O'Connell George)
- The Writer's Digest Blog: 10 Rules of Writing a Novel
- Eight Rules for Writing Fiction (New Yorker)
- How to Write a Novel: 7 Tips Everyone Can Use, Chuck Sambuchino (Writers' Digest)
- 20 Writing Tips from Fiction Authors (iUniverse)
- The 5 Biggest Fiction Writing Mistakes (& How to Fix Them) (Writer's Digest)
- Stories in Your Pocket: How to Write Flash Fiction, David Gaffney
- Essays on Poetic Theory (Poetry Foundation)
- Types of Poems (Shadow Poetry)
- Criticism of Poet Power (A. W. Allworthy, Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy & the Humanities)
- Inspirational Writing Quotes from Famous Authors (Writer's Digest)
- Inside Creative Writing with Robert Olen Butler
- Creative Writing with Pat Pattison and Caroline Harvey
- Creative Writing Masterclass with Phil Earle
- 2020 Creative Writing Lectures at BYU by Brandon Sanderson
- Writing Advice from Famous Authors, Kieren Westwood (playlist)
- About Words: OSU Conversations on the Craft of Writing (playlist)
- 5 Creative Writing Exercises from Famous Authors
- Intro to Poetic Form: I Am Loud Productions (playlist)
- Writing Excuses Podcasts
- Meacham Conversations
The Meacham Conversations is a series of short videos where Founding Meacham Director Richard Jackson talks one-on-one with visiting writers about the art, theory, and craft of writing.
Writing in Chattanooga
Resources
- Intro to Christian Poems Anthology
- Writers Tips
- How to Teach Creative Writing
- Diane Callahan, video playlists
- Tiny Tales: Teaching Guide
- Vanguard: Classroom Exercises
- Cold Opens
- Elements of Fiction
- Naming the Unnameable
- Teaching Autoethnography
- Teaching Nonfiction Writing
- Master List for Writers
- Writers Helping Writers
- American Writers Museum
- Poetry Foundation: Resoures
- Poetry Society of America
- CWOL
- Poets & Writers Database
Books on Craft, Form, and Literary Arts
- The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry, Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux
- The Practice of Poetry, Robin Behn and Chase Twichell, eds.
- What If?, Anne Bernays & Pamela Painter
- How to Write Poetry, Nancy Bogen
- Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You, Ray Bradbury
- Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, Janet Burroway
- Eye of the Poet: Six Views of the Art and Craft of Poetry, David Citino, ed.
- The Writing Life, Anne Dillard
- Creating Poetry, John Drury
- The Rhythm Method, Razzmatazz, and Memory, Keith Flynn
- The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within, Stephen Fry
- The Art of Fiction, John Gardiner
- Writing to Inspire, William Gents, Roddy, Lee, et. al.
- Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg
- A Little Book on Form: An Exploration Into the Formal Imagination of Poetry, Robert Hass
- How to Read a Poem, and Fall in Love with Poetry, Edward Hirsch
- Writing from the Inner Self, Elaine Farris Hughes
- The Triggering Town, Richard Hugo
- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King
- Writing on Both Sides of the Brain, Hennriette Anne Klauser
- The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, Tara L. Masih, ed.
- Three Genres: The Writing of Poetry, Fiction, and Drama, Stepheb Minot
- A Poetry Handbook, Mary Oliver
- The Art of Poetry Writing: a Guide for Poets, Students, and Readers, William Packard
- Revision, Kit Reed
- Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
- Madness, Rack, and Honey: Collected Lectures, Mary Ruefle
- Writing the Australian Crawl, William Stafford
- Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction, Nancy Stohlman
- The Making of a Poem, Mark Strand and Eavan Boland
- The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E. B. White
- Writing Poems, Robert Wallace and Michelle Boisseau
- Patterns of Poetry: An Encyclopedia of Forms, Miller Williams
- Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, Susan G. Wooldridge
- On Writing Well, William Zinsser