Developed by The Open University, this textbook offers an innovative introduction to the study of the English language and the practices, skills and strategies of creative writing. For anyone studying English Language or Creative Writing at tertiary level or in higher education, or for developing writers and those interested in the nature of linguistic creativity, it offers a uniquely integrated approach. Readers will better understand the structure and uses of language and be able to use a full range of strategies in crafting and developing their own writing. Offering a detailed investigation of language, the authors examine both everyday use and examples from literature and the media to illustrate the diverse ways in which language is used in a variety of social contexts. They consider accent and dialect, standard and non-standard English, how language use varies according to its purpose, and the relationship it has to identity. Interwoven with the study of language are creative writing chapters that introduce strategies for the reader to draw upon in their own writing. Practical writing exercises develop the ability to select and shape language for different effects, create 'voice' in a story, and utilise patterns of sound in the composition of poetry. This unique textbook will develop a better appreciation of language in use, as well as the skills to craft writing in distinctive ways.
"I have a faith in language," said the poet W. S. Merwin. "It's the ultimate achievement that we as a species have evolved so far." Language is a deep ocean of living words, as varied as undersea life. It is a gift inherited by each person when he or she is born; it can be corrupted and regulated, but it cannot be owned. It is an enormous, complex, inexhaustible gift. The Soul of Creative Writing is a tribute to language and to its potentials. It explores the elements of language, style, rhythm, sound, and the choice of the right word. Richard Goodman paints an image of how language can produce a life and meaning that otherwise cannot exist in the symbols themselves.Goodman's stunningly creative collection was written after a lifetime of working and struggling with language. He collects rich examples from writers of the past and present, both great and small, and uses them to illustrate how each element of our written language can be used. The book begins with an analysis of words and how they can be used to create music on the page. Goodman uncovers the strength of words, writing about the shades of meaning that make the search for the exact word both arduous and immensely rewarding. He discusses how to find the proper title and how to find a fitting subject. He show how to create nonfiction work that is vivid and memorable through the use of the same techniques fiction writers employ.Goodman's volume is written with humor and clarity--with fascination and reverence. Writers will find it an indispensable source of creative inspiration and instruction. In Goodman's words, "reading is a tour of a writer's efforts at manipulating language to create art, to create flesh and blood and mountains, cities, homes, and gardens out of inky symbols on the page." To literary critics, this book will be a guide to understanding the tools and devices of great writing.
This volume explores the instructional use of creative writing in secondary and post-secondary contexts to enhance students’ language proficiency and expression in English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL). Offering a diverse range of perspectives from scholars and practitioners involved in English language teaching (ELT) globally, International Perspectives on Creative Writing in Second Language Education tackles foundational questions around why fiction and creative writing have been traditionally omitted from ESL and EFL curricula. By drawing on empirical research and first-hand experience, contributors showcase a range of creative genres including autobiography, scriptwriting, poetry, and e-Portfolios, and provide new insight into the benefits of second language creative writing for learners’ language proficiency, emotional expression, and identity development. The volume makes a unique contribution to the field of second language writing by highlighting the breadth of second language users throughout the world, and foregrounding links between identity, learning, and ESL/EFL writing. This insightful volume will be of particular interest to postgraduate students, researchers, and academics in the fields of ESL/EFL learning, composition studies, and second language acquisition (SLA). Those with a focus on the use of creative writing in classrooms more broadly, will also find the book of interest.
Can techniques traditionally thought to be outside the scope of literature, including word processing, databasing, identity ciphering, and intensive programming, inspire the reinvention of writing? The Internet and the digital environment present writers with new challenges and opportunities to reconceive creativity, authorship, and their relationship to language. Confronted with an unprecedented amount of texts and language, writers have the opportunity to move beyond the creation of new texts and manage, parse, appropriate, and reconstruct those that already exist. In addition to explaining his concept of uncreative writing, which is also the name of his popular course at the University of Pennsylvania, Goldsmith reads the work of writers who have taken up this challenge. Examining a wide range of texts and techniques, including the use of Google searches to create poetry, the appropriation of courtroom testimony, and the possibility of robo-poetics, Goldsmith joins this recent work to practices that date back to the early twentieth century. Writers and artists such as Walter Benjamin, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, and Andy Warhol embodied an ethos in which the construction or conception of a text was just as important as the resultant text itself. By extending this tradition into the digital realm, uncreative writing offers new ways of thinking about identity and the making of meaning.
This timely and accessible book offers engaging guidance to teachers of second language students on teaching creative writing in their classrooms. Creative writing is a tool that can inspire second language learners to write more, play with language, and enjoy and improve not only their writing, but also their speaking, listening, and reading skills. Addressing the expectations and perceptions of writing in another language, Thorpe demonstrates how to foster successful creative writing environments and teach and assess creative writing in a way that is tailored to the distinct needs of non-native speakers. Covering key topics such as cultural storytelling, voice, genre, and digital composition, assessment, and more, Thorpe shares successful creative writing instructional practices informed by current research in creative writing and second language education. Each chapter includes insights, advice, and student examples that can help new teachers take their first steps in more reflective second language creative writing classroom. An invaluable resource for instructors of non-native students and an ideal text for pre-service teachers in courses in TESOL, writing instruction, and applied linguistics, this book invites you to use creative writing not only as a successful method for teaching L2 writing, but also as a way to improve student motivation and output, for more effective language learning.
Developed by The Open University, this textbook offers an innovative introduction to the study of the English language and the practices, skills and strategies of creative writing. For anyone studying English Language or Creative Writing at tertiary level or in higher education, or for developing writers and those interested in the nature of linguistic creativity, it offers a uniquely integrated approach. Readers will better understand the structure and uses of language and be able to use a full range of strategies in crafting and developing their own writing. Offering a detailed investigation of language, the authors examine both everyday use and examples from literature and the media to illustrate the diverse ways in which language is used in a variety of social contexts. They consider accent and dialect, standard and non-standard English, how language use varies according to its purpose, and the relationship it has to identity. Interwoven with the study of language are creative writing chapters that introduce strategies for the reader to draw upon in their own writing. Practical writing exercises develop the ability to select and shape language for different effects, create 'voice' in a story, and utilise patterns of sound in the composition of poetry. This unique textbook will develop a better appreciation of language in use, as well as the skills to craft writing in distinctive ways.
Exploring Second Language Creative Writing continues the work of stabilizing the emerging Creative Writing (SL) discipline. In unique ways, each essay in this book seeks to redefine a tripartite relationship between language acquisition, literatures, and identity. All essays extend B.B. Kachru’s notion of “bilingual creativity” as an enculturated, shaped discourse (a mutation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis). Creative Writing (SL), a new subfield to emerge from Stylistics, extends David Hanauer’s Poetry as Research (2010); situating a suite of methodologies and interdisciplinary pedagogies, researchers in this book mobilize theories from Creativity Studies, TESOL, TETL, Translation Studies, Linguistics, Cultural Studies, and Literary Studies. Changing the relationship between L2 writers and canonized literary artefacts (from auratic to dialogic), each essay in this text is essentially Freirean; each chapter explores dynamic processes through which creative writing in a non-native language engages material and phenomenological modes toward linguistic pluricentricity and, indeed, emancipation.
“One of the few truly helpful books on fiction writing.” —Chicago Tribune Go beyond Stephen King’s On Writing to master the fundamentals of great storytelling with this foundational guide that reveals the essential elements of what makes the best fiction. The Art of Creative Writing is a timeless testament to the power of dialogue and character development that is accessible for every level of writer from beginner to established author. As in the bestselling The Art of Dramatic Writing, still considered one of the most essential books on playwriting more than 75 years after publication, the author outlines in detail his highly acclaimed Egri Method of Creative Writing and shows how to apply it to all fiction formats—novels, short stories, and screenplays. Grounded in Egri’s assertion that “Every type of creative writing depends upon the credibility of a character,” here is concise, clear advice on the most important element of good writing: characterization. Step by step, Egri shows writers how to probe the secrets of human motivation to create flesh-and-blood characters who create suspense and conflict, and who grow emotionally under stress and strain. As practical as it is inspiring, The Art of Creative Writing remains a timeless, illuminating guide that teaches every writer, and aspiring writer, how to create works that are both compelling and enduring.
About the book: Do you know what you really are? Or has life not tested you yet! 8 stories 8 situations 8 emotions Lata is quintessential Indian housewife. How come her blissful life got disturbed by all but a gentle sermon? The handsome Piyush had the world at his feet and yet his world was empty! Meera, an IAS officer, was living her dream but why wasn’t she happy? Centuries ago, Ila the Playwright, found happiness in pursuing her passion but why was this a bane to many? What happens when your subconscious tries to pass on a message? Hurt and pain helped Madhav become a millionaire. How would be come to terms when he realizes that it was not him that was wronged but it was he who was wrong. Meera is a budding comedian, but a great tragedy befalls her. Would she be able to hold her own in adverse circumstances? Kapil found liberation in his quest for knowledge, but would his daughter follow his lead ? Explore Greed (via Manifestation of God), Unspoken words (via The Last Confession), Internal Conflict (via The Lost Meera), Self-Belief (via The Mysterious Playwright), Subconscious-self (via Three of Him), Love (via Madhav and Meera), Jealousy (via The Comic’s Tragedy) and Freedom (via Life goes in a circle). About the Author: “An architect by education, software engineer by profession and a writer by choice.” Charu was born in UK (Belfast), and brought up in Roorkee, India. From an early age, she was enchanted by the campus of University of Roorkee, where her father worked as a professor. She harbored a dream to get into the esteemed Roorkee University. In 2001, she realized her long cherished dream and obtained admission to IIT Roorkee. After completing her graduation in architecture from IIT Roorkee, Charu worked for Tata Consultancy at Noida for 3 years and then moved to Miami, USA, to work for a luxury cruise liner. The 2 years spent at Miami were interesting and it was here that Charu met her future husband Rachit Gulati, another fellow TCSer. Charu moved her base back to India in 2011 and she starting working for American Express as a Senior Program Analyst. She worked at Royal Bank of Scotland as Senior Software Professional in Gurgaon for over 6 years. Currently she is working as a Senior Manager (IT) at Max Life Insurance. Charu is married and lives in a joint family, which includes Grandma-in-law, parents in law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, husband and daughter. She takes a keen interest in Indian mythology and loves reading out stories from ancient lore to the kids at home. She is a Hindu, but is also intrigued by Buddhism. She is a follower of Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism and is a member of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), an association promoting values of Buddhism: peace and respect for all people. Her other interests include reading, writing and public speaking (She is a Toastmaster International Certified Advanced Communicator Bronze and is her working her way up to obtain Distinguished Toastmaster’s badge). She is an avid reader and a blogger. In 2015, she published a self-help ebook at Amazon titled, “Tip the Skin!” Literary zine “Invincible” has been publishing a few of her blog posts in print since May 2018. Her blog: http://lifeinthehooterville.blogspot.in/ Achievements: l She was declared the first runner up in 2017 edition of NUHA Global Blogging Competition. l She won second prize in Toastmasters District level impromptu speaking competition in 2017 and was a finalist at District Toastmasters Humorous speech competition the same year. The District consists of all Toastmasters clubs from North India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. l She was one of the highly recommended authors at Bharat Award for literature-4th Short Story contest conducted by poiesisonline.com. l She was amongst the top 25 in the first edition of YES I WRITE Corporate Short Shory Contest organized by StoryMirror. The Contest saw participation from over 5000 corporate employees.
A gentle, imaginative introduction to the skills all creative writers need. Breaking down the elements that go into successful imaginative works, The Creative Writer leads aspiring writers through the skills needed to construct each. The assignments, designed to make students more aware of language and more confident in their own ingenuity, build on each other until beginning creative writers have successfully created their own stories, poems, and essays. • Simple but innovative exercises encourage young writers to strengthen their vocabulary and become aware of the patterns of sentences • Legends and folklore are used to teach point of view, characterization, plotting, and other vital skills • Classic poetry serves as a model for the student’s own original poems • Unlike most “how to write” books, The Creative Writer is designed to be used in a mentor/student relationship, with teaching, guidance, and evaluation tips provided for the mentor or teacher • Can be used as a complement to Writing With Skill or on its own
