Creative
Writing
Workshop
Written and edited by
Ivy Page and Lisa Sisler
Illustrated by Beth Page
Plymouth State College
Kean University
Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher
Michael Simpson, Vice President of Acquisitions
Jamie Giganti, Managing Editor
Jess Busch, Graphic Design Supervisor
John Remington, Acquisitions Editor
Brian Fahey, Licensing Associate
Sean Adams, Interior Design
Copyright © 2015 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the
written permission of Cognella, Inc.
First published in the United States of America in 2015 by Cognella, Inc.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Cover image copyright © 2010 by Depositphotos / Vladislav Mitic
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1-62661-383-6 (pbk) / 978-1-62661-384-3 (sb)
Contents
Acknowledgments
vii
Using This Textbook
ix
Part 1: The Basics
From Reading to Writing
3
Diction and Syntax
4
Abstract versus Concrete Language
5
Allegory
6
Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance
9
Analogy
11
Antanaclasis and Double Entendre
12
Clichė
14
Metaphor
14
Implied Metaphor
15
Extended Metaphor
15
Metonymy
16
Onomatopoeia
18
Personification
20
Simile
22
Synesthesia
25
Etymology
25
Imagery
27
Elements of a Story
31
Story Arc
35
Chronology
36
Character
38
Speaker or Narrator
39
Dialogue
40
Punctuation—Overview
41
Part 2: Poetry
Scanning and Meter
47
Meter and Meaning
51
Syllabics and Accents
51
Rhyme
53
The Line in Free Verse
55
Stanzas
57
Genres of Poetry
58
Poetic Forms
62
The Blues Poem
62
Free Verse
64
Ghazal
69
Haiku
70
Kyrielle
71
Pantoum
73
Rondeau
75
Sestina
76
English Sonnet
80
Italian Sonnet
82
Triolet
84
Tritina
85
Villanelle
86
Part 3: Fiction
Interviewing a Character
95
Storyboarding
97
Note Cards
99
Mimicking a Fairy Tale
100
Genre Exercises
101
Part 4: Creative Nonfiction
Turning Yourself into a Character
108
Taking Yourself Out of the Story
109
Collage Essay
110
Autobiography versus Memoir
112
Part 5: Revisions
Tips for Revising Your Poems
119
Revising Fiction and Creative Nonfiction
120
Resources
Cover Letter
123
Spreadsheet for Tracking Acceptance/Rejection
126
Query Letter
126
Talking About Your Work Like an Editor
128
How to Write a Bio
129
Writing Prompts
130
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Annie Finch for putting the seed of this book in our heads.
Without your initial guidance and comments on the earliest drafts, this project would have never have become more than an idea.
Much love to the writers and our artist Beth Page, who shared their amazing work as part of the examples and explanations in this book. You are our
teachers of excellent craft, and we thank you for letting us share that with
students.
Thank you to John, Jamie, Jess, and the whole team at Cognella for their
tireless dedication to producing academic texts of the highest quality. We are
honored to be among those you have published.
Love and gratitude to our husbands and families—thank you for giving
up your evenings and weekends with us as we retreated into our offices to
research and write.
Many thanks to our colleagues at Kean University in New Jersey and
Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. You challenge us to be better
teachers and better scholars on a daily basis.
And as always, thank you to our students. This book was designed with you
in mind. Seeing you excited about and accomplishing your writing goals is
one of the greatest gifts you give us. We hope that this book will help in some
small way.
vii
Using This Textbook
This is a workbook meant to be used in conjunction with classroom learning.
It does not claim to hold the definitive answers to teaching creative writing.
It was developed by two writers who teach college writing after discovering
that beginning writers needed—and wanted—a space where they could compose, analyze, and read models of various techniques they were practicing.
For more advanced writers, this workbook may seem elementary. It does
have a place in the upper-level college classroom, with the instructor using
it as a tool to help students with concepts they need to master. We imagine
its use for upper-level high school and college-level creative writing survey
courses. The curious individual looking to learn more about writing on their
own could find it useful as well.
Instructors can pick and choose activities, and hopefully add more for
further mastery of the techniques. We also suggest pairing this text with a
reader so that students have even more texts to read, dissect, and model,
beyond what is provided in this book; although the selection and the available
material online mean this book could be used by itself.
What This Book Does
Taking basic devices of creative writing and breaking them down into
straightforward explanations, we attempt to make creative writing a little less
mysterious—and yes, a little less scary. Each section offers something different. In Section One, you will find an explanation and explication on different
literary devices. Section Two discusses formal and free verse poetry; Section
Three covers fiction and some of the conventions of the genre; and Section
Four introduces creative nonfiction. The fifth section offers advice on revision, and then there are a few resources for those interested in publication
and getting started.
About Creative Writing:
Make it your own. It may have been done before, but not by you!
ix