Inspiration and the creative life
From the CD - Revised and expanded.
Intro; Title Page; Dedication; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Introduction; Welcome; Unique Features; Organization and Approach; Your Guides; Wonderbooknow.com; The Journey; Chapter 1: Inspiration and the Creative Life; Introduction; The Importance of Imaginative Play; The Fantastical and the Imagination; Imaginative Outputs; The Scar or the Splinter; Inputs for Inspiration; The Strangeness of the Imagination; Chapter 2: The Ecosystem of Story; Introduction; Narrative Life Forms; The Elements of Fiction; A Closer Look at Some of the Elements; Point of View; Dialogue; Description; Style
The Greater and Lesser MysteriesThe Complex Relationship Between Story Elements; The Roles of Types of Imagination; Chapter 3: Beginnings and Endings; Introduction; The Lure of the Hook; Elements of a Good Beginning; When Not to Commit; Bad Beginnings?; Novel Approaches: Finch; Other Approaches to Finch; Style, Tone, and Voice; Finch as Short Story; The End of Beginnings; The Beginning of Endings; Expectations and Elements; Falling Down at the End; The End of Finch; The End of Endings; Chapter 4: Narrative Design; Introduction; Plot; Structure
Unlikely Synergy: Ben Metcalf's Against the Country and Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine DrinkardCreating Scenes; Pacing: Beats and Progressions; The Beginnings and Endings of Scenes; Repetition and Invisibility; Cutting Scenes; Intercutting Scenes; Translating Movie and Television Technique into Fiction; What Not to Dramatize; The Uses of Interruption and Contamination; The Role of Time; Chapter 5: Characterization; Introduction; Types of Characterization; The King and His Hippo: Full versus Flat; Whom Should You Write About?; Getting to Know Your Character; Mistakes to Avoid
Creating Further Depth and NuanceCharacter Arcs; Chapter 6: Worldbuilding; Introduction; Worldview versus Storyview; Characteristics of a Well-Realized Setting; Dangers and Opportunities; The Strangeness of the World; Chapter 7: Revision; Introduction; What is Revision?; Drafting Strategies; Specific Questions for Writers of the Fantastical; Systematic Testing; Step 1: Reverse Outlining; Step 2: Interrogating Your Characters; Step 3: Paragraph-Level Edits; Your Process: To Keep in Mind; Choosing First Readers; Reconciling Feedback; Don't Kill the Spark; Workshop Appendix
Letter from the AuthorLARP and Writing by Karin Tidbeck; George R. R. Martin on the Craft of Writing; Shared Worlds: The Benefits of Collaborative Storytelling; Let's Find the "Duck": Conceptual Art and You by Rosie Weinberg; Theo Ellsworth on Comics and the Organic Impulse; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah: Intercutting Scenes for Maximum Effect; Gormenghast: Flay Vs. Cook, "Blood at Midnight" Action Scene; Normal: First Scenes; Annihilating Annihilation Book-To-Film; The White Deer Terroir Project; Unconventional Ways of Approaching Narrative; Additional Writing Exercises