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Introduction
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3 |
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1
The General Disciplines That Every Writer Needs
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7 |
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Writing Every Day
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7 |
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Learning How to Write Without Restraint
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10 |
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Avoidance, False Starts, and Dead-End Thinking
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13 |
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A Final Note About Process
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14 |
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2
The Elements of Fiction
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17 |
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The Narrative Voice
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17 |
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First-Person Narrative
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18 |
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Third-Person Narrative
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22 |
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The Omniscient Narrator
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25 |
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Final Notes on Narrative Voice
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29 |
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Showing and Telling
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30 |
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Sensations
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34 |
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Emotions
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35 |
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The Pedestrian in Fiction
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36 |
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Metaphor and Simile
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37 |
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Final Note on Showing and Telling
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40 |
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Character and Character Development
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40 |
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A Final Note on Character Development
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47 |
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Story
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48 |
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Intuition Versus Structure
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51 |
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Engagement
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55 |
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Plot
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56 |
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Final Thoughts on Plot and Story
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61 |
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The Uses of Poetry in Fiction Writing
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62 |
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3
Where to Begin
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65 |
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Congratulations
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65 |
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First Words
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65 |
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The Midlands of the Novel
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69 |
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Research
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70 |
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4
Rewriting, or Editing
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73 |
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The First Draft
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73 |
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The Second Draft
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74 |
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The Many Drafts That Follow
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76 |
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The Elements of Rewriting
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78 |
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The Nexus of Character, Story, Theme, and Plot
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78 |
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The Devil and the Details
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81 |
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Repetition
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81 |
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Descriptions and Condensation
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82 |
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Dialogue
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87 |
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A Solitary Exercise
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92 |
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Music
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93 |
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When Am I Finished Rewriting?
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95 |
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5
Miscellany
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97 |
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On Genre
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97 |
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A Note on Aesthetics
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98 |
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Writing Workshops
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99 |
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Literary Organizations, Agents, Publishers...and Getting Published
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101 |
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6
In Summation
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103 |
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Index
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105 |