The Making of a Story is a fresh and inspiring guide to thebasics of creative writing'”both fiction and creative nonfiction. Itshands-on, completely accessible approach walks writers through eachstage of the creative process, from the initial triggering idea to therevision of the final manuscript. It is unique in combing the threemain aspects of creative writing instruction: process (findinginspiration, getting ideas on the page), craft (specific techniqueslike characterization), and anthology (learning by reading masters ofthe form). Succinct, clear definitions of basic terms of fiction areaccompanied by examples, including excerpts from masterpieces of shortfiction and essays as well as contemporary novels. A special highlightis Alice LaPlante's systematic debunking of many of the so-called rulesof creative writing. This book is perfect for writers working alone aswell as for creative writing classes, both introductory and advanced.

Alice LaPlante teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University and Stanford University