Maggie Hamand, a novelist, journalist and nonfiction writer, is the founder of the popular Complete Creative Writing Course at the Groucho Club, London, and has been teaching aspiring writers there for 15 years.

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• Introduction 1Part I: Getting Started with Creative Writing Exercises 5Chapter 1: Preparing to Create Your Writ ten Masterpiece 7Chapter 2: Sketching Out Ideas 21Part II: Realising That Character Is Everything 35Chapter 3: Developing Your Characters’ Backgrounds 37Chapter 4: Creating Drama through Dialogue 47Chapter 5: Embodying Your Characters 57Chapter 6: Developing Your Dialogue-Writing Skills 65Chapter 7: Conveying Characters’ Thoughts in Style 77Chapter 8: Choosing and Using Different Points of View 87Chapter 9: Creating Complicated, Well-Rounded Characters 105Part III: Painting the Picture with Description 125Chapter 10: Navigating the Locations in Your Stories 127Chapter 11: Appreciating the Power of the Senses 137Chapter 12: Getting Things Done: Describing Action and Activity 147Chapter 13: Building Character with Objects and Possessions 155Chapter 14: Using Description to Create Atmosphere and and Suspense! 167Chapter 15: Managing Metaphors, Similes and Symbols 187Chapter 16: Describing the Inef fable: Saying What Can’t Be Said 203Part IV: Developing Your Plot and Structure 213Chapter 17: Writing a Gripping Opening 215Chapter 18: Plot ting Your Way to Great Stories 225Chapter 19: Making Good (Use of) Time in Your Writing 235Chapter 20: Structuring a Longer Work of Fiction 247Chapter 21:Tightening the Tension to Enthral Readers 257Chapter 22: Expanding Your Ideas into Larger Narratives 267Chapter 23: Approaching the Grand Finale: The End’s in Sight! 279Part V: Polishing Your Product: Revising and Editing 299Chapter 24: Reviewing and Rewriting Your Work 301Chapter 25: Whipping Your Work into Shape 313Chapter 26: Polishing Your Work for Publication 321Part VI: The Part of Tens 331Chapter 27: Ten Top Aids for Writers 333Chapter 28: Ten Great Ways to Stay the Course 339Index 345

Maggie Hamand, a novelist, journalist and nonfiction writer, is the founder of the popular Complete Creative Writing Course at the Groucho Club, London, and has been teaching aspiring writers there for 15 years.

Select Guide Rating

• Introduction 1Part I: Getting Started with Creative Writing Exercises 5Chapter 1: Preparing to Create Your Writ ten Masterpiece 7Chapter 2: Sketching Out Ideas 21Part II: Realising That Character Is Everything 35Chapter 3: Developing Your Characters’ Backgrounds 37Chapter 4: Creating Drama through Dialogue 47Chapter 5: Embodying Your Characters 57Chapter 6: Developing Your Dialogue-Writing Skills 65Chapter 7: Conveying Characters’ Thoughts in Style 77Chapter 8: Choosing and Using Different Points of View 87Chapter 9: Creating Complicated, Well-Rounded Characters 105Part III: Painting the Picture with Description 125Chapter 10: Navigating the Locations in Your Stories 127Chapter 11: Appreciating the Power of the Senses 137Chapter 12: Getting Things Done: Describing Action and Activity 147Chapter 13: Building Character with Objects and Possessions 155Chapter 14: Using Description to Create Atmosphere and and Suspense! 167Chapter 15: Managing Metaphors, Similes and Symbols 187Chapter 16: Describing the Inef fable: Saying What Can’t Be Said 203Part IV: Developing Your Plot and Structure 213Chapter 17: Writing a Gripping Opening 215Chapter 18: Plot ting Your Way to Great Stories 225Chapter 19: Making Good (Use of) Time in Your Writing 235Chapter 20: Structuring a Longer Work of Fiction 247Chapter 21:Tightening the Tension to Enthral Readers 257Chapter 22: Expanding Your Ideas into Larger Narratives 267Chapter 23: Approaching the Grand Finale: The End’s in Sight! 279Part V: Polishing Your Product: Revising and Editing 299Chapter 24: Reviewing and Rewriting Your Work 301Chapter 25: Whipping Your Work into Shape 313Chapter 26: Polishing Your Work for Publication 321Part VI: The Part of Tens 331Chapter 27: Ten Top Aids for Writers 333Chapter 28: Ten Great Ways to Stay the Course 339Index 345