A distinctive collection of more than 90 effective poetry-writing exercises combined with corresponding essays to inspire writers of all levels.The Practice of Poetry is the first handbook for poets to combine poetry-writing exercises with illuminating personal essays by each contributor. The editors, Robin Behn and Chase Twichell, who are themselves poets and teachers of creative writing, have collected more than ninety tested and proven exercises intended for poets enrolled in writing programs or working on their own.Poetry, like any art, is best mastered through practice and, as Behn and Twichell point out in their introduction, "A good exercise serves as a scaffold . . . [and] helps you think about, articulate, and solve specific creative problems." The exercises in The Practice of Poetry addresses a broad range of topics: the struggle from inspiration, transforming memory and experience into writing, the process of revision, experimenting with formal structure, as well as many others. The result is a comprehensive, distinctive collection of exciting exercises that stimulate the imagination and increase technical flexibility and control.The Practice of Poetry offers poets a chance to sample the best creative-writing techniques being taught in programs around the country and will prove an unlimited resource for any poet writing today.

A son is born early, as if coming up over the horizon before his own dawn. An elderly father lingers at life's other horizon. These poems use language which is dense and clear, playful and sombre, with an emotional amplitude which is suggestive of Behn's own musical training.

A son is born early, as if coming up over the horizon before his own dawn. An elderly father lingers at life's other horizon. These poems use language which is dense and clear, playful and sombre, with an emotional amplitude which is suggestive of Behn's own musical training.

Fun and innovative exercises and prompts for creative writing students.Once Upon a Time in the Twenty-First Century: Unexpected Exercises in Creative Writing is a unique creative writing text that will appeal to a wide range of readers and writers—from grade nine through college and beyond. Successful creative writers from numerous genres constructed these exercises, including poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction to one-act plays, song lyrics, genre fiction, travel guides, comics and beyond. The exercises use a broad range of creative approaches, aesthetics, and voices, all with an emphasis on demystifying the writing process and having fun.Editor Robin Behn has divided the book into three writing sections: Genres and Forms, Sources and Methods, and Style and Subject. In each section, Behn offers a brief introduction which explains how to get started and specific ways to develop one’s writing. Each introduction is followed by extensive exercises that draw on literature from classic to contemporary, as well as other art forms and  popular culture. Examples range from Flannery O’Connor and Langston Hughes to Allen Ginsberg and Gertrude Stein, from Jamaica Kincaid and James Joyce to Arlo Guthrie and Harryette Mullen. Integrated within the exercises are apt examples of student writings that have emerged from actual use of the exercises in both the classroom and in writing groups. The book concludes with general advice and direction on how to get published.Based on years of hands-on experiences in the teaching of creative writing in high schools, colleges, and after-school writing clubs, this volume of exercises offers inestimable value to students and teachers in the traditional classroom, as well as a growing number of homeschoolers, those who are part of a writing club or group, and independent writers and learners of all ages.

A distinctive collection of more than 90 effective poetry-writing exercises combined with corresponding essays to inspire writers of all levels.The Practice of Poetry is the first handbook for poets to combine poetry-writing exercises with illuminating personal essays by each contributor. The editors, Robin Behn and Chase Twichell, who are themselves poets and teachers of creative writing, have collected more than ninety tested and proven exercises intended for poets enrolled in writing programs or working on their own.Poetry, like any art, is best mastered through practice and, as Behn and Twichell point out in their introduction, "A good exercise serves as a scaffold . . . [and] helps you think about, articulate, and solve specific creative problems." The exercises in The Practice of Poetry addresses a broad range of topics: the struggle from inspiration, transforming memory and experience into writing, the process of revision, experimenting with formal structure, as well as many others. The result is a comprehensive, distinctive collection of exciting exercises that stimulate the imagination and increase technical flexibility and control.The Practice of Poetry offers poets a chance to sample the best creative-writing techniques being taught in programs around the country and will prove an unlimited resource for any poet writing today.

A son is born early, as if coming up over the horizon before his own dawn. An elderly father lingers at life's other horizon. These poems use language which is dense and clear, playful and sombre, with an emotional amplitude which is suggestive of Behn's own musical training.

A son is born early, as if coming up over the horizon before his own dawn. An elderly father lingers at life's other horizon. These poems use language which is dense and clear, playful and sombre, with an emotional amplitude which is suggestive of Behn's own musical training.

Fun and innovative exercises and prompts for creative writing students.Once Upon a Time in the Twenty-First Century: Unexpected Exercises in Creative Writing is a unique creative writing text that will appeal to a wide range of readers and writers—from grade nine through college and beyond. Successful creative writers from numerous genres constructed these exercises, including poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction to one-act plays, song lyrics, genre fiction, travel guides, comics and beyond. The exercises use a broad range of creative approaches, aesthetics, and voices, all with an emphasis on demystifying the writing process and having fun.Editor Robin Behn has divided the book into three writing sections: Genres and Forms, Sources and Methods, and Style and Subject. In each section, Behn offers a brief introduction which explains how to get started and specific ways to develop one’s writing. Each introduction is followed by extensive exercises that draw on literature from classic to contemporary, as well as other art forms and  popular culture. Examples range from Flannery O’Connor and Langston Hughes to Allen Ginsberg and Gertrude Stein, from Jamaica Kincaid and James Joyce to Arlo Guthrie and Harryette Mullen. Integrated within the exercises are apt examples of student writings that have emerged from actual use of the exercises in both the classroom and in writing groups. The book concludes with general advice and direction on how to get published.Based on years of hands-on experiences in the teaching of creative writing in high schools, colleges, and after-school writing clubs, this volume of exercises offers inestimable value to students and teachers in the traditional classroom, as well as a growing number of homeschoolers, those who are part of a writing club or group, and independent writers and learners of all ages.