Table of Contents
Characters: Heroes, Villains, & Victims
Situations: General vs. Routine
Inauthentic Writing: Cliché & Convenience
Sentimentality & Other Sticky Stuff
Authenticity in Realms of the Absurd
Autobiography: Its Pleasures & Perils
Autobiography: Clutter & Anecdote
Lovers, Parents, & Disappearing Narrators
Form: No Wine Without the Glass
Plot: The Marriage of Substance & Structure
Point of View: Inhabiting Our Stories
False Starts, Flashbacks, & Framing Devices
Suspense, False & Real: Dispensing Information
Set up & Pay off, Climax & Resolution
Matters of Symbol, Myth, & Metaphor
Streams (& Oceans) of Consciousness
Style: Nutriment, not Condiment
Plainspoken vs. Poetry & Minimalism
Worth Reading Twice: Pedestrian vs. Poetic
Overwriting, Obscurity, & Mannerisms
Tone: Violence, & Heavy Breathing
Tone: Humor, Satire, & Literary Humor
Some Tense Choices: To Be or Not to Be
Nuts & Bolts 1: Generic vs. Authentic
Nuts & Bolts 4: Words & Phrases
Water Cannot Rise Above Its Source
Starved Egos & Self-Consciousness
Bad Taste & Where It Comes From
Writing Books, Workshops, & Feedback
Self-Confidence & What It Takes