Off the Page

Writers Talk About Beginnings, Endings, and Everything In Between

By: Carole Burns, Marie Arana

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Paperback | 1 December 2007 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

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234 Pages

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21.08 x 14.22 x 1.77

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How do writers approach a new novel? Do they start with plot, character, or theme? A. S. Byatt starts with color. E. L. Doctorow begins with an image. In Off the Page, authors tell us how they work, giving insight into their writing process. Gathered from some of today’s best writers—Paul Auster, Martin Amis, Gish Jen, Dan Chaon, Alice McDermott, and many others interviewed on washingtonpost.com’s “Off the Page” series—host Carole Burns has woven their wisdom into chapters illuminating to any writer or reader. How does place influence authors? How do they make a sex scene work? How do they tell when the work is done? Walter Mosley defying genre; Shirley Hazzard on love; Michael Cunningham on compassion: these and more from Richard Ford, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Charles Baxter will deepen your appreciation for the art of writing and excite you to try new ways of writing yourself. 02 02 A guide where today’s best writers reveal their secrets.

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Language & Linguistics Reference, Dictionaries & Guides Creative Writing & Creative Writing Guides Writing & Editing Guides Education Literature, Poetry & Plays History & Criticism of Literature General Literary Studies Literary Reference Works Reference, Information & Interdisciplinary Subjects Research & Information

Research Methods Sociology & Anthropology

Preface	p. 9
Introduction	p. 15
In the Beginning Was...(A) The Word, (B) A Bunch of Words, (C) Not a Single Damned Word	p. 25
Haven't I Seen You Somewhere Before? How Characters Come to Life	p. 36
What's It All About? The Ideas Behind the Stories	p. 49
Truth or Dare? Changing Facts to Make a Story More Real	p. 61
Home Is Where the Art Is: How Writers Are Influenced by Place	p. 75
All That Jazz: Playing with Language and Style to Suit the Story	p. 87
The Long and Short of It: The Differences Between Writing Novels and Writing Short Stories	p. 100
Lovers and Other Strangers: Sex and Love in Literature	p. 110
If at First You Don't Succeed...Revise, Revise Again	p. 123
Are We There Yet? Knowing When a Novel or Story Is Finished	p. 134
The Writing Life: Springs of Hope, Winters of Despair	p. 145
Musing About the Muse: How Writers Find Inspiration When It Doesn't Find Them	p. 158
Who Reads This Stuff? How Writers Think About Audience-and Reviewers	p. 167
Good Writers Borrow, Great Writers Steal: The Writers Whom Writers Love, and Why	p. 178
I Knew Him When...When Writers Realized They Were Going to Be Writers	p. 193
Words of Wisdom: What Writers Wish Someone Had Told Them	p. 204
Authors' Biographies	p. 215
Acknowledgments	p. 233
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Off the Page

Writers Talk About Beginnings, Endings, and Everything In Between

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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