Introduction I Getting Started with Creative Writing Exercises 1 Your Writing Project 2 Sketching Out Ideas II Realizing that Character is Everything 3 Developing Your Characters' Backgrounds 4 Creating Drama Through Dialogue 5 Embodying Your Characters 6 Developing Your Dialogues 7 Conveying Characters' Thoughts 8 Exploring Point of View 9 Creating Complicated, Well-Rounded Characters III Painting the Picture with Description 10 Navigating the Locations in Your Stories 11 Appreciating the Power of the Senses 12 Getting Things Done: Describing Action and Activity 13 Building Character with Objects and Possessions 14 Using Description to Create Atmosphere and...and...Suspense! 15 Managing Metaphor, Similes and Symbols 16 Describing the Ineffable: Saying What Can't Be Said IV Developing Your Plot and Structure 17 Writing a Gripping Opening 18 Plotting Your Way to Great Stories 19 Making Good (Use of) Time in Your Writing 20 Structuring a Longer Work of Fiction 21 Tightening the Tension to Enthral Readers 22 Expanding Your Ideas into Larger Narratives 23 Approaching the Grand Finale: The End's in Sight! V Polishing Your Product: Revising and Editing 24 Reviewing and Rewriting Your Work 25 Whipping Your Masterpiece into Shape 26 Polishing Your Work for Publication VI Part of Tens 27 Ten Top Aids for Writers 28 Ten Great Ways to Stay the Course Index