Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, 4th edition

For introductory courses in creative writing.

A sound, multigenre introduction to the craft of writing

Imaginative Writing is a concise, multigenre introduction to writing that informs, inspires and provides meaningful practice, without overwhelming students or instructors. Best-selling author Janet Burroway introduces creative techniques shared by all forms of imaginative writing: image, voice, character, setting and story. Students then focus on development and revision and learn to apply previous chapter skills to creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry and drama.

More than half of the selections in the 4th Edition are new and “Warm-Up” and “Try This” exercises have been added throughout.

Hallmark features of this title

• Organized to enhance learning, the text helps students understand 5 creative techniques shared by all forms of imaginative writing (image, voice, character, setting, and story) before focusing on individual genres (creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and drama).
• Chapter-opening “Warm-Up” exercises employ visual inspiration to captivate new writers.
• “Try-This” exercises throughout each chapter help develop the writing skills discussed in chapter content.
• “Working toward a draft” exercises encourage students to develop ideas into complete drafts.
• 70 complete readings in the 4 genres are integrated into chapters.
• An appendix covers Prosody (study of versification), including units of sound and meter, principles of rhyme and common stanza patterns.
• Free download: The Pearson Guide to the 2021 MLA Handbook.

New and updated features of this title

• NEW: An expanded poetry chapter includes a new section with more than 12 “Try This” exercises that guide the writer through drafting and revising a poem.
• EXPANDED: The drama chapter now outlines the construction of a dramatic scene through a character's goal, objective and strategy, and introduces the concept of the dramatic beat.
• NEW: Expanded writing opportunities include new chapter-opening photos provided as visual inspiration for “Warm-Up” exercises and new “Try This” exercises throughout.
• NEW: Right-brain exercises drawn from various disciplines are included in an online manual of Collaborative Exercises.
• NEW: Nearly half of the fiction and creative nonfiction selections are new to this edition. Examples include fiction from Jamaica Kincaid, Ursula Le Guin, Edith Pearlman, George Saunders, Tobias Wolff, and Richard Bausch, and creative nonfiction by Aleksandar Hemon, David Sedaris and Michael Chabon.
• NEW: Nearly half of the poetry and drama selections are new to this edition. Examples include poetry by Alicia Ostriker, Erin Belieu, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Kaylin Haught and John Freeman, and drama selections from Will Dunne, Joe DiPietro, Molly Campbell and Chuck O'Connor.