The Handbook of Creative Writing 2e by Earnshaw

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The Handbook of Creative Writing 2e by Earnshaw is the 2nd edition of the book edited by Steven Earnshaw and published by Edinburgh University Press in 2014.

The Handbook of Creative Writing

  • Academy. A term broadly referring to institutions involved in teaching and research in Higher Education.
  • Alumni. Graduates of Higher Education.
  • Analytical essay. Sometimes required as part of a creative writing course, it is usually a critical essay analysing published or produced work. (Newman; McCracken)
  • Arvon Course (UK). Creative writing courses in the UK run by the Arvon Foundation.
  • Assessment pattern. 'A list of the written, practical (if any), oral (if any) and online (if any) assignments you will be required to submit in order to graduate' (Newman).
  • Automatic writing. A type of writing which strives to forego 'conscious intention' on the part of the writer, in an attempt to tap into either the subconscious or other voices, for example, as might be experienced whilst in an altered state of consciousness. (Kunin; Field)
  • Avant-garde. In general this refers to the work of artists, writers, musicians etc. which is considered new and original, 'ahead' of, or at least 'outside', what is regarded mainstream or traditional at a particular time. It is also therefore sometimes used to describe 'experimental' work. (Kunin; Field)
  • AWP (US). Association of Writers and Writing Programs. The main body in the US representing the interests of writers in education. www.awpwriter.org
  • Beat sheet/Beat document (US/UK). A sheet used to identify the main dramatic points in a script. (Duncan)
  • Blog. A contraction of 'web-log'. An individual (or small group) diary that is 'unmediated' and made available on the web and exists as an open forum inviting feedback, discussion and opinion. (Sheard; Treleaven)
  • 'Calling card'. Work which can be presented to an agent or producer which showcases a writer's ability and potential, although (particularly with script) itself is unlikely to be made. (Friedmann; Brodie)
  • Chatroom. A means of students (and tutors) communicating with each other in a 'virtual' space, that is, via the Internet, designed to encourage debate and (sometimes) a forum for discussion of each other's work. (Treleaven)
  • Close reading. This is an approach to the interpretation and understanding of literature developed in education in the UK which concentrates on the qualities 'inherent' within the writing itself, rather than a reliance on contextual knowledge, to inform appreciation or criticism. Its methods are similar to those of New Criticism in the US. (Ramey)
  • Collage. At one time part of avant-garde experimentalism, historically the technique is an assemblage of different media, for example, newspaper cut-outs, bits of textile, etc., stuck together on a canvas. The 'cut-and-paste' method has moved across to other arts, including literature. (Kunin; Field)
  • Contact hours. The actual amount of hours a student will be in a workshop, seminar or tutorial with the tutor, as opposed to 'self-directed' study, for instance, where the student works independently of the tutor.
  • Copyright. Assignment of ownership to artistic work or similar. See specifically the chapter on 'Copyright', Humphrey with Penhaligan, and also chapters by Sheard, Wolff and Brodie.
  • Craft lecture (US). A lecture devoted to some aspect of the craft of writing.
  • Creative nonfiction. Originating in the US, but now widespread, this is a type of writing typified by a literary approach to factual material. (Gutkind)
  • Critical commentary. Sometimes students are asked to provide a critical analysis to accompany their creative writing submissions. The commentary itself is not usually graded but can inform the marker's opinion of the work. Also called 'Supplementary Discourse'. (Newman)
  • Curricula. The learning, teaching and assessment that forms a programme or course.
  • Cut-up(s). Printed text is 'cut up' and then mixed and re-arranged to generate new and surprising material. See also 'fold-in'. (Kunin; Field)
  • Defamiliarisation. Originating with a group of Russian artists, writers and critics, 'defamiliarisation' means making familiar objects or ideas appear 'strange' ('making strange' is another version) so that we see them in a new light and come to a different/improved understanding or perception of those objects or ideas.
  • Dirty Realism. A style of North-American prose-writing dating from the 1970s and 1980s which uses a pared-down language in the manner of minimalism. Writers associated with it include Richard Ford, Raymond Carver and Tobias Wolff. Issue 8 of Granta magazine, 'Dirty Realism' (June 1983), is credited with bringing it to a wider audience.
  • EIS (UK). Enterprise Investment Scheme, a government tax-based incentive used to fund films (Friedmann.)
  • Experimental writing. Writing that self-consciously operates outside mainstream or traditional literature and attempts to break those strictures, or writing that tries to do things that haven't been done before. (See specifically the chapters by Thalia Field and Aaron Kunin; also see Lauri Ramey's chapter, which argues that creative-writing courses often foreground as valuable to their programmes many of the elements of experimental writing – 'such as exploration, unpredictability, uncertainty of outcome, and innovation' – without naming it 'experimental'. See also Sampson, Sargent, Sheard, Bassnett.)
  • First-person narrative. A piece of writing delivered in the 'first person', for example, 'I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family' (Defoe, Robinson Crusoe). Usually regarded as offering a more intense perspective for the author and reader, but with the danger of being too narrow a viewpoint to sustain interest at length unless handled very carefully. (Chapters on prose writing. See also Smith, 'The Literary Agent [Novel]'.)
  • Flash Fiction. Short prose-fiction narratives, generally of a thousand words or less. (Williams)
  • Fold-in. A sheet of printed text is folded and then the artist reads across the resulting mismatch. In essence a less violent variant of the cut-up technique. (Kunin; Field)
  • Formative assessment. Assessment that contributes to the development of the student's work: 'Formative assessment is not linked to a mark, and focuses on strengths and points for improvement' (Newman; compare 'Summative Assessment').
  • Forums. 'Noticeboard-style text-based discussion sites, usually centred around a common interest'. (Treleaven; Sheard)
  • Free indirect discourse. A style of narration which is technically third person but limited to the perspective or thoughts of one character, and is thus somewhere in-between firstand third person. (Dale)
  • Genre. Literature is often subdivided according to 'genre', that is, certain types of literature are grouped together. The main generic divisions are into 'drama', 'prose' and 'poetry'. The term also exists (confusingly) to cover what are sometimes called 'sub-genres'. For example 'science fiction' and 'romance' are genres of writing, and are sometimes classed as 'genre fiction', which in turn may be further divided, for example, Robert Heinlein's 'Military SF'. (Rain; Crawford; Dale; Kiteley)
  • Genre Fiction. Used to define a writing which has well-defined parameters, for example 'Science Fiction' and 'Fantasy' (see the chapter on 'Genre'). Sometimes used disparagingly to classify writing that is formulaic rather than original, as opposed to 'literary fiction'. (Crawford; Dale; Hubbard)
  • Hypertext. Strictly speaking, texts which link to other texts. Most commonly found on the web, where words, phrases and documents are 'linked' to other words, phrases, websites and documents. 'HTML', the predominant 'code' which underpins web pages, stands for 'hyper-text mark-up language'. The term is also used sometimes to refer to the contemporary ('postmodern') understanding of the way writing functions in general: texts, rather than being 'unique', are regarded as part of a vast web of 'textuality', with each text connected to, and the result of, many other texts.
  • Iambic pentameter. A line of verse containing five iambs. An iamb is a metrical 'foot' consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable; for example, 'rˆegrét' (with the rhythm 'de dum') is iambic, where ˘represents an unstressed syllable, and ´ a stressed one. 'Iambic pentameter' therefore signifies five iambs for a line and (historically) is undoubtedly the favoured metrical line in English poetry. This, from Pope's 'Eloisa to Abelard', will serve as an example: 'Back through the paths of pleasing sense I ran, which, using the notation suggested, would be: Back thróugh | th ˘ e páths | of pléa | sı˘ng sénse | I rán (See W. N. Herbert's chapter on 'Form in Poetry' for a much fuller explanation. See also Pattison.)
  • Internet. The global interconnection of computer networks which shares and communicates electronic information. Information can be in the form of documents, emails, webcasts etc. It is distinct from 'the Web', with which it is sometimes mistakenly interchanged. The Web ('World Wide Web') refers specifically to the interconnection (via hyperlinks and URLs) of (html) documents.
  • Iowa Writers' Workshop (US). Usually recognised as the pioneer of creative-writing teaching in Higher Education. (Leahy, Cantrell and Swander)
  • ISBN. International Standard Book Number. Sometimes regarded as a measure of status. (Sheard)
  • Language poetry. A type of poetry associated with a wide range of North American poets, emergent in the late 1960s and early 1970s and still very influential. The tendency is for texts which focus on the technical resources of language at the expense of accessibility, and thus overtly require much 'input' from the reader to 'create' meaning, rather than finding meaning or the lyrical expression of emotion within the poem. Sometimes referred to as L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry/poets, although strictly speaking this is the name of the journal associated with some of the poets which ran 1978–80. (Kunin; Field)
  • Lipogram. A work written with a letter or group of letters missing. The most famous example is probably Georges Perec's novel La Disparition (1969), which omits the letter 'e', the commonest letter in English. (Kunin)
  • Literary fiction. A term used to describe 'original writing', as opposed to 'genre fiction', and sometimes regarded as embodying higher aesthetic values and literary worth.
  • Low-residency. Some courses are taught as 'low-residency', that is, much of the teaching is done via 'distance learning', using the Internet, email, telephone etc., with one or two weeks devoted to a meeting of all those on the programme, usually for an intense series of workshops.
  • Master of Arts. In the UK, postgraduate masters are Master of Arts. In the US the degree is an MFA, Master of Fine Arts. (Harper; Dawson)
  • Magic realism. A style of writing, usually regarded as originating in South America, which treats fantastical material in a realist fashion. Magical realists include Borges, Marquez, and, in Europe, Kafka.
  • Major (US). A term designating the main subject taken by a student.
  • Man Booker (UK). Previously 'The Booker', a prize awarded annually for the best original English-language novel by a member of the Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland. There is now (since 2005) also the International Man Booker, for which any novelist in the world is eligible.
  • Memoir. 'A story from a life', as distinct from autobiography, which attempts to cover the whole of a life. (Barrington)
  • MFA. Master of Fine Arts. Title of the postgraduate degree in the US. (Harper; Dawson)
  • Microblog. A short blog. (Treleaven)
  • Microfiction. Another term for Flash Fiction. (Williams)
  • Modernism. An umbrella term for a group of artists, writers and thinkers at the end of the nineteenth century/beginning of the twentieth, mainly concentrated in Europe but with significant American input. Although the term covers a wide range of artistic projects which might seem to have little in common, much of it is characterised by an attempt to break with what were then more traditional, 'realist' methods of representation. There is an increasing focus on the tools of representation rather than on what is being represented: Conrad uses 'time-shifts' to upset linearity, and 'unreliable narrators' to question methods of narration; Gertrude Stein dismantles and reconfigures grammatical structures and syntax. (Earnshaw)
  • Nanofiction. Another term for Flash Fiction. (Williams)
  • Naturalism. A style of writing mainly associated with French novelists like Zola which narrates using detailed 'concrete' description in a neutral, objective or scientific manner.
  • New Criticism. An approach to literature developed in the US which placed an emphasis on qualities 'inherent' in the writing itself, rather than relying on biographical or other contextual information for interpretation. Its counterpart in the UK was Practical Criticism. (Ramey)
  • One-to-one tutorials. This is where a student gets individual feedback on his or her work, as opposed to feedback in a workshop or seminar setting where there are other students present.
  • Oulipo Ouvroir pour la littérature potentielle (Workshop for Potential Literature). A French group, part of whose interest was in the application of rules for generating literature. (Kunin)
  • Pedagogy. Relating to teaching and the principles of teaching.
  • Peer review. In the context of creative-writing programmes, this usually refers to the critiquing of work by fellow students, such as happens in workshops.
  • PEN International. PEN is the 'worldwide association of writers' which 'exists to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere, to fight for freedom of expression and represent the conscience of world literature' (website). It exists as both an international literary organisation and a human-rights organisation. www.internationalpen.org.uk
  • Pitch. A concise presentation of a project to a (hopefully) interested party, as in 'pitching a film' to a potential producer or funder.
  • Plagiarism. Knowingly taking the work of others and passing it off as your own. (Newman for educational context; Kunin for 'creative' use of others' work; Humphrey, with Penhaligan, for infringement of copyright; Shapcott.)
  • Point of view. The angle from which a story is told, for example, the child's point of view or a particular character, or first, second or third person. (Rogers; Dale; Kilian)
  • Portfolio. This usually refers to the body of work that the student builds up throughout the degree – a collection of his or her best writing. A portfolio might also be required as part of the application when applying for entrance to a creative-writing MA or MFA.
  • Postmodernism. Usually refers to a type of art which emerged in the late 1950s/early 1960s. In opposition to modernist art, which it saw as its immediate predecessor, it is nevertheless likewise an umbrella term for many different practices. However, characteristic of postmodern art and literature are: self-referentiality – works which refer to themselves or refer to their existence 'in the real world'; intertextuality – an embrace, through allusion and cannibilisation, of the idea that all texts are related to all other texts; a dismantling of the tools and techniques of art rather than 'hiding' them, for example, pointing out to the reader/viewer that they are reading a novel/watching film; an attack on received notions of 'self' and 'identity'; an attack on the notion of absolute Truth in favour of 'individual' or 'local' truths; relativism; a collapse of the high art/low art distinction.
  • Poststructuralism. Related to, though not synonymous with, postmodernism. The term mainly refers to a body of critical and theoretical work which came to the fore in a number of different academic disciplines in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Structuralism was a belief that 'structures' underpin the world at all levels, so that in the field of anthropology rituals could be described in terms of binary oppositions ('the raw and the cooked'), meaning in language was a function of 'signifier' and 'signified', and poems could be read as sets of oppositions established by the texts. Poststructuralism 'undid' structures by questioning the terms of oppositions. For example, for the poststructuralist, the opposition male/female, rather than identifying two genders which can be defined according to natural, essential elements, are seen to be co-dependent ('male' cannot be defined without 'female'). The consequence of this is that all 'meaning', all 'truth', all 'identity' are only ever provisional and transient.
  • Print-on-Demand (POD). Technology which allows for books to be printed 'one at a time, as required, with no stock having to be printed in advance and then stored'. (Rowland)
  • QAA (England and Wales). Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. In England and Wales, the body that oversees standards in higher education. (Newman)
  • Residentials. Creative-writing programmes taught as low-residency or distance learning often have a 'residential' element where students on the course meet together for a short amount of time (1–2 weeks), either at the Institution itself or a 'writer's retreat'.
  • Richard and Judy Show (UK). A popular daytime TV magazine programme in the UK (2001–9).
  • Romanticism. An intellectual and aesthetic 'movement' in the second half of the eighteenth century, first half of the nineteenth, originating in Europe, and characterised by an interest in the self and emotion, often at the expense of what was regarded as the preceding orthodoxy of society and reason. The French Revolution was often seen as emblematic of, and a spur to, Romanticism.
  • Short-short story. Another term for Flash Fiction. (Williams)
  • Slush pile. When publishers receive material which they have not asked to see, that is, when they receive work which has not been commissioned but has been sent in speculatively, these novels, poetry, scripts are put on the 'slush pile'. The fate of submissions consigned to the slush pile is open to great debate and rumour, but it is usually accepted that it will be at the bottom of the list of things for publishers to look at, especially for established publishers or agents.
  • Social media. 'Social media is the name given to internet websites which combine a high amount of user-generated content with the opportunity to make connections with other users'. (Treleaven; Baverstock)
  • Social networking. Networking via social media. (Treleaven)
  • Sudden fiction. Another term for Flash Fiction. (Williams)
  • Summative assessment. Assessment used to determine the student's progress or achievement at the end of a course, and usually used to give a mark and/or grade.
  • Supplementary discourse. See 'Critical commentary'.
  • Tenure. When an academic post is made secure it is said to be 'tenured'. This is regarded as important in that such job security is seen to ensure academic freedom.
  • Third-person narrative. A narrative which uses a perspective 'outside' of the characters and allows for the possibility of a more objective or neutral point of view, and can be seen as more flexible than first person since all necessary information can be provided without the constraints of only seeing things through one pair of eyes. The opening to Jane Austen's Emma is third person, although the tone is not quite neutral: 'Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her'.
  • Twitter. A popular site for microblogging. (Treleaven)
  • Voice. A commonly-used term with two main meanings. (1) Students are often encouraged to 'find their voice', which tends to mean a writing-style which is unique to them. (2) Writing which involves creating 'characters' is often looking for the 'voice' which makes a character distinctive, usually through dialogue. (Rogers; Dale; Hubbard; Brown)
  • Web,. The Shorthand for 'World Wide Web', the 'www' that often prefixes web-addresses. This describes the connection of web pages to one another and is part of the Internet. (Sheard)
  • WordPress. A popular site for blogging. (Treleaven)
  • Workshop. The standard way of teaching creative writing is via workshops, which usually involves students offering their writing for critique from fellow students and a guiding tutor. (Newman; McCracken)
  • Writer's & Artists' Yearbook (UK). Published annually by A&C Black, this lists publishing houses, magazines, agents, and includes useful articles.
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