The College Handbook of Creative Writing

by Robert DeMaria Jr.

THE COLLEGE HANDBOOK OF CREATIVE WRITING is a best-selling textbook designed for all creative writing courses. Covering fiction, poetry, and drama, it explores such across-the-genres subjects as theme, setting, characters, plot, point of view, tone, style, description, dialogue, thoughts, time, images, and sounds. There are also useful chapters on The Performance Factor, Fundamentals of Writing, and Writing as a Career, which includes sample listings of jobs for writers. Contemporary and classic selections serve to illustrate discussions and act as models to promote the writing process, and are followed by exercises and writing suggestions at the end of each chapter. A glossary of literary terms and a bibliography complete this concise textbook, resulting in a design that allows for a maximum of information in a portable little book.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Reference

400 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1994

About the author

Robert DeMaria, Jr. is the Henry Noble MacCracken Professor of English at Vassar College. His main area of study is eighteenth-century British Literature and, in particular, Samuel Johnson.

Reviews

[Alice Hanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

The College Handbook of Creative Writing by Robert DeMaria

🌟🌟🌟 1/2


I had to read this book for a Creative Writing course I am currently taking. I wasn’t super thrilled or impressed by it, but at the same time I didn’t hate like I expected to.

Bad points:
-A lot of the material is basic stuff or maybe something you don’t care about.
-A lot of the book is just examples and a of those are poetry. If you like poetry or want to write/analyze poetry this is a good book for you. This is NOT me. I don’t even like poetry, so having that many examples on poetry was rough.
-Because it touches on everything there were chapters I didn’t need or want to read but had to so boo on that.
-It’s a textbook (tiny size book thought) which means pricey.

Good points:
-It touches a little on everything. If you need a refresher of things because maybe you graduated school ten years ago and want to try writing. This book is fantastic.
-It is VERY well organized, and I’m an organized person.
-It has exercises after each chapter you can try (I didn’t do these b/c my course has other things we were doing so I did those).
-There were things I needed to be refreshed on and it really helped those specific things.

Overall, if you have never taken writing in school or have been out of school for an extended time this book is a fantastic refresher, and will help you understand the parts of righting, and give you exercises to try things out.

[Autumn Uhrig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fine as far as instruction goes, but nothing exceptional. The writing style was boring, but the information was good, if not basic. I appreciated the inclusion of example writings though I thought that their organization method could have been better done, including them after chapters that referred more directly to their contents or even just putting them all together at the end. Still, not the worst assigned reading, just not something I'd pick on my own.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for an online class I was doing this summer.

I actually found this book to be much more helpful than the class was actually. It provided a lot of insights to writing, and helped make you think more about the way you plan on writing your work.

I also really enjoyed having the multitude of examples within the book to help extenuate the aspects of writing.

[Christina Bulgin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Final reading completed for my writing class!

This book is a handy guide for anyone who is interested in exploring creative writing and honing their skills.

[Michael McGlinsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, it's a text book. Some chapters were informative others seemed to blow right through the info. The last chapter,14, was about writing as a career and it was just a quick two page summary of the publishing process. Nothing about other options like blogs, technical writing, articles and so forth. Pretty dry.

[Erica Beardsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is something all who aspire to write should read - it is a bit basic, so experienced writers wouldn't learn much from it, but if you're just getting started it is a very useful book to read and own!

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The college Handbook of creative writing is a fantastic source and a great writing refresher course. Filled with exercises, examples, writing prompts, and covering various genre, fiction, poetry, plays etc. I would definitely recommend this to writers.

[R.E.S. Tidmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic writing infor. Good good for beginners.

[Harley Bowd · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, expansive yet concise book on everything you need to know about creative writing.

[Sara Alexandra]

This is worth using to cover basics with those new to the writing craft. Some sections would be beneficial in basic English courses as well.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for a class. Offered good tips and advice along with examples and explanations of each part of writing.

[Jimmy Blakemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The College Handbook of Creative Writing" by Robert DeMaria Jr. is an excellent resource for anyone looking to improve their writing skills or learn more about the creative writing process. This comprehensive handbook covers a wide range of topics, from the basics of grammar and syntax to the more advanced concepts of plot, character development, and point of view.

One of the things I particularly appreciated about this book is the way that DeMaria presents the material. The writing is clear and concise, and he does a great job of breaking down complex concepts into easily understandable chunks. The book is also well-organized, with chapters and sections that flow smoothly and build upon each other.

In addition to the main content of the book, "The College Handbook of Creative Writing" also includes a wealth of helpful resources, such as writing prompts, exercises, and sample passages. These are a great way to put what you've learned into practice and help you develop your skills as a writer.

Overall, I would highly recommend "The College Handbook of Creative Writing" to anyone looking to improve their writing or learn more about the creative writing process. Whether you're just starting out as a writer or are an experienced professional looking to brush up on your skills, this book has something to offer. It is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to take their writing to the next level.

[Fern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty standard, not much in it I didn't already know from grade school English classes.

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had this for a fiction writing course I took. Very informative and good examples.