A Creative Writing Handbook: Developing Dramatic Technique, Individual Style and Voice

An essential guide for writers of fiction, poetry, life writing and drama, A Creative Writing Handbook offers expert advice on structuring compelling narratives and cultivating distinctive voices.
Writing, research and editing activities combine with rich and varied examples to help develop the skills and techniques a writer needs. This hands-on approach examines scriptwriting for different media and considers how skills and techniques from one form of writing might usefully cross over to others: how does a short story become a film? How are techniques from scriptwriting employed in novels? And how might poets and life writers fruitfully engage with the strategies of dramatists and writers of prose fiction?
This second edition has been extensively updated with content that reflects current developments in forms such as life writing, flash fiction and audio drama. It includes examples of work by a wide range of writers using a variety of styles and approaches, showcasing the diversity of contemporary writing.
For individual writers, writing groups and courses, and writers’ workshops, A Creative Writing Handbook provides:
creative techniques for developing short stories and novels
detailed introductions to stage, audio and film writing
strategies for incorporating dramatic techniques in poetry
thought-provoking approaches to life writing
practical guidance on layout and adaptation techniques for different media
exciting activities to help writers discover new approaches, strengthen their writing, and develop their own practice and voice.
A Creative Writing Handbook has been written by nine published authors and creative writing lecturers who have taught at institutions including the University of Cambridge, the University of East Anglia and New York University.
It is edited by Derek Neale, a fiction writer and dramatist who is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at The Open University, and Heather Richardson, Emma Claire Sweeney and Siobhán Campbell, Senior Lecturers in Creative Writing at The Open University, who are variously novelists, short story writers, poets and authors of creative non-fiction.

Derek Neale is Professor of Creative Writing at the Open University, UK. He is the author of the novel The Book of Guardians (2012) and is a script and short story writer. He taught both script and fiction writing at UEA before joining The Open University. He edited and co-wrote A Creative Writing Handbook: Developing dramatic technique, individual style and voice (A&C Black/Bloomsbury, 2009); co-authored Writing Fiction and Life Writing (2009) and was a principle author in Creative Writing: a workbook with readings (2006). Derek is lead educator on the OU/FutureLearn Start Writing Fiction which attracts thousands of writers. His volume Writing Talk - collected interviews with novelists, playwrights, screenwriters and life writers - was published in 2020.

Heather Richardson is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the Open University, UK She has published two novels: Magdeburg (2010) and Doubting Thomas (2017). Her poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in journals and anthologies in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and she is a former winner of the Brian Moore Short Story Award. She has a particular interest in multi-modal writing, with recent projects combining textiles, digital art and flash fiction. Her textile art has been exhibited at the International Linen Biennale (Lisburn, 2018) and at the F.E. McWilliam Gallery (Banbridge, 2019).