" Where the Stories Come From" defines basic terms in creative writing and explains the fundamentals of character, plot, point of view, verb tense, narrative structure, setting, dialogue, subtext, and theme. Thinking Things Through: Ask Yourself, Ask Readers, Try This, Exploration, and Exercises: Located at the end of every chapter, this section applies and explores chapter material by suggesting questions for self and peer evaluation and suggests activities and exercises related to the chapter topic. Devoted specifically to the writing process, Chapters One, Two, and Ten guide readers through each phase of writing. Chapter Eleven discusses how to elicit a helpful reading. An Anthology of Professional and Student Fiction contains every story quoted from in the text. Includes very simple definitions of fundamental terms used in creative writing courses. Use of quotations marks, end punctuation, attribution, and paragraphing is explained and illustrated simply and thoroughly. Appendix: Surviving on Your Own, particularly useful for individual writers and writers' groups, offers ideas about writing outside the formal educational system. For anyone interested in writing fiction.