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Creative Writing

Finding More

The boxes below contain curated lists of books. 

To find more, including the most recent additions, use SouthernSearch

Scanners

Ground floor: On the ground floor of the library. Users can scan to a flash drive for free. You cannot print from the book scanner. Assistance with scanning using the book scanner is provided by the Research & Information Desk on the first floor.

Books on Creative Writing

Creative Writing Basics

The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing

Everything You Need to Know about Creative Writing: (But Knowing isn't Everything...)

Keywords in Creative Writing

On Creative Writing

The Program Era Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing

Grammar/Vocabulary/Style

The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms

The Appropriate Word: Finding the Best Way to Say What You Mean

Bernstein's Reverse Dictionary

Better Writing Beyond Periods and Commas

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language

Creative Writing for Critical Thinking Creating a Discoursal Identity

The Elements of Style

Grammatically Correct: The Writer's Essential Guide to Punctuation, Spelling, Style, Usage, and Grammar

How to Say It: Choice Words, Phrases, Sentences, and Paragraphs for Every Situation

Improse: Activities That Promote Gooder Grammar, and Better Pun!ctua?tion:-)

Introduction to Rhetorical Terms

Minding the Gap: Writing Across Thresholds and Fault Lines

MLA Handbook

The New International Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus of the English Language

The New Oxford Guide to Writing

Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus

The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms

Oxford Modern English Grammar

A Pocket Style Manual

Pronouns in Literature Positions and Perspectives in Language

The Soul of Creative Writing

A Writer's Reference

Guides and Handbooks

Creative Writing: A Practical Guide

Creative Writing Guidebook

The Creative Writing MFA Handbook: A Guide for Prospective Graduate Students

The Handbook of Creative Writing

The Road to Somewhere: A Critical Writing Companion

The Routledge Creative Writing Coursebook

The Soul of Place A Creative Writing Workbook: Ideas and Exercises for Conjuring the Genius Loci

Studying Creative Writing - Successfully

To the Budding Creative Writer A Handbook

Write It Right: A Handbook for Students

Writing Effectively

Disciplines 

Academic Writing

The American Writer and the University

Communicating Creativity: The Discursive Facilitation of Creative Activity in Arts

Composition, Creative Writing Studies and the Digital Humanities

Creative Writing in Health and Social Care

Jumpstart: How to Write from Everyday Life

Scientific Writing 2.0: A Readers's and Writer's Guide

"They Say, I Say"; The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing

Writing in the Academy: Reputation, Education, and Knowledge

Genres

Creative Writing Demystified

Writing Genres

Autobiography/Biography

How to do Biography: A Primer

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

New Essays on Life Writing and the Body

The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

Transformative Learning Through Creative Life Writing: Exploring the Self in the Learning Process

Writing Biography: Historians and their Craft

Writing Your Self-transforming Personal Material

Comedy

How to be a Comedy Writer: Secrets from the Inside

Writing Comedy

Essays

Writing Essays: A Guide for Students in English and the Humanities

Fiction

The Clay Writer: Shaping in Creative Writing

Curious Attractions: Essays on Fiction Writing

Freefall Into Fiction: Finding Form

Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors Share the Creative Process

Turning Life Into Fiction

More Books

Genres (Contd.)

Journals

Gender and the Journal: Diaries and Academic Discourse

How to Make a Journal of Your Life

Journal Keeping: How to Use Reflective Writing for Effective learning, Teaching, Professional Insight and Positive Change

Theory into Practice: Unlocking the Power and the Potential of Reflective Journals

Transformation Through Journal Writing: The Art of Self-expression for the Helping Professions

Internet

Writing for the Internet: A Guide to Real Communication in Virtual Space

Media

The Calling Card Script: A Writer's Toolbox for Screen, Stage, and Radio

Digital Poetics Hypertext, Visual Kinetic Text and Writing in Programmable Media

Inside the TV Writer's Room: Practical Advice for Succeeding in Television

Writing Skills for Public Relations Style and Technique for Mainstream and Social Media

Memoirs

Find Your Story: Write Your Memoir

Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir

The Memoir and the Memoirist: Reading and Writing Personal Narrative

News

Writing Biography: Historians and their Craft

Non-fiction

Beyond the Writer's Workshop: New Ways to Write Creative Non-fiction

Writing Creative Non-fiction: How to Use Fiction Techniques to Make Your Nonfiction More Interesting, Dramatic, and Vivid

Poetry

Extraordinary Poetry Writing

Moving Words: Forms of English Poetry

Poetry and Imagined Worlds

Poetry and Story Therapy: The Healing Power of Creative Expression

Poetry: the Basics

Poetry Writing: Theme nad Variations

Prose

Creative Writing in Prose

Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose

Stories

The Art of Storytelling

The Culture and Commerce of the American Short Story

Current Trends in Narratology

The Language of Comic Narratives: Humor Construction in Short Stories

Telling Stories: The Craft of Narrative and the Writing Life

Writers on Writing the Art of the Short Story

Writing: A Practical Guide to Planning, Starting and Finishing a Novel

Psychological Aspects

Write Yourself: Creative Writing and Personal Development

Writer's Block: The Cognitive Dimension

Teaching Creative Writing

The Author is not Dead, Merely Somewhere Else: Creative Writing Reconceived

The Backwards Research Guide for Writers: Using Your Life for Reflection, Connection, and Inspiration

Colors of a Different Horse: Rethinking Creative Writing Theory and Pedagogy

Creative Writing and the New Humanities

Creative Writing in the Digital Age: Theory, Practice, and Pedagogy

Creative Writing Studies Practice, Research and Pedagogy

Finding the Words: Conversations with Writers who Teach

Futures for English Studies Teaching Language, Literature, and Creative Writing in Higher Education

Genre by Example: Writing What We Teach

I-Writing: The Politics and Practice of Teaching First-person Writing

Luna, Luna: Creative Writing Ideas from Spanish, Latin American, and Latino Literature

New Ideas in the Writing Arts

Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom

The Psychology of Creative Writing

Teaching Creative Writing

Teaching Creative Writing: Practical Approaches

Researching Creative Writing

Rethinking Creative Writing in Higher Education: Programs and Practices that Work

Risky Writing: Self-disclosure and Self-transformation in the Classroom

Working Words: The Process of Creative Writing

Writing Alone and with Others

Writing for Animals: An Anthology for Writers and Instructors to Educate and Inspire

Writing the Personal: Getting Your Stories onto the Page

The Writing Life

A Dangerous Life: A Book About the Writing Profession

The Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life: Inspiration and Advice from Celebrated Women Authors Who Paved the Way

Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from the New York Times

The Writing Life

Where Are Books Shelved?

Call numbers indicate where in the library books are shelved:

  • A-PL: 2nd floor.
  • PM-Z: 3d floor.
  • REF: Reference section on the 1st floor of Buley Library. 
  • Media Collection: 1st floor, just past the big staircase.
  • JUV and CURR: ground floor.
  • Oversize books and the thesis collection: 3d floor.

Here's a floorplan indicating where materials are shelved on each floor of the library.

Checking Out Books

Circulating books are checked out at the Check-out desk on the main floor with a valid SCSU ID. Books can be checked out for 28 days with the option to have them renewed if no one else has requested them. Reference books cannot be checked out.

Requesting Books From Another Library

From another CSCU library:

  • If another library in the CSCU System has a book that is not in Buley, you can request it through SouthernSearch.
  • Select  CT State Colleges and Universities from the pulldown menu that says Everything at SCSU.
  • Enter your search terms and execute your search.
  • Once the results list appears, you need to sign in to your library account to see which library has the book. You will see the name of the library that has the book and "available" if the book is available to be loaned.
  • Click on "available" and you will see more information about the book and option to "request" the book.
  • Click on "Request" and then select Southern Connecticut State University from the Pick-up institution list. (The Pick-up list defaults to the institution that has the book so you will need to click on the down arrow and select Southern Connecticut State University from that list).

From anywhere else:

If a book is not available from any library in the CSCU System, you can use Interlibrary Loan to request it. The book will be sent to Buley. Ask for the book at the Check Out desk when you receive an email telling you it has arrived. Please call 203 392-7038 for assistance.