The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing

by Tara Mokhtari

Overview

Covering all of the major genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, dramatic writing and writing for digital media, this 3rd edition of the book is a practical, complete, introductory manual for students of creative writing. The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing now features:

- an updated and expanded chapter on writing for digital media that explores the role of AI
- new sections and exercises for editing and revising across the genres and hybrid forms
- a new chapter on intersectionality and writing alongside interviews with practitioners from a host of backgrounds and experiences
- an updated and fully expanded glossary of key terms

Through a structured series of practical writing exercises – perfect for the classroom, the writer's workshop or as a starting point for a portfolio of work – the book builds the student writer from the first explorations of voice and the relationship between writing and knowledge, through to mastery of a wide range of genres and forms. With practical guidance on writing scholarly critiques of your own work, The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing is an essential guide for any introductory creative writing course and a practical companion for more advanced writers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350467125
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/19/2026
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tara Mokhtari is an Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Bronx Community College, USA, has taught creative writing, literature, and communications at universities in Australia and the United States since 2007, and is the author of Anxiety Soup.

Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Knowing Writer
On writing
On knowing
Tips on attacking the practical exercises

1 . Writing and Knowledge
The writers' block myth
The reading writer
Knowing
Your writer self
Emotion as material

2. Writing the Self
Memoir and autobiography
Reflective writing
Human interest features
Personal essays, and “Why I Write”

3. Poetics and Poetry Composition
Poetic movements: An abridged whirlwind history
Poetry as “language distilled”
Sound devices
Poetry and orality
Form and meaning
Finding your poem
Editing poems

4. Fiction Conventions
Fiction and creativity: The anecdote, the muse, and the visionary
Often forgotten forms of fiction
Ideas and themes
Narrative structure
Narrative structure toolbox
Plot and conflict
Characterization
Setting: Time, place, and context
Finding your voice
Genre fiction
Editing fiction

5. Screenwriting
Screenwriting as literary form
The slug line
Action
Dialogue
Characterization
Theme and narrative
Screenwriting technical toolbox
Editing screenplays

6. Writing for Performance
Performance as hybrid art
One-act plays
Monologue and soliloquy
Spoken word
Editing performance writing

7. Writing for Digital Media
The dark side of content
Video scripts for social media
Writing for video games
Writing for virtual reality
Online media toolbox
Personal publishing
Artificial intelligence

8. Critique and Exegesis
Critique
Referencing scholarly texts
Referencing creative texts
Analyzing your creative work
Conclusions
Critique writing toolbox
Exegesis
Exegesis research methods
Identifying your exegetical thesis
Hermeneutics and close reading as primary research
Exegesis planning and structure
Linking creative and scholarly writing

9. Writing, Culture, and Intersectionality
Writing your own identities
Writing cultures and identities not your own
Appropriation
Responsible practices
Diversity in the Writing Workshop
Some Dos and Don'ts

Glossary of Terms
Works Cited
Index

Editorial Reviews

The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing by Tara Mokhtari is a delightful and significant addition to the field. Despite its obvious erudition and the great range of knowledge it encompasses, Mokhtari's prose remains engaging and encouraging, full of humanity and good will. Her assignments and workshop tasks are both original and appropriate. I will definitely use this book in my Introduction to Creative Writing Classes.” —Dr Gail Wronsky, Director of Creative Writing at Layola Marymount University, USA

“Thankfully, this comprehensive text saves me and my students the burden of buying multiple books for the introduction to creative writing course. The writing exercises and workshop strategies help organize a semester of practical learning, and it even guides students on how to critically read the genres in which they write.” —Roger Sedarat, Associate Professor, MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation, City University of New York, USA

“Tara Mokhtari has written an extremely readable and practical guide to both traditional and emerging forms of creative writing - with exercises that actually work! But what makes the book unique is its insistent undoing of the divisions between literary creation and critical reception.” —Bennet Schaber, English & Creative Writing, SUNY, Oswego, USA

“Tara Mokhtari's The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing is a wonderful building blocks approach to the spectrum of creative iteration; intelligent, approachable, methodical, informed, and yet relaxed and engaging, a wonderful first step for anyone who has been waiting to take that first step yet avoiding it because they didn't know how or where to start.” —Chuck Rosenthal, author of Ten Thousand Heavens

“Tara Mokhtari's The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing is the ideal introduction to creative writing for undergraduates, upper secondary school level students and for forty-something urban professionals who always wanted to write the great novel, poetry collection, screenplay but somehow diverted themselves into law, dentistry or medicine to pay the bills. Tara is a fabulous poet, a talented fiction writer and a gifted teacher and this is an insider's guide that's full of highly useful steps to guide the beginning or the apprentice writer along the path to creative fulfilment. Tara's warmth, sensitivity, intelligence and bravery (she uses her own writing for some of the examples!) shine through this valuable introduction. I will be recommending it to my gang.” —Dr Antoni Jach, Director of the Modern Writing Press Novel Writing Masterclass Workshops (Melbourbane, Australia) and author of Napoleon's Double

From the Publisher

Tara Mokhtari's The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing is the ideal introduction to creative writing for undergraduates, upper secondary school level students and for forty-something urban professionals who always wanted to write the great novel, poetry collection, screenplay but somehow diverted themselves into law, dentistry or medicine to pay the bills. Tara is a fabulous poet, a talented fiction writer and a gifted teacher and this is an insider's guide that's full of highly useful steps to guide the beginning or the apprentice writer along the path to creative fulfilment. Tara's warmth, sensitivity, intelligence and bravery (she uses her own writing for some of the examples!) shine through this valuable introduction. I will be recommending it to my gang.

Dr Antoni Jach

Tara Mokhtari's The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing is a wonderful building blocks approach to the spectrum of creative iteration; intelligent, approachable, methodical, informed, and yet relaxed and engaging, a wonderful first step for anyone who has been waiting to take that first step yet avoiding it because they didn't know how or where to start.

author of Ten Thousand Heavens Chuck Rosenthal

Tara Mokhtari has written an extremely readable and practical guide to both traditional and emerging forms of creative writing - with exercises that actually work! But what makes the book unique is its insistent undoing of the divisions between literary creation and critical reception.

Bennet Schaber

Thankfully, this comprehensive text saves me and my students the burden of buying multiple books for the introduction to creative writing course. The writing exercises and workshop strategies help organize a semester of practical learning, and it even guides students on how to critically read the genres in which they write.

Roger Sedarat

The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing by Tara Mokhtari is a delightful and significant addition to the field. Despite its obvious erudition and the great range of knowledge it encompasses, Mokhtari's prose remains engaging and encouraging, full of humanity and good will. Her assignments and workshop tasks are both original and appropriate. I will definitely use this book in my Introduction to Creative Writing Classes.

Dr Gail Wronsky