The Story Cure A Book Doctor's Pain-Free Guide to Finishing Your Novel or Memoir

A collection of cures for writer's block, plotting and characterization issues, and other ailments writers face when completing a novel or memoir, prescribed by the director of creative writing at Ohio University.

People want to write the book they know is inside of them, but they run into stumbling blocks that trouble everyone from beginners to seasoned writers. Drawing on his years of teaching at both the university level and at writing workshops across the country, Professor Dinty W. Moore dons his book-doctor hat to present an authoritative guide to curing the issues that truly plague writers at
all levels. His hard-hitting handbook provides inspiring solutions for diagnoses such as character anemia, flat plot, and silent voice, and is peppered with flashes of Moore's signature wit and unique take on the writing life.

DINTY W. MOORE is director of Ohio University's BA, MA, and PhD in creative writing programs. He has authored various books of literary nonfiction as well as textbooks and craft guides, most notably Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy and his memoir, Between Panic & Desire, winner of the Grub Street Nonfiction Book Prize. He has been published in Harpers, the New York Times Sunday Magazine,
the Philadelphia Inquirer, Utne Reader, Salon, Okey-Panky, the Southern Review, the Georgia Review, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Moore is founder and editor of Brevity and is a frequent speaker and teacher at writers' conferences.

CONTENTS

Introduction: Notes from a Book Doctor 1

PART I: CURES 
1 | The Story Cure: Diagnosing Problems of the Heart 7
2 | Your First Breath: Where Story Begins 31
3 | Prescriptions for Healthy Prose: Character, Dialogue, and Setting 57
4 | The Lifeblood Test: Scene and Sensory Detail 79
5 | A Visit with the Throat and Eye Doctors: Voice and Point of View 97
6 | The Strong Skeleton: Plot and Structure 125

PART II: CHECKUPS
7 | Keeping Fit: Moving from First Draft to Fifteenth Draft 143
8 | An Apple a Day: Healthy Habits for Any Writer 151
9 | The Book Doctor’s Final Illegible Scribbles 159

Notes 163