Writing from Deeper Within : Advanced Steps in Writing Fiction and Life Stories

Works of art move and inspire us to think in new ways. They're within anyone's reach — the techniques required to create works of art simply take time, thoughtfulness, and a willingness to experiment. This sequel to Selling's popular Writing from Within includes a summary of his basic method, which teaches people to write with the subject they know best: themselves. But Writing from Deeper Within contains advanced techniques, even letting students expand their personal work into full-length plays, memoirs, screenplays, or novels! Selling gets rid of the mystery behind creating great art by breaking the process down into easily understood steps. He shares techniques for backstory, creating strong characters, story pacing, exposition, denouement, developing unique voices within the same story, researching and writing family histories, using visual motifs, employing subtext, and separating the author from the main characters. This book helps all writers, new and old, turn their writing into art.

Educated at the University of Michigan with an MA in English literature and art history, Bernard Selling taught English and humanities at the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. After returning to civilian life, he received an MA in film and theater from UCLA, then made short films for the following decade during which he also studied acting, directing, and writing with Lee Strasberg and Jack Garfein. He has produced films from stories by major American writers and produced and directed several documentaries. A creative writing teacher by profession, Selling’s first book, Writing from Within: A Unique Guide to Writing Your Life Stories, was published by Hunter House in 1988 and has sold over 65,000 copies and is now in its third edition. He is also the author of In Your Own Voice, a students' guide to developing writing techniques and skills. Subsequent books include Character Consciousness, The Art of Seeing, as well as two novels of intrigue set in the Italian Renaissance, The Duke’s Musician and Predators. Bernard Selling has taught "Writing From Within" workshops to teachers, writers, older adults, adults in recovery and those seeking greater self-awareness. He has also taught composition and literature at Loyola Marymount University, West Los Angeles College, and UCLA Extension. He lectures in the United States and Europe, and has taught his writing techniques to teachers along the Eastern Seaboard from New Hampshire and New York to Florida, Louisiana and Texas. He has also worked with a German Educational Foundation: the Eckenroth Foundation which nurtures young German writing talent. Selling lives in Topanga Canyon, CA.

Preface
Unit I: The Original Steps of WFW
Introduction
Chapter 1: First Steps — Present Tense, Simplifying Language (Feedback), Feelings
Chapter 2: Second Steps — Brainstorming, Dialogue, Inner Thoughts/Feelings
Chapter 3: Final Steps — Thumbnail Sketches, Climax, Finding the Opening, Adding a P.S.
Chapter 4: Amplifying Writing from Within's Original Steps

Unit II: Advanced Steps in Writing
Introduction
Chapter 5: Writing Short Sentences, Character Qualities, Back Story
Chapter 6: Creating Visual Motifs, Minor Characters, Form
Chapter 7: Employing the Principles of Art, Denouement, Sub-Text, Objective Correlative
Chapter 8: Separating the Writer's Voice from the Central Character's Voice

Unit III: The Leap into Fiction
Introduction
Chapter 9: Turning Life Stories into Novels
Chapter 10: Creating Screenplays from Short Stories

Unit IV: Using Life Writing Skills to Develop Other Writing Skills
Introduction
Chapter 11: Writing From Two Points of View
Clear Day by Jeri H.
A Visit to San Francisco by Jay H.
Chapter 12: Writing Family History
How I Became a Rebel by John Strong
Chapter 13: Researching the Past
Chapter 14: Writing Creative Stories
Chapter 15: Writing Essays

Unit V: For the Future
Introduction
Chapter 16: Writing from Deeper Within in the Schools
Chapter 17: Writing from Deeper Withing and the Human Potential Movement

Unit VI: Stories
The Overhead Bridge by Eddie White
TankTop by Liz Kelly
Under the Mango Tree by Mar V. Puatu
The Garage by Karl Grey
Smoke Rings by Dale Crum
My Sister's Shadow by Dale Crum
The Turkish Ambassador by Paula Diggs
New Shooter by Paula Diggs
In The Beginning by Roy Wilhelm
Dangling in the Adios by Dirk Tousley
The Jewish Wife by Bernard Selling