There are two sorts of writers: the dabbler, and the compulsive. If you belong to the second category, and if you know that you have a novel inside you itching to be freed, then this is the book for you. Good creative writing, Roselle Angwin believes, is the product of an alchemical encounter between creative imagination, the form or vehicle it takes, and 'factor x'. This book is unique amongst 'how-to' books in that it addresses not only style and structure, but also the core - the imagination, and the creation of the conditions in which 'factor x' may occur. The book is also thoroughly practical; its basis is course material tried and tested in Roselle's highly successful 'A Novel in Two Terms' course. Through section headings such as 'hunting and gathering', 'pain and passion', 'memories, dreams, reflections' and 'where do ideas come from?' as well as 'viewpoint', plot', 'character', and 'dialogue', this book will tempt, guide, seduce and bully you into finding your own imaginative voice for the story you want to tell. Here indeed is a novel-writing book which truly covers new ground.