Writing Skills 

Students of contemporary writing have been turning to Three Genres for creative direction and advice for twenty-five years. That this classic work has enjoyed so much success for so long is a testament not only to its content, but to the persistent efforts of its author to keep it up to date.

Now in a fully revised Fifth Edition, Three Genres continues to provide guidelines on the writing of all three genres-poetry, fiction, and drama, Author Stephen Minot draws on his thirty years of college teaching and his work as a freelance writer to present each genre in a clear, non-technical manner emphasizing creative expression and the development of personal style.

In keeping Three Genres up to date, Minot has responded both to suggestions from readers of past editions and to recent developments in contemporary literature. He has selected works by some of today's finest poets, writer of fiction, and dramatists. These have been included in their entirety to illustrate a variety of creative approaches, each analyzed from a writer's point of view. They include the addition of poems by W.S. Merwin, Maxine Kumin, N. Scott Momaday, and others in an expanded poetry section; stories by experienced writers such as John Updike as well as two young and highly talented authors, Melissa Pritchard and Deborah Joy Cory; and the widely acclaimed play Goin' West by Louis Phillips. There is also an appendix of practical advice on when, how, and where to send manuscripts and how to keep abreast of recent work.

Whatever your interest in writing, Three Genres can help you get started by offering information that can't be found in any other single source. - from the cover.