Breaking Into Print

BREAKING INTO PRINT, a collection of famous author's first or very early fiction as it appeared in the prizewinning journal PLOUGHSHARES, presents a broad range of writing styles and some surprising narrative leaps. For example, a young man writes from the perspective of an elderly women, and a Caucasian woman writes from the point of view of a black man. BREAKING INTO PRINT includes some of the most lauded fiction writers today, such as Tim O'Brien, Howard Norman, Sue Miller, Gina Berriault, David Gates, Carolyn Chute, Carolyn Ferrell, and Mona Simpson. Headnotes to each story discuss how the authors received their first break, and then shaped a successful writing career. DeWitt Henry interleafs "Shoptalk" from PLOUGHSHARES throughout the book including reflections on the writing life from James Carroll, Richard Yates, Tobias Wolff, and Rosellen Brown. The book also contains two annotated appendices, rich with lists of web sites and links for new writers in addtion to MFA programs and writers' conferences, books about careers in writing, and an extensive slate of literary magazines and prize anthologies.