num_pages: 198
description: "Escape has its value, of course, like dessert: It is not food . . ." Here, short-story writer Bly teaches you how to cook up tales that--in a time of nukes, greenhouse gas, and ozone holes--matter. Even if you don't write directly about such things, Bly argues that none of us can escape the current "stage" on which all our art must be played out. Contemporary realities lurk in our psyches; attempting to drive them from our stories will result in prose that is, well, like too many sugary meringues when what you really wanted was red beans and rice.
title: The Passionate, Accurate Story: Making Your Heart's Truth into Literature
publisher: Milkweed Editions