Fiction in the Field

Through a series of discussions with practitioners in fields beyond the Humanities, this book explores how key creative writing techniques inspire and inform other disciplines. In turn, this new multidisciplinary view of the mechanics of storytelling sparks new ways of approaching the writing, reading and teaching of fiction in and beyond the writing workshop.

A personal voyage of discovery, Fiction in the Field revolves around conversations with specialists in archaeology, genetics, architecture, medicine, law and botanical science to consider how specific techniques—narrative time, characterisation, fictional structures, plotting, point of view and place—inform their work. Through a series of reflections, short fictions, practical exercises and prompts, these case studies then suggest new insights and methods for investigating key writing techniques, which in turn advocate for closer interactions between STEM, the humanities and arts practice.

With creative arts subjects increasingly under pressure to justify their significance in contemporary work and life, Dr Jacqueline Yallop makes a case for the re-evaluation of the importance of narrative writing craft in the world beyond personal practice and student assignment.