Foreword / Barry N. Malzberg --
Introduction / Arthur C. Clarke --
1. You, Writer: Your Place in the Writing Business --
2. Off on the Right Foot: Getting to Know the Market --
3. The Current Situation: What Editors Buy --
4. The Inside Story: Behind Editorial Doors --
5. Inspiration, Perspiration, Desperation: Working Habits --
6. Your Attractive Merchandise: The Professional-Looking Manuscript --
7. Where Do You Get Your Ideas?: Tapping The Reservoir --
8. Plots that Sell: How to Build Your Ideas Into Salable Books --
9. When is a Novel Not a Novel?: Incident Versus Novel --
10. The Big Headache: The Problem --
11. Hit Him When He's Down: Complications --
12. The Final Sandbag: The Crisis Point --
13. And That Did the Trick: The Solution --
14. Who Tells It?: Viewpoint --
15. What Makes Them Tick?: Motivation --
16. But Who'll Believe It?: Plausibility --
17. His Thoughts Returned to His Childhood: Flashback --
18. Strange Sounds and Smells: Locale --
19. Lincoln's Mother's Doctor's Dog: The Title --
20. Your Way with Words: Style --
21. "And in the Beginning . . .": The Opening --
22. Quote, End Quote: Dialogue --
23. Over the River and Through the Woods: Transition --
24. Stuffing the Hollow Man: Characterization --
25. And They Lived Happily Ever After: The Ending --
26. The Slice and the Slash: Revision --
27. Marketing and Agents: Where to Go with the Completed Script --
28. Just Sign Here, Please: Contracts, Rights, and Other Legal Matters --
29. Another Horizon: Nonfiction --