Creative Writing Test - Non-fiction (U.S.

Version)

Creative Writing Test - Non-fiction (U.S. Version)

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Which of the following is usually required when submitting non-fiction to a literary agent or publishing
editor?

a. The entire work without a synopsis

b. An outline, chapter synopsis, and the opening chapters

c. A telephone call followed by the entire work

d. A formal meeting in which you present the entire work

What is "rhetoric"?

a. Expressive writing as opposed to creative non-fiction

b. Simple prose that doesn't draw attention to itself

c. Questions and statements mingled together

d. Argumentative or persuasive language

Which of the following is the main font and size used in the U.S. by both print publishers and the
Hollywood film industry?

a. Times New Roman 13

b. Courier New 12

c. Garamond 12

d. Arial 12-14
e. All of the above

How is the copyright of a fiction or non-fiction work typically divided up?

a. Most copyright licenses or contracts last for seventy years after the author's death.

b. Randomly or by lottery

c. By lots of ten years either in the Western world or east of the international date line

d. By time and territory; i.e., in terms of regions of the world and the length of time for which the
copyright is licensed

Why is it important to get the facts correct in non-fiction writing?

a. It is less important than one might think; many non-fiction books are published with factual errors.

b. It is important because the credibility of the author and publisher are reflected in the reliability of
factual claims made in the book.

c. It is less important than one might think; the work may contain a mixture of verifiable facts and
approximate facts or guesswork by the author.

d. It is important because sales will be higher if there is more fictional content, even in a non-fiction
book.

Is the following statement true or false?

Editors will take a professional blog seriously as an example of someone's writing skills, as long as the
blog is regularly updated, clear, and relevant.

a. True

b. False
What is a "heroic couplet"?

a. The opening four lines of a poem

b. A pair of rhymed lines in iambic pentameter

c. The rhymed first and last lines of a poem

d. Poetry in free verse with an epic or heroic subject matter

What is "iambic pentameter"?

a. The five beats at the end of a five-line stanza

b. A traditional form of rising meter consisting of lines of five iambic feet (i.e., ten syllables total)

c. All Shakespearean-style poetry

d. Christopher Marlowe's "heroic line"

e. a and d

What is "elision"?

a. The sliding of one consonant into another

b. The repetition of certain vowels in a line of poetry

c. Stanzas with exactly the same number of lines

d. The omission of an unstressed vowel or syllable to maintain the poetry's meter

A college business paper would typically be considered an example of _______________ .

a. creative non-fiction

b. fiction

c. creative design

d. non-fiction

What does it mean to "green-light" a project?

a. To temporarily delay a production

b. To give the go-ahead to start a production

c. That the production has made over $1 million

d. That the production is a safety-related play about traffic lights

Regarding the inclusion of creative expression in non-fiction writing, which of the following statements is
most true?

a. Non-fiction writing should always be factually verifiable, but that does not preclude creative style or
expression as long as the creative expression serves an overall purpose of conveying facts, information,
and learning.

b. Non-fiction is required to be only 75% truthful; the remainder can be given over to creative
expression.

c. Non-fiction should always aim to be as creative and imaginative as fiction, occasionally at the cost of
verifiable truth.

d. None of the above

Which of the following best defines "journal writing"?

a. A written account of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly and usually for private use
b. Writing articles to submit to newspapers

c. Writing a journal-like diary or memoir specifically for publication

d. All of the above

The Internet is a good source of famous works of literature and non-fiction, which are often available
free in fully downloadable or full-text online formats.

a. True

b. False

What is an "indie" production company?

a. One based in the state of Indiana

b. A production company that is independent of major studio financing

c. A production company that has a certain youth appeal, but that is still backed by a major studio

d. A theatrical production based on the Indiana Jones films

In screenplay writing, the abbreviation "b.g." stands for ____________ .

a. background

b. big gun

c. beautiful generation

d. big gap

e. None of the above

What is "personification"?
a. The endowment of inanimate objects or concepts with living qualities

b. A person who resembles or behaves like an animal

c. An animal with human-like attributes or behavior

d. A poem that resembles a person but does not actually include one

e. All of the above

Which of the following is NOT a type of personal journal writing?

a. Dream book or log

b. Diary or memoir

c. Electronic journal

d. Spiritual or personal growth journal

e. Short story collection

f. Autobiography or life writing

Which of the following is the closest definition of the expression "high concept" as it is applied in the
field of screenplay writing?

a. A simple premise that describes a proposed film in just a few sentences, often by juxtaposing two
known ideas

b. A production with a large budget

c. A very artistic, conceptual approach to filmmaking

d. A complex idea that is turned into a relatively short film

What is a "rhetorical question"?

a. A question that doesn't require an answer

b. A question that contains a riddle

c. A question that demands to be answered as quickly as possible

d. A question that contains an argument

e. A question with two different answers

Among writing professionals, which of the following are well-known programs for creating and editing
screenplays?

a. Movie Magic Screenwriter and Final Draft

b. First Draft and Second Draft

c. DreamWeaver and Last Draft

d. No Draft and Screenwriting Crew 101

e. None of the above

What does it mean if a screenplay is "optioned" by a television or film production company?

a. The screenplay has been bought and will be put into development; it may or may not be made into a
full production.

b. The screenplay has been bought and will definitely be made into a film, and the screenwriter will
receive a royalty.

c. The screenplay has been partially bought and will now pass through re-writes before being returned to
the screenwriter for a final polish.

d. The screenplay will be resold to another film or television company.

How is a biography different from a memoir?

a. Biographies are more detailed than memoirs and require names and dates to be provided.

b. A memoir is fiction, while a biography is non-fiction.

c. A memoir is written by the author about him or herself, while a biography is written by an author
about someone else.

d. A biography is meant for personal use, while a memoir is meant to be published.

e. There is no real difference between the two.

In screenplay terminology, the abbreviations "INT." and "EXT." mean ____________ and ___________
respectively.

a. inner, outer

b. interior monologue, exterior speaker

c. interior scene setting, exterior scene setting

d. intermission, extra scene

e. All of the above

A manuscript that has been edited and proofread, that includes all images, and that is about to be
published is said to be in the __________________ stage.

a. page proof

b. editorial mark-up

c. typesetting

d. camera-ready copy

Which of the following is a good technique for presenting your creative writing online?
a. Restricting your work to either a blog or a website - having both is always confusing

b. Placing sample opening chapters on a highly visual website that is interlinked with blogs and
discussion boards to draw attention to your work

c. Putting the entire work online

d. Placing your work online anonymously

What is "objective truth" as opposed to "subjective truth"?

a. Subjective truth is independently verifiable, whereas objective truth is dependent on a limited point of
view.

b. Objective truth is independently verifiable whereas subjective truth is dependent on a limited point of
view.

c. They are both the same.

d. Objective truth is dependent on subjective truth.

e. Objective truth involves two people, while subjective truth involves only one.

Which of the following is the recommended length for a screenplay when submitting to production
companies?

a. 80-125 pages

b. 60-80 pages

c. 100-180 pages

d. Any length, as it can always be abridged or expanded

Which of the following considerations is most important when keeping a personal journal?

a. That you write regularly, regardless of how you choose to express your thoughts and feelings
b. That the grammar and punctuation be accurate

c. That the sections be all the same length

d. That you eventually submit it to a literary agent

What is a "quatrain"?

a. A four-line stanza or grouping of four lines of verse

b. A two-line stanza written in free verse

c. The last quarter of a poem, rounded to the nearest stanza

d. The four parts of any work of art

e. b and d

When translated to the screen, a screenplay of 150 pages will generally run for how long?

a. 2.5 hours

b. 1.5 hours

c. 2 hours

d. 3 hours

e. 1.75 hours

What is "assonance"?

a. A stanza in which the lines follow ABCD format

b. Stupid behavior

c. The repetition of vowel sounds

d. Three or more consonants in a row

Creative writing or blogging - especially when the format is interactive and allows comments or provides
discussion rooms for readers to express their own views - is said to be a part of which of the following
web generations?

a. Web pages

b. WWW for Dummies

c. The Internet 1.1

d. Web 2.0

e. All of the above

When staging a play, what does the abbreviation "SPFX" stand for?

a. Special Entrance

b. Special Effects

c. Second Prompter

d. Special Affects

e. Extra Speaker

What is "metonymy"?

a. A meteoric rise to success

b. Same as "synonymous"

c. Rhyming couplets

d. A closely related word that is substituted for another word, object, or idea
e. Two words with exactly the same meaning

What is "bias"?

a. The similarity between ideas

b. The negative feeling between two ideas in a work of journalistic non-fiction

c. The specific tone of a work, or specific voice of the writer

d. When an author prejudices the reader in favor of one side of a subject by not covering the topic fairly

In theatre terminology, a "curtain call" is the moment when ______________ .

a. the playwright is personally thanked onstage

b. the audience stands and pulls down the curtains with great excitement

c. the cast of the play take a bow on stage

d. the audience leaves in disgust, calling out their disapproval

In all types of writing, the term "the hook" refers to _____________.

a. a potentially dangerous prop used on stage

b. the antagonist

c. the main character in a play or screenplay

d. a line or passage that captures the audience's attention (originally a term borrowed from songwriting)

What is a "pun"?
a. A bucket for audience tips

b. A so-called "play on words," or the comic use of a single word with two or more meanings

c. A stage prompt

d. A character foil

In playwriting and theatre terminology, the term "ad lib" (from the Latin ad libitum, meaning in
accordance with desire) refers to _________________.

a. dialogue or action that the actors make up, often on the spur of the moment

b. the moment when an actor stumbles on his or her words

c. what the prompt or cue person in the front row delivers to actors who forget their lines

d. impromptu dancing in the middle of a play

In creative writing, the term 'simile' refers to ______________.

a. a compound noun

b. the comparison of two nouns or two verbs using a metaphor

c. a character who smiles a lot

d. a figure of speech in which the author refers to something as the opposite of what it actually is

e. a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, usually introduced by the
words like or as

The term 'stream of consciousness' refers to ______________.

a. the mind of the author

b. the author's desire to keep writing and ward off writer's block

c. a stream that has a mind of its own

d. a style of writing in which the author records in a continuous manner - and often with reduced
punctuation and less attention to grammatical forms - the procession of random thoughts that passes
through his or her mind

Why are short stories sometimes more challenging than novels for writers to write?

a. Readers expect more from short stories.

b. The characters and plot must be introduced and developed quickly rather than over a period of time.

c. Short stories have more characters.

d. All of the above

e. None of the above

A plot synopsis is ____________________ .

a. a summary of the main plot in relation to the characters and the main events

b. an expansion of the main plot in terms of what could be included for an even longer version

c. a numbered list of plot points with no reference to characters

d. an alternative version of the story for editing purposes

In terms of interacting with another writer's characters, plagiarism is when ___________________ .

a. the characters are identical

b. one writer steals characters or ideas from another writer without changing his or her style of writing
in representing those ideas or characters on the page

c. one writer steals another writer's belongings in real life

d. one writer borrows and sufficiently changes the characters created by another writer, so that they no
longer resemble their originals
Literary agents usually have _________ clients or authors on their client list.

a. 1-5

b. 1-10

c. 1-100

d. 1-200

e. None of the above: the number of clients can vary a great deal.

In fiction writing, the term 'persona' refers to ________________.

a. a person in the story who has morphed into multiple people

b. the moment at which a character takes the action very personally

c. the entire cast of characters

d. the voice adopted by the author to tell the story, which may or may not be like the real author's voice

In fiction writing, the term 'in medias res' refers to __________________.

a. the middle of a story

b. a person who meddles in the action

c. the technique of beginning a story in the middle of the action

d. the technique of telling a story in reverse order of action

In fiction writing, a 'foil' is ______________.

a. the fundamental and usually universal concept expressed through the story

b. the protagonist

c. the hurried dialogue between two characters that expresses frustration or unhappiness

d. the antagonist

e. a character who calls attention, by contrast, to the good qualities or traits of the protagonist or other
characters

Is the following sentence true or false?

When an author agrees to give a publisher worldwide audio rights, he or she gives the publisher the
right to record the author's written work for listeners anywhere in the world.

a. True

b. False

In a fictional work, the section that appears before the first chapter - and that is not the introduction,
table of contents or dedication - is most likely a/an _________ .

a. afterword

b. prologue

c. marketing trick

d. by-line

e. a and b

In fiction writing, 'foreshadowing' is a term for __________________.

a. the shadows that lurk in the back of a character's mind

b. the clues in the narrative that give an indication of or pre-empt the future plot or story

c. the tying up of all loose ends at the end of the story

d. the rebels in a gothic horror story

e. None of the above

A print run is _____________ .

a. the printing of a book that occurs at one particular time and for a determined number of copies

b. the printed copies of a book that are quickly distributed to the bookstores

c. the reprinting of titles that have sold out at the retail stores

d. the author's term for a particular kind of editing that assures good quality printing

What do inverted commas mean when used in fiction dialogue?

a. Skip to the next page.

b. They denote words like 'said' or 'replied'.

c. The dialogue does not specifically identify who is talking.

d. The dialogue specifically signifies someone is talking.

According to the old adage about making every significant detail count, if a gun is placed on the wall in
the first part of a story, ________________________ .

a. it should fall off sooner rather than later

b. it should be ignored

c. it should be fired by the end of the story

d. it should remain there

In general, the plot of a novel or short story is best described by which of the following?

a. The arc of the story from the end to the beginning

b. The mystery at the heart of the tale, especially one involving a secret plan

c. The plotting of the characters

d. The significant points of story development that tell the story

e. c and d

A good novel or novella often has __________ points of view.

a. one or more

b. five

c. ten

d. half a dozen from different genders

What is typesetting?

a. The first print-run of a book

b. The laying out of a book in terms of how the book will actually look when printed

c. The editorial method in which proofs are passed between publisher and author

d. The name for the code that publishers and literary agents use when deciding whether to offer an
author a contract or not

Which of the following best defines a collection of interconnected short stories?

a. A collection of short novels that feature characters who appear in other novels

b. A collection of stories in which the same character appears in all of the stories

c. A series of short stories that share similar themes or characters within the same overall work

d. A collection of stories in which each story shares the same subject matter

The 'climax' of a story is ____________________ .

a. the very ending

b. the very middle

c. the highest point in the story or conflict just before potential resolution

d. a sequel to a work

e. All of the above

A story is often said to have three parts: a beginning, a middle and an end. What are these parts
sometimes called?

a. The premise, the pause and the demise

b. The run-up, the walk-on and the run-off

c. The leap, the steady and the fall

d. The exposition, the middle section and the denouement

Which of the following describes language that refers to meanings other than the literal meaning?

a. Symbolic or figurative

b. Stream of consciousness

c. Symbiotic or parasitic
d. Open-ended

e. None of the above

A line break in a story is often associated with what kind of change in the action or narrative?

a. A change in tense

b. A change in tension

c. A change in time or space

d. A breaking and entering

e. A break for comedy / tragedy

___________ is a method by which an author enters into a contract with a publishing company, at the
author's expense, to have his or her manuscript printed in book form.

a. E-publishing through the author's own website

b. Professional journaling

c. Self-publishing

d. A query letter

e. Third-party printing

In terms of how a story is told, "POV" means ________.

a. pick of vice

b. particle of vector

c. piece of venom

d. part of version
e. point of view

What is the difference between a closed plot and an open plot?

a. An open plot involves marriage at the end, while a closed plot involves murder.

b. An open plot is one in which conflict is resolved at the end, while a closed plot is one in which conflict
is not resolved.

c. A closed plot is one in which conflict is resolved at the end, while an open plot is one in which conflict
is not resolved.

d. There is no difference between an open and closed plot.

In his book Aspects of the Novel, E. M. Forster famously described characters as 'flat' or 'round'. Which
of the following best describes flat characters as opposed to round characters?

a. Round characters are one-dimensional, often with a single character trait, while flat characters are
more believable because they have a fuller personality with multiple character traits.

b. Flat characters are physically flat, while round characters are physically round.

c. Flat characters are major characters, while round characters are minor characters.

d. Flat characters are one-dimensional, often with a single character trait, while round characters are
more believable because they have a fuller personality with multiple character traits.

What is a copyright?

a. The rights an author licenses to an editor to alter the original manuscript

b. The photocopies of an author's manuscript

c. The authority an author gives to a book agent to sell his or her work

d. The legal right granted to an author or publisher to exclusive publication, copy, sale, or distribution of
a creative work
e. The legal self-promotion an author engages in to sell his or her work

In copyediting, red ink and blue ink generally signify which kinds of changes?

a. Both are used to show deletions, neither to show additions.

b. Both are used for any type of change.

c. Both are used to show additions, neither to show deletions.

d. Blue ink is used to show additions, and red ink is used to show deletions.

e. a and b

Is the following sentence true or false?

When you agree to first UK serial rights, you give a publisher the first right to publish your work in serial
form only in the UK; they would have to negotiate any other rights separately.

a. True

b. False

Publishing companies are often called publishing ___________ .

a. super-conglomerates

b. corporations

c. houses

d. cottages

e. None of the above

A flashback is _____________________ .

a. a brighter, more positive moment for a character or for the tone of the story as a whole

b. a flashy sequence during which the style of writing becomes disjointed, similar to modernist writing

c. a section in which the narrative goes back in time, often within the mind of a character, to events
preceding the current action

d. a section of narrative immediately following a flash-forward

If the narrator of a story refers to him or herself as "I", which of the following perspectives is being used?

a. Omniscient

b. Ambivalent

c. First-person

d. Third-person

e. Second-person

What is the difference between a publisher's 'front list' and its 'back list'?

a. The front list is put in the window, and the back list stays in the office.

b. The front list contains the titles that have gone on sale in the current year, while the back list are the
titles that are older than frontlist title.

c. The front list is marketed, while the back list is not.

d. The front list is contains the names of genre writers, while the back list contains the names of literary
writers.

Which of the following is the best definition of a novella?

a. A short story

b. A collection of sonnets

c. A short novel

d. All of the above

According to Ernest Hemingway's "iceberg theory" for determining the power of a narrative and the
impression it makes on a reader, which of the following statements is most true?

a. Most of the story's effect should be below the surface and conveyed by relatively fewer words on the
page.

b. More words should be used on the page, with the effect on the reader being reduced.

c. Stories should be cold and always have selfish characters.

d. All of the above

In terms of time, a story without temporal disjunctions, flashbacks or dream sequences that could
confuse the main action is said to be _______________.

a. plain

b. over-determined

c. non-linear

d. linear

e. None of the above

Which of the following best describes a 'roman a clef' (novel with a key)?

a. A novel written in French

b. A novel with a key attached to the front cover

c. A novel with a map or family tree in the front that relates to the action

d. A novel in which actual events and/or people are depicted as fictional events and/or characters

Which of the following statements best illustrates the primary purpose of writing dialogue?

a. Dialogue shares information by narrating the story.

b. Dialogue is less important than other aspects of story-telling such as setting, theme, and
characterization.

c. Dialogue propels the plot forward through a character's actions rather than through his words.

d. Dialogue reflects the speaking voice of the character.

The 'denouement' of a story is its _____________.

a. middle part

b. exposition

c. conflict

d. premise

e. resolution

Written questions

A magazine that published graphic nonfiction in New York

INCORRECT

No answer given

THE ANSWER

Raw Magazine

Who wrote the Illusion of Safety?

INCORRECT
No answer given

THE ANSWER

Roxane Gay

exploit the enlightened self interest of your audience, indicate the world that you are writing in and how
reality has changed in some significant way. Promise to delight, inform or entertain someone.

INCORRECT

No answer given

THE ANSWER

JJ Lee's tips

It resembles memoir and it has a build up (like in the Freytag pyramid) and then reaches a climax and
then quickly wraps up.

INCORRECT

No answer given

THE ANSWER

Narrative essay structure

Speech or dialogue that doesn't involve quotations. Can be used to summarize dialogue

CORRECT

indirect discourse

5 Matching questions

Understatement

CORRECT

A. drawing less attention to something to create an effect. (sarcasm, almost)

Pitch Letters

CORRECT

E. Where you have a thesis along with an animating idea. What can sometimes work nicely is if you
introduce yourself briefly and then segue into the story proposal and why you should be writing it, then
why now.
Narrative

CORRECT

B. You're compressing time and are glossing over months or years into a couple paragraphs:

Lyric Essay

CORRECT

D. It is implicit with the theme. They are not narrative essay because they forsake narrative line and
discursive essay.

Scope and Style

CORRECT

C. The difference between autobiography and memoir

drawing less attention to something to create an effect. (sarcasm, almost)

You're compressing time and are glossing over months or years into a couple paragraphs:

The difference between autobiography and memoir

It is implicit with the theme. They are not narrative essay because they forsake narrative line and
discursive essay.

Where you have a thesis along with an animating idea. What can sometimes work nicely is if you
introduce yourself briefly and then segue into the story proposal and why you should be writing it, then
why now.

5 Multiple choice questions

Journalism + Personal Essay =

Understatement

Segmented Essay structure

Francis Bacon

Narrative personal essay

Who wrote the hairs about our secrets?

Leah McClaran

John Vaillant

Gary Shteyngart

Jessica Johnson

Who wrote 13, 1977, 21?

Jonathan Lethem

John Vaillant

Rebecca Solnit

Jessica Johnson

Arts journalists have long used THIS to distinguish a secondary consideration of something or a broader
reflection of the artistic scene, from a straight review. Sometimes it can have an insulting undertone (EG.
if you're talking about a movie you don't like)

Perspective

Personal Essay

JJ Lee's tips

The Think Piece

Where you have tons of line breaks or numbers that separates the text and makes it more disjointed.
Indirect Discourse

Jessica Johnson

JJ Lee's tactical aspects

Segmented Essay structure

5 True/False questions

The guy who coined the term "essays" and wrote them. He wrote about anything → Michel De
Montaigne

CORRECT

True

show not tell, control the point of view, use active versus passive construction, commit to the
concreteness of a scene, a moment, a remembrance, create new ideas through the juxtaposition of
images and thought, Don't write the word "suddenly" → Pitch Letters

INCORRECT

True

THE ANSWER

False

It should be → JJ Lee's tactical aspects

What was Nickel and Dimed about? → Working as a low wage worker at several bars and how Barbara
overcame tons of obstacles and horrible bosses

INCORRECT

False

THE ANSWER

True

Types of scenes used in memoirs → Jessica Johnson

CORRECT
False

It should be → Flashbacks

Who wrote All-American Girl? → E. Alex Jung

INCORRECT

False

THE ANSWER

True