The Lab: Experiments in Writing Across Genre

Written by two novelists who also teach creative writing, The Lab takes as its premise the idea that great writing doesn’t start with form but rather with the unquenchable drive to create—and that writers should be encouraged to take risks and experiment before accepting a formal container into which they will write. Davison and LaPlante, who is also the author of The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing (Norton, 2010) as well as the previous Best Books pick Write Yourself Out of a Corner: 100 Exercises to Unlock Creativity (Norton, 2023), offer ninety exercises that challenge writers to play with genre, try a hybrid form, or make up an entirely new one.