As the always clear and direct Stein explains here, This is not a book of theory. It is a book of usable solutions--how to fix writing that is flawed, how to improve writing that is good, how to create interesting writing in the first place. With examples from bestsellers as well as from students' drafts, Stein offers detailed sections on characterization, dialogue, pacing, flashbacks, trimming away flabby wording, the so-called triage method of revision, using the techniques of fiction to enliven nonfiction, and more.

    Songwriters will examine 17 extraordinary songs and learn the distinct elements that make them so effective. Pattison then presents more than 30 lyric-writing exercises designed to achieve the same results. From generating lyric ideas and managing repetition to developing verses, it's all here. Songwriters will: find warm-up exercises that revolutionize songwriting imagery; use a rhyming dictionary and a thesaurus to generate ideas and find snappy rhyme; create meaningful metaphors and similes while avoiding cliches; develop verses by using or breaking conventional rules; experiment with point of view in every lyric to make a song stand out

    Sales of her books are in the millions, and the list of coveted awards they have garnered - including two Newbery Medals, two National Book Awards, and the Regina Medal - is remarkable. A Sense of Wonder is a collection of more than three dozen critical essays on reading and writing for children that were originally published as two books, Gates of Excellence and The Spying Heart. Combined for the first time in one volume with a new introduction, these writings come from speeches Katherine Paterson has given all over the world, from her book reviews, and from articles she has authored on her craft. Her trademark wit, imagination, and perception are in full evidence; she reveals why she remembers being kissed by Miss Maude Henderson, the last person ever kissed by General Robert E. Lee; relates the heartbreaking source of her novel Bridge to Terabithia; and describes her dismay at failing as a foster parent to two Cambodian boys. Most of all, this extraordinary writer shares her ideas about writing for children, tells of her passion for reading, and allows us to witness her talent. Teachers, writers, students, parents, librarians - anyone who reads Katherine Paterson's essays - will come away with an expanded vision and a sense of her deep respect for words, ideas, literature, and people.

    Invented and played by such artists as André Breton, Rene Magritte, and Max Ernst, these gems still produce results ranging from the hilarious to the mysterious and profound.

    Provides glimpses into the origins of Charles Simic's poetry

    It is an autobiographical travelogue moving from a volcano in Hawaii to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and places in between, with writing at its heart.Writing Toward Home offers practical advice on overcoming some of the obstacles writers of all ages face: writer's block, fear of rejection, confronting silencing critics in your head, finding the time to write. Each short chapter speaks to the larger truths about writing and how to truly live the writer's life: how to become more of a risk taker, how to excavate the past as a source, and how to become an acute observer of the world.Writing Toward Home is a book that will remind you-and help you remind your students-that the true source of writing is the creative self. In this fast culture when most people have so little time to do anything but menial tasks, it will jumpstart you, it will awaken to you the journey within, it will make you want to write.

    With more than 400,000 words, including 2,000+ new and expanded entries, Roget's Superthesaurus offers more features than any other word reference on the market.

    Make your descriptions fresh and they'll move your story forward, imbue your work with atmosphere, create that tang of feeling that editors cry for and readers crave.Monica Wood helps you squeeze the greatest flavor from the language. She segments description like an orange, separating its slices to let you sample each one.You'll learn about:Detail, and how you can use description to awaken the reader's senses of touch, taste, hearing, smell and sightPlot, from advancing story using only relevant description--and how to edit out sluggish, reader-stopping writingStyle, and the use of description to create a mood that matches your story's contentPoint of view, how selecting omniscient, first person or third person limited narrative influences the descriptive freedom you haveCreating original word depictions of people, animals, places, weather and movementWood teaches by example, developing stories with characters in various situations, to show you how you can apply description techniques.You'll also see samples of work by such noted writers as Mark Helprin, Anne Tyler and Raymond Carver. And you'll find the dos and don'ts, lists and descriptive alternatives to common verbs and nouns, and tips for editing your work.

    The results are nothing less than an education in the ways literature grips its readers and, at times, transforms their lives. Imagining Characters is indispensable, a work of criticism that returns us to the books it discusses with renewed respect and wonder.

    I have to talk myself into bravery with every sentence, agreed Cynthia Ozick, sometimes every syllable. E. B. White said he admired anyone who has the guts to write anything at all.An author who has taught writing for more than thirty years,In The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes, an author who has taught writing for more than thirty years, assures us that anxiety is felt by writers at every level, especially when they dare to do their best. He describes the sequence of courage points through which all writers must pass, from the challenge of identifying a worthwhile project to the mixture of pride and panic they feel when examining a newly published book or article.Keyes also offers specifics on how to root out dread of public performance and of the judgment of family and friends, make the best use of writers' workshops and conferences, and handle criticism of works in progress. Throughout, he includes the comments of many accomplished writers -- Pat Conroy, Amy Tan, Rita Dove, Isabel Allende, and others -- on how they transcended their own fears to produce great works.

    More than 70,000 rhyming words. Includes multi-word rhymes. Fully cross-referenced for ease of use. Based on the best-selling Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary.

    Quick answers to questions about punctuation, capitalization, plurals, and quotations.- A guide to copyediting and proofreading- Special sections on word usage and grammar- Instructions for preparing notes and bibliographies

    There Is A Season shows how human fulfill-ment and true happiness come, not from getting and having more but from valuing that which we have.

    An excellent book for any writer or reader." --Feminist Bookstore News"In her new book of essays... Russ continues to debunk and demand, edify and entertain.... Appreciative of surface aesthetics, she continually delves deeper than most critics, yet in terms so simple and accessible that her essays read like lively, angry, humorous dialogues conducted face-to-face with the author. Russ is the antithesis of the distant critic in her ivory tower." --Paul Di Filippo, The Washington Post Book World..". 20 years of the author's feisty reports from the front lines of literature." --The San Francisco Review of Books"This is a book of imaginative and provoking essays, but you should read it for the sheer fun of it." --The Women's Review of Books"Collects more than two decades of criticism by Joanna Russ, one of the most perceptive, forthright and eloquent feminist commentators around." --Feminist Bookstore News..". a super book....This is a book that, for once, really will appeal to readers of all kinds." --Utopian Studies"If you enjoy science fiction, this is definitely a book that you'll want to talk about. I found myself sneaking a few pages at times when I really didn't have time to read." --Jan Catano, AtlantisClassic essays on science fiction and feminism by Nebula and Hugo award-winning Joanna Russ. Here she ranges from a consideration of the aesthetic of science fiction to a reading of the lesbian identity of Willa Cather. To Write Like a Woman includes essays on horror stories and the supernatural, feminist utopias, popular literature for women (the "modern gothic"), and the feminist education of graduate students in English.

    essays of substance and beauty, and they belong beside the work of Annie Dillard, Samuel Pickering, and Wendell Berry." --Library Journal"[Sanders] eloquently expresses his love of the land and the responsibility he feels for preventing further erosion of our natural resources... " --Publishers Weekly"Skillfully written in a clear, unmannered style refreshingly devoid of irony and hollow cleverness, the author starts with everyday experiences and gleans from them larger truths." --The Christian Science Monitor"[These] essays are so good one is tempted to stand up and applaud after reading them.... Sanders is a modern day prospector who finds gems of spiritual meaning in both familiar and unusual places." --Body Mind SpiritWriting from the Center is about one very fine writer's quest for a meaningful and moral life. Lannan Literary Award winner Scott Sanders ( Secrets of the Universe, Staying Put, A Paradise of Bombs) seeks and describes a center that is geographical, emotional, artistic, and spiritual--and is rooted in place. The geography is midwestern, the impulses are universal."The earth needs fewer tourists and more inhabitants, it seems to me--fewer people who float about in bubbles of money and more people committed to knowing and tending their home ground." --Scott Russell Sanders, from the book

    With all the terms needed to effectively discuss the craft, this new and revised edition is packed with examples from classic and contemporary poetry to illustrate the terms at work.

    That passion may be purely intellectual or it may be driven by strong emotion. From this stance, from the necessity of writing what matters in his life, Tom Romano's new book has evolved.Writing with Passion resounds with Romano's passion for teaching, learning, reading, and writing as well as for the people who have influenced his life and his work. It is both visionary and practical. In one sense, Romano is philosophical, encouraging teachers to help students explore their world through language. He recommends looking beyond the tried and accepted to question arbitrary divisions about reading and writing and even, occasionally, to break standard rules and forms of writing. At the same time, he offers concrete ideas that you can attempt with your students-alternate style maneuvers, multigenre research papers, ways to nurture responses to literature, and genre exploration.All through the book you'll read Romano's personal stories. He writes about students who have been brave, articulate, and committed to their work; his own experience as a reader and writer; his father's emigration from Italy; the connections his daughter made to her deceased grandfather. Interspersed between the chapters are Interludes stories, poems, impressions, and mini-essays that set a tone, slip in information, or serve as examples. They represent many different genres, including persuasion, argumentation, exposition, narrative vignettes, poetry, and memoir.Sometimes Writing with Passion reads like a novel, sometimes like a memoir, sometimes like a persuasive essay. Whatever the genre, the ideas it espouses are always clear and accessible.

    The good news is that almost every nonfiction book published is sold by a proposal. In this comprehensive yet accessible guide, you will learn exactly what a proposal is, what it must contain, and how to pull yours together into an informative, persuasive selling package. Already a favorite for thousands of aspiring writers, this book has been revised and updated by Elizabeth Lyon to feature nearly two dozen actual proposals, plus:- Choosing a topic based on current trends and competing titles- Drafting the perfect concept statement--daring agents and editors to reject you- Defining and targeting your readership--then connecting with them- Preparing a table of contents and chapter summaries- Submitting exciting and well-written sample chapters- Writing query letters- Devising a marketing plan that will excite agents and publishers

    Guggenb�hl-Craig aims to help identify psychopaths, to protect themselves from them, and to understand their suffering. The author reviews the field, gives an explanation of the main symptoms, suggests an approach to treatment, and then presents a new vision: psychopathy is not so much a deficiency of morality as it is crippled Eros.

    Weaving together close readings, biographical detail, and personal reflections, Boruch meditates on a universal fascination: how a poem comes to exist.A variety of imaginative approaches sets the essays apart from strictly academic poetry criticism. Boruch's ear for metaphor and attention to everyday experience enrich her readings of others' work. The unique connections she draws to the world beyond the literary one- including comparisons to painting and ceramics, the habits of bees, and the basic elements of musical composition- bring other ways of seeing and thinking to bear on the writing process itself. Instead of building her arguments and observations around a single thesis, Boruch borrows freely from other areas of human knowledge and experience, allowing essays to develop gradually and "waywardly," as a poem is made.Poets, teachers of literature, and students of writing and literature, as well as the general reader, will appreciate the insights of Poetry's Old Air, as will the general reader, for whom these essays are entirely accessible.Marianne Boruch is the author of three acclaimed volumes of poetry: Moss Burning, Descendant, and View from the Gazebo. She is Associate Professor of English, Purdue University.

    And this remarkable volume certainly merits the praise: it provides full-color visual definitions of nearly everything.Want to know the difference between curly endive and curled kale? Curious about the distinguishing features of various judo holds and throws? Wondering what each and every feature of a Gothic cathedral is called? The answers to these and thousands of other questions are at your fingertips.The Macmillan Visual Dictionary identifies more than 25,000 terms with more than 3,500 full-color illustrations covering 600 subjects. Ranging from Astronomy and Geography to Combat Sports and Communications, from the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms to Human Beings and Symbols, and from Architecture and House Furniture to Maritime Transport and Energy, the book's 28 chapters provide truly exhaustive coverage of the world as we know it. A usage guide, detailed table of contents, and extensive index allow for easy referencing.As ideal for the family reference library as for the casual browser trying to identify that "whatchamacallit", the compact paperback edition of The Macmillan Visual Dictionary will continue to set the standard in reference works.

    Unsystematic, spontaneous, irreverent, intense, witty, unexpected, these notebooks shimmer with reflections, speculations, confessions, quotations, impressions, and ruminations. They create a portrait of the artist as a purposeful gatherer and sifter of every kind of experience.Included are the notebooks from such distinguished and eclectic voices as Rita Dove, Stephen Dunn, Carolyn Forché, Donald Hall, Garrett Hongo, Joy Harjo, Donald Justice, Yusef Komunyakaa, James Merrill, Mary Oliver, Charles Simic, and William Stafford.

    And the passionate message in Finding What You Didn't Lose is that we're all poets--capable of giving voice to such truth.Poet-teacher John Fox reveals how imagery, sound, metaphor, rhythm, and other poetic elements can he us tell our inner story, heal psychological wounds, discover spiritual connection, and develop the rich creative imagination that lies within us all.Transcending the traditional academic approach to poetry writing, Finding What You Didn't Lose deals with craft but, more importantly, guides readers to explore their deepest feelings and express their own unique insights through the incomparable language of poetry.Through an intermingling of inventive exercises and illustrative poems--ranging from Nobel Prize winners to first-time poets--readers are inspired to add their own distinct voice to a world fellowship of poets. For those who already write poetry, and the many more who want to, this book is the key to finding what you never lose: your natural inclination to express who you are through the making of poems.

    As computers become ubiquitous in our society, more people are focusing on learning technology--often at the expense of developing more basic academic skills, most notably proper writing.Revised and enhanced, this critically acclaimed and highly praised handbook provides a light, but thorough approach to learning better writing style.

    A guide for creating manuals, online help, and Web publications showing correct grammar, punctuation, and common misspellings of computer topics and terms.

    When Robert Bloch was dying, hundreds of people - fans, fellow writers, people he had been close to for decades, and others whom he had never met - wrote to thank him for his work and his impact on their lives. Their words were the inspiration for Robert Bloch: Appreciations of the Master. This book, then, is a collection unlike any other. Thirty writers, filmmakers, and actors have opened their hearts to speak about Robert Bloch, his influence on their careers, and his friendship. The book presents examples of the very best of Bloch's short fiction, including the rarely reprinted "The Dead Don't Die!" An excerpt from an unproduced screenplay by Bloch, adapting Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson's Hoka!, appears here for the first time anywhere. Bloch's nonfiction is not neglected, for this volume also includes one of his articles on the role of violence and gore in film, "The Clown at Midnight."

    It is a book about discovering yourself, about making more of your life and about writing it. It offers motivation and inspiration and gives practical suggestions, topics and writing techniques.

    Professional and aspiring writers will find indispensable tools in this practical, complete, and time-saving popular resource, now updated to include a CD-ROM.

    

    In this ingenious guide, enjoy the wit of two English language mavens as they entertain while answering all our perplexing questions.

    Anyone working with at risk studentsthose for whom school has not been a place of successwill find here a reflection of their own experiences, plus thoughtful and creative strategies for making those experiences positive ones. When Janet Allen, a respected lecturer, researcher, and award-winning teacher, began teaching in 1972, she was wholly unprepared for the challenges she encountered: motivating the unmotivated, developing a curriculum with no models to draw from, building an environment that supported strategic learning, finding creative resources with limited means, and dealing with reluctant, even rebellious students. More daunting, perhaps, was the challenge of constantly rekindling her own fervor for teaching. But she persevered and found ways to break through those obstacles.It's Never Too Late is at once a story and a how to book. Readers will find absorbing case studies, photographs, quotes from educators, surveys, activities, and step by-step strategies for teaching reading and writing to the most reluctant middle and secondary school students. Most important, they will find affirmation for the powerful role they play as teachers.

    Sam Thomas has written a major introduction and provided background information on each of the eight screenplays and their screenwriters.

    Paul Mathews gives us permission to indulge our fantasy, and then, when that life is flowing, provides the tools to craft it into poetry and song.Includes more than 300 exercises for improving writing skills, for self study. They are ideally suited for group work with adults. Teachers will find these exercises popular with students.

    Includes entertaining linguistic facts, Elizabethan insults, and more.

    -- Harold Woodell South Carolina Review

    Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers.

    In this edition, he gives readers an even more interactive experience by incorporating exercises he’s developed during his many years conducting workshops. An all-new chapter on supportive critiquing shows readers how to make contacts in the all-important community of writers and how to get help with the process of writing and refining.

    Presenting a new approach to everyday life that questions old assumptions and introduces a new vision of reality, this book shares the author's dramatic experience of training with a kahuna in Hawaii, passing on the knowledge she acquired, offering readers the choice to grow through joy rather than struggle. The secrets revealed will explain how to have a foot in both worlds, walking with the right foot in the practical reality of everyday life, while using the left to tread the world of the shaman, mystic, visionary, mapmaker, and co-creator. Through this method, everyone can learn to create success in their lives, develop their psychic skills, fulfill their true potential, and harmonize their three inner selves. By blending the two worlds into one, practitioners begin to heal the age-old divisions between spirit and matter, earth and heaven, masculine and feminine, individuality and oneness.

    As he became disabled and immobile, these two partners fought to maintain their love and to live a meaningful life. This memoir is about what it means to be involved, and in love, with someone chronically ill.

    

    Features accessible coverage of syntax, morphology, and phonology, as well as basic linguistic concepts. Includes numerous examples, exercises, and an indexed glossary. Is supported by an online instructor's manual available at: http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/wardhaugh.

    Entries by nearly 200 experts inform and guide readers about every aspect of children's literature. What picture books best satisfy children's curiosity and capture their imaginations? When should children be introduced to science and poetry? Should parents worry if their teenagers read thrillers and comics? Children's Books and Their Creators includes overviews such as "Easy Readers," "Sports Stories," and "Holocaust Literature for Children," as well as entries on creators such as Judy Blume, Dr. Seuss, and Chris Van Allsburg. Reflecting the flourishing state of multicultural publishing, the book features contributions by and about Native American, African American, Latino, and Asian American writers, including Michael Dorris, Virginia Hamilton, Gary Soto, and Allen Say. This volume is enhanced by more than 175 illustrations in both black-and-white and color, featuring the work of Maurice Sendak, Edward Gorey, Robert McCloskey, David Macauley, and others.

    40 b/w photos.Garry ("Allergic to Everything but Success") Marshall has written hundreds of TV scripts, produced and created 14 prime-time series, including The Odd Couple and Happy Days, and has written a number of stage plays. This entertaining portrait of Marshall's life takes readers on a tumultuous, behind-the-scenes journey, from his early days to the peak of sitcom success to his work in movies today. 32 pages of photos.

    Created to address the unique needs of writers, it gathers in one volume a wealth of information not found in almanacs, dictionaries or encyclopedias. Its 66 subject categories address such eclectic topics as: Notable Sculptors The Principal Colors. Forms of Classical Music How the Earth DevelopedDistinguished DogsEminent CatsCertain Immutable LawsFamous Figures in Legend and Folklore.A necessary reference for every serious writer and wordsmith, A Writer's Companion is also perfect for the curious-minded, who will find endless hours of pleasure browsing through the fascinating information in its pages.

    Narrated by therapist Erica Helm Meade, these fictionalized case studies carry us along with all the intrigue of good short stories while at the same time instructing us in the use of healing lore.

    Joyce, Stein, Eliot, Pound, Hemingway, and scores of other iconoclastic writers now considered central to modernism received little encouragement from the established publishers. It was the avant-garde magazines, many of them headed by women, that fostered new talent and found a readership for it. Jayne Mar

    It explains how to build short stories and novels that don't fizzle out, how to invent characters and how to revise drafts.

    Whether confronted with the everyday frustration of being interrupted or the unimaginable sorrow of losing a child, these extraordinary women have held fast to the thread of their creative spirit, inspiring others with their determination and perseverance. And as they explore their own maternal experience, in paintings and novels, sculptures and poetry, these women are creating works of art which widen our perspective and deepen our understanding of this most complex of human relationships.

    "Project." "Strategy." "Problem." These may seem like harmless words, but are they? German writer and linguist Uwe Poerksen calls these words "plastic words" because of their malleability and the uncanny way they are used to fit every circumstance. Like plastic Lego blocks, they are combinable and interchangeable. In the mouths of experts politicians, professors, corporate officials, and planners they are used over and over again to explain and justify plans and projects. In the 1940s Harry S. Truman made "underdevelopment" a keystone in U.S. foreign policy, and today the "developed" nations are dedicated to helping their "underdeveloped" neighbors. But who benefits from "development"? Who benefited from the housing "projects" of the 1960s and 1970s? And who among us does not worry when our leaders tell us they have a "strategy" for solving society's "problems"?According to Poerksen, plastic words began as scientific words with specialized meanings. Many had been imported from the vernacular languages to the sciences, but he finds that in recent decades they have migrated back into the vernacular stripped of their specialized meanings. They have international currency and appear repeatedly in political speeches, government reports, and academic conferences. They invade the media and even private conversation. They displace more precise words with words that sound scientific but actually blur meaning and disable common language.Poerksen traces the history of plastic words, establishes criteria for identifying them, and provides a tragicomic critique of the society that relies on them. He shows that when plastic words infiltrate a field of reality, they reorder it in their own image hence their threat. They are building blocks for new models of reality that may seem utopian but that impoverish the world.Plastic Words is a translation of the remarkably successful book first published in Germany in 1988. For the English-language edition, Poerksen has added a new preface, explaining the origin of the book and addressing the spirited public debate it has spawned. Bold and provocative, Plastic Words is social and linguistic criticism in the tradition of Jonathan Swift and George Orwell."

    What names are the most popular? The most passe? In what American city can you really find an Easy Street? Where can you find Sailbad the Sinner? Where do names come from, what do they mean, and how do they evolve? And come to think of it, what's in a name anyway? These are just a few of the many questions this amusing, and informative volume answers.

    You'll also learn about some of the latest subgenres that have emerged.Find the best read-alikes for patrons and build a fiction collection that appeals to the broad spectrum of readers that you serve with this thorough guide. Covering nearly 6,000 titles in such popular genres as crime, adventure, romance, western, science fiction, fantasy, and horror, Herald's indispensable reference defines each, describes its characteristics and subgenres, and groups authors and books according to type or subject. You'll find everything you need to know about traditional genre literature, and you'll learn about some of the latest subgenres to emerge - e.g., virtual reality, bioengineering, and biothrillers. A entirely new chapter covers historical fiction, and there are also lists of resources for further research, including numerous genre-related online sources. Invaluable as a reader's guide, and as a resource for bookstore personnel, Herald's work will also be useful to publishers and writers of genre fiction.

    cunke examines the petroglyphs of northeastern Arizona. Story-line vignettes provide an insight into the lives of the area's prehistoric inhabitants. Over 400 photos and illustrations.