Best of
Writing

1996

Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words


Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge - 1996
    Her exuberant, critically acclaimed teaching guide takes instructors, writers, and general readers into the very heart and intensity of life and the craft of expressing what one feels through the written word.

Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom


John C. Bean - 1996
    Engaging IdeasShows how teachers can encourage inquiry, exploration, discussion, and debate in their courses. Presents a wide variety of strategies for stimulating active learning and for coaching writing and critical thinking. Offers teachers concrete advice on how to design courses, structure assignment, use class time, critique student performance, and model critical thinking activities. Demonstrates how writing can easily be integrated with such other critical thinking activities and inquiry discussions, simulation games, classroom debates, and interactive lectures.

Word By Word


Anne Lamott - 1996
    Good writing, she says, slow you down, opens your heart and teaches you who you are. Good writing arrives through your fingers, knowing what. But you must endure terrible first drafts and use short assignments to get there, word by word.

A Writer's Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You


Ralph Fletcher - 1996
    It’s a fun way to keep your child entertained and engaged while not in the classroom.Writers are just like everyone else—except for one big difference. Most people go through life experiencing daily thoughts and feelings, noticing and observing the world around them. But writers record these thoughts and observations. They react. And they need a special place to record those reactions.  Perfect for classrooms, A Writer’s Notebook gives budding writers a place to keep track of all the little things they notice every day. Young writers will love these useful tips for how to use notes and jottings to create stories and poems of their own.

The Writer's Desk


Jill Krementz - 1996
    Photographs of fifty-five prominent writers at their desks are accompanied by the writers' own comments on their working lives and workplaces.

The Vein of Gold: A Journey to Your Creative Heart


Julia Cameron - 1996
    The Vein of Gold: A Journey to Your Creative Heart

Best Words, Best Order: Essays on Poetry


Stephen Dobyns - 1996
    Through essays on memory and metaphor, pacing, and the intricacies of voice and tone, and thoughtful appreciations of Chekhov, Ritsos, Mandelstam, and Rilke, Dobyns guides readers and writers through poetry's mysterious twilight communiques. For this new second edition, Dobyns has added two new essays, one dealing with the idea of "beauty" in poetry and another dealing with the almost mystical way poets connect seemingly disparate elements in a single work.

Writing and Selling Your Novel


Jack M. Bickham - 1996
    Discusses the qualities of a professional writer, and offers advice on plot, viewpoint, characterization, and tactics for selling a novel.

The Writer's Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters


Marc Mucutcheon - 1996
    Mark McCutcheon eases the process of building convincing characters for stories and novels. He starts by conducting an inspiring and informative roundtable where six novelists reveal their approaches to characterization. Next, he provides a character questionnaire more detailed than the nosiest survey. Readers will fill it out and they'll know fictional people as though they'd grown up with them. Finally, there is a thesaurus of human characteristics - physical and psychological. Fit them together artfully and characters will climb right off the page.

The Right Word


William F. Buckley Jr. - 1996
    Edited by Samuel S. Vaughan.

Writing the Memoir


Judith Barrington - 1996
    It covers everything from questions of truth and ethics to questions of craft and the crucial retrospective voice. An appendix provides information on legal issues.Judith Barrington, an award-winning memoir writer and acclaimed writing teacher, is attuned to the forces, both external and internal, that work to stop a writer; her tone is respectful of the difficulties and encouraging of taking risks. Her nimble prose, her deep belief in the importance of this genre, and her delight in the rich array of memoirists writing today make this book more than the typical "how-to" creative writing book. In this second edition the author has added new material and reflects on issues raised since Writing the Memoir was written, early in the memoir boom."No student of memoir writing could fail to learn from this wise, pragmatic, and confiding book. One hears on every page the voice of an intelligent and responsive teacher, with years of thinking about memoir behind her."--Vivian GornickJudith Barrington is the author of Lifesaving: A Memoir and numerous individual memoirs which have been published in literary magazines and anthologies. She is the author of three volumes of poetry: Trying to Be an Honest Woman, History and Geography, and Horses and the Human Soul (forthcoming in 2002). She has taught creative writing for the past twenty years.

Voice of Her Own: Women and the Journal Writing Journey


Marlene A. Schiwy - 1996
    From Simon & Schuster, A Women of Her Own is Marlene Schiwy's treasure chest of inspiration for every woman seeking deeper self-awareness and new outlets for creativity.Voice of Her Own offers advice on keeping a journal, including choosing a blank book, keeping the journal private, and deciding when to reread old journals.

There's a Word for It! A Grandiloquent Guide to Life


Charles Harrington Elster - 1996
    Logogogue Charles Harrington Elster, clearly an aristophren, has a cure for logolepts in this compendium of grandisonant scholasms, which are both aureate and inkhorn. If fear of altiloquence gives you graphospasm or makes you spartle, don't croosle. Just remember: sophrosyne is recommended. (Translation: If you are a word lover with an incurable itch to write, but your stomach simply rumbles when you can't find the perfect word, delay no more. Word leader Charles Harrington Elster, clearly a person with a superior intellect, has a cure for people who have seizures about words in this compendium of great-sounding learned words, which are both florid and pedantic. If fear of pomposity gives you writer's cramp or makes you flail about, don't whimper. Just remember: wise moderation is recommended.)

Neoism, Plagiarism & Praxis


Stewart Home - 1996
    The art terrorist's art terrorist." —Modern Review.Neoism, Plagiarism & Praxis is concerned with what's been happening at the cutting edge of culture since the demise of Fluxus and the Situationists. It provides inside information on the Neoists, Plagiarists, Art Strikers, London Psychogeographical Association, K Foundation, and other groups that are even more obscure.

Nonconformity: Writing on Writing


Nelson Algren - 1996
    . . [where there] are still . . . defeats in which everything is lost [and] victories that fall close enough to the heart to afford living hope."In Nonconformity, Algren identifies the essential nature of the writer's relation to society, drawing examples from Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Twain, and Fitzgerald, as well as utility infielder Leo Durocher and legendary barkeep Martin Dooley. He shares his deepest beliefs about the state of literature and its role in society, along the way painting a chilling portrait of the early 1950s, Joe McCarthy's heyday, when many American writers were blacklisted and ruined for saying similar things to what Algren is saying here.

Gabrielle Roy: A Life


François Ricard - 1996
    In this definitive account of her life, François Ricard draws a penetrating and eloquent portrait that does full honour to his extraordinary subject.

Dreams and Wishes: Essays on Writing for Children


Susan Cooper - 1996
    Writers of fantasy, says Cooper, deal in "myth, legend, folktale, the mystery of dream and the greater mystery of Time. With all that haunting our minds, it isn't surprising that we write stories about an ordinary world in which extraordinary things happen." This fascinating collection of essays, compelling reading for any parent, teacher, librarian, or booklover, contains 20 years of an author's reflections on the nature of craft, imagination, and her young audience. Some of the topics are focused on fantasy; others range from the theater to literacy, from poetry to war. Although Susan Cooper is also a gifted playwright and television screenwriter (Foxfire, The Dollmaker, To Dance with the White Dog), her novels for young adults contain her best work. Her concern for children's literature permeates Dreams and Wishes, making it a book that is both entertaining and disturbing. At the heart of Cooper's work is a passionate plea for the recognition, in an image-oriented world, of the all-encompassing power and value of the written word.

The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Renaissance England: From 1485-1649


Kathy Lynn Emerson - 1996
    Each book contains descriptions of the period's food and clothes; customs and slang; occupations; common religious and political practices; and other historical details.

The Career Novelist: A Literary Agent Offers Strategies for Success


Donald Maass - 1996
    A copy of "The Career Novelist" is like having your own personal literary agent on your bookshelf!Donald Maass is an independent New York literary agent who specializes in fiction. He has written extensively for writers' magazines on the business of publishing and lectures frequently at writers' conferences.

Paragons: Twelve Master Science Fiction Writers Ply Their Craft


Robin WilsonJohn Kessel - 1996
    The dozen masters assembled here each take one of their own stories and show exactly how they crafted a particular aspect of it - the style, the theme, the characters, the plot, the setting, or the point of view. A dozen of today's leading science fiction writers provide an inside look at how their craft is accomplished. An invaluable and delightful tool for anyone who writes, "Paragons" includes advice from Kim Stanley Robinson, Bruce Sterling, James Patrick Kelly, Karen Joy Fowler, Greg Bear, and seven others.

Cognitive Therapy for Delusions, Voices and Paranoia


Paul Chadwick - 1996
    This includes a justification for looking at symptoms rather than syndromes, first-person accounts of delusions and hallucinations along with an analysis of why the cognitive approach is ideally suited to the study and treatment of these disabling disorders. Describes how to make a cognitive assessment of both hallucinations and delusions and which measures to use. Contains new research and methods of managing these severe psychoses.

Inklings of Reality


Donald T. Williams - 1996
    Williams revisits some of the most interesting and constructive moments in the history of Christian reflection on life's great issues and helps us develop a rich and dynamic Christian philosophy of reading.

The King's English: A Guide to Modern Usage


Kingsley Amis - 1996
    More frolicsome than Fowler's Modern Usage, lighter than the Oxford English Dictionary, and brimming with the strong opinions and razor-sharp wit that made Amis so popular--and so controversial--The King's English is a must for fans and language purists.

The Art of Writing: Teachings of the Chinese Masters


Tony Barnstone - 1996
    The power of writing, especially poetry, is celebrated here in short texts that present both practical instruction and spiritual insight:    •  Lu Ji's essay in verse, "The Art of Writing," reveals the inner process every writer must go through in preparing for the creative act.    •  Sikong Tu's "Twenty-four Styles of Poetry" teaches that poets must perfect themselves internally in order to achieve perfection in what they write.    •  "Poets' Jade Splinters" contains aphoristic prescriptions and humorous anecdotes about poetry, poets, and the rules of composition. Assorted commentaries and critical evaluations focus on Chinese lyrical poetry.

A World of Baby Names


Teresa Norman - 1996
    Offering more creative naming options than ever before, "A World of Baby Names" is the ultimate guide to names from dozens of cultures and countries.

The Rhetoric of Reason: Writing and the Attractions of Argument


James Crosswhite - 1996
    A trained philosopher and director of a university-wide composition program, Crosswhite challenges his readers—teachers of writing and communication, philosophers, critical theorists, and educational administrators—to reestablish the traditional role of rhetoric in education.    To those who have lost faith in the abilities of people to reach reasoned mutual agreements, and to others who have attacked the right-or-wrong model of formal logic, this book offers the reminder that the rhetorical tradition has always viewed argumentation as a dialogue, a response to changing situations, an exchange of persuading, listening, and understanding. Crosswhite’s aim is to give new purpose to writing instruction and to students’ writing, to reinvest both with the deep ethical interests of the rhetorical tradition. In laying out the elements of argumentation, for example, he shows that claiming, questioning, and giving reasons are not simple elements of formal logic, but communicative acts with complicated ethical features. Students must learn not only how to construct an argument, but the purposes, responsibilities, and consequences of engaging in one.    Crosswhite supports his aims through a rhetorical reconstruction of reason, offering new interpretations of Plato and Aristotle and of the concepts of reflection and dialogue from early modernity through Hegel to Gadamer. And, in his conclusion, he ties these theoretical and historical underpinnings to current problems of higher education, the definition of the liberal arts, and, especially, the teaching of written communication.

Bernanos: An Ecclesial Existence


Hans Urs von Balthasar - 1996
    The goal of this book is to simply convey what Bernanos wanted to say as the devout Christian that he was. Bernanos was a deeply prayerful, practicing sacramental Catholic whose profound love for the Church made everything he created or wrote an "ecclesial existence that has been given form: existence derived not merely from an abstract, individual faith but from the faith of the Church." With judicious quoting of the primary source and careful juxtaposing of texts and commentary, Balthasar provides a unique forum from which Bernanos can speak to the reader in a way that he can be clearly heard and genuinely understood.

Writer's Handbook 1996


Sulvia K. Burack - 1996
    Among them are Joan Aiken, Linda Simon, Graham Masterton, Peter Meinke, Nancy Springer, Wendy Dager, Pat Lowery Collins, Loren D. Estleman, Shelby Hearon, James Cross Giblin, Erica Jong, Katherine Paterson, Sidney Sheldon, Eloise McGraw, Thomas Fleming, Eve Bunting, Donald M. Murray, and dozens of others.The Writer's Handbook also includes a section of interviews, offering readers conversations with P.D. James, Russel Banks, Arundhati Roy, Joyce Christmas, Elmore Leonard, Joan Didion, and Peter Mayle.Part Two: Resources for Writers3,300 places for writers to send their manuscripts, divided into 45 categories for easy reference. The lists include no vanity or subsidy presses and no magazines that charge a reading fee170 cash prizes for unpublished stories, poems, plays, book manuscripts, and essays121 Literary and Drama Agents who charge no reading fees and have expressed interest in considering the work of newer writersOver 40 writers colonies that offer solitude and freedom from everyday distractions162 writers conferences that will take place around the country during 1999Information on the State Arts Council for every state in the U.S.A glossary of terms that writers need to know in order to compete in the publishing worldA complete indexFor 63 years, fiction and non fiction writers, poets, and playwrights have turned to The Writer's Handbook for inspiration, advice, and concrete information on where to sell their manuscripts.

A Primer of Mathematical Writing


Steven G. Krantz - 1996
    Issues addressed include: syntax, grammar, structure and style; mathematical exposition; use of the computer and TeX; e-mail etiquette; and all aspects of publishing a journal article. It also outlines how to write grant proposals, letters of recommendation, and book proposals.

The Oxford English Grammar


Sidney Greenbaum - 1996
    This is followed by an account of the development of grammar, and a review of modern approaches to this complex subject. The central section of the book is a presentation of current English grammar at sentence, clause, phrase, and word level; with the last chapters covering grammar in relation to discourse, word-formation, lexis, pronunciation and intonation, punctuation, and spelling. A full index is provided, and examples of usage are drawn from a wide range of sources, including use of the new international Corpus of English at University College London. Written in a readable and absorbing style, The Oxford English Grammar is an essential reference for English speakers around the world.

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems


Florian Coulmas - 1996
    It provides both a fully illustrated description of over 400 writing systems and an account of the study of writing in many different disciplines, from anthropology to psychology.

Pages of the Wound: Poems, Drawings, Photographs, 1956-94


John Berger - 1996
    It includes 46 poems written between 1956 and 1994. "At Remaurian", a sequence of poems from the early 1960s is accompanied by nine photographs taken by Berger. There are two gate-fold triptychs of drawings, as well as a self-portrait made in 1945 when Berger was an art student.

Stage Writers Handbook: A Complete Business Guide for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists


Dana Singer - 1996
    The first comprehensive guide to the business of writing for today's stage.