With more than 23,500 copies sold, this witty, accessible, and engaging book has become the new classic reference work praised by professional copyeditors as well as the general public looking for clear advice on how to write more effectively. In 1999, Choice magazine named it an Outstanding Academic Book and the American Library Association dubbed it an Outstanding Reference Source. With thousands of succinct entries, longer essays on key issues and problematic areas, and up-to-the-minute judgments on everything from trendy words to the debate over personal pronouns, GMAU is approachable yet authoritative. Since the book first appeared in 1998, Bryan Garner has diligently continued tracking how we use our language. The second edition includes hundreds of new entries ranging from Dubya to weaponize (coined in 1984 but used extensively since 9/11) to foot-and-mouth, plethora (a highfalutin equivalent of too many), Slang, Standard English, and Dialects. It also updates hundreds of existing entries. Meanwhile, Garner has written a major essay on the great grammar debate between descriptivists and prescriptivists. Painstakingly researched with copious citations from books and newspapers and newsmagazines, this new edition furthers Garner's mission to help everyone become a better writer, and to enjoy it in the process.

    Le Guin generously shares the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime's work.

    Craft Lessons is the practical text for the over-scheduled writing teacher who wants to give students fresh challenges for their writing but doesn't have time to pore over dozens of trade books to do so.There are three main sections in the book: one geared for teachers of primary students, one for teachers of grades 3-4, and one for teachers of middle school writers. This developmental structure allows teachers to go directly to those craft lessons most applicable and adaptable to their own students. Each of the 78 lessons is presented on a single page in an easy-to-read format. And every lesson features three teaching guidelines: Discussion - A brief look at the reasons for teaching the particular element of craft. How to Teach It - Concrete language showing exactly how a teacher might bring this craft element to students in individual writing conferences or a small-group setting. Resource Material - A listing of the book or text referred to in the craft lesson plus additional texts you can use and references to a passage, a poem, or a piece of student writing in the Appendixes. Craft Lessons also explores the context - the crucial classroom conditions - for successfully bringing rich ideas to young writers. It will appeal to both experienced writing teachers seeking new horizons for their writers and teachers who are relatively new to teaching writing.

    "The dance," in the case of Oliver's brief and luminous book, refers to the interwoven pleasures of sound and sense to be found in some of the most celebrated and beautiful poems in the English language, from Shakespeare to Edna St. Vincent Millay to Robert Frost. With a poet's ear and a poet's grace of expression, Oliver shows what makes a metrical poem work - and enables readers, as only she can, to "enter the thudding deeps and the rippling shallows of sound-pleasure and rhythm-pleasure that intensify both the poem's narrative and its ideas."

    With the techniques and anecdotes in The Right to Write, readers learn to make writing a natural, intensely personal part of life. Cameron's instruction and examples include the details of the writing processes she uses to create her own bestselling books. She makes writing a playful and realistic as well as a reflective event. Anyone jumping into the writing life for the first time and those already living it will discover the art of writing is never the same after reading The Right to Write.

    Joseph Sugarman defied the experts by developing his own style of advertising that not only produced spectacular results but started a new wave in direct response marketing. Sugarman's style and his JS&A ads are legendary. He created advertising that grabbed the reader's attention and didn't let go. In print ads that were motivational, entertaining and often educational, his copy enriched the lives of those who read his words. A lucky few have been literally enriched by learning at Sugarman's $3,000 seminars. And that's the point of this book. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word takes you through his entire seminar process - from the techniques he uses to write copy to the psychological triggers that cause people to buy, plus plenty of ad examples that illustrate his points. This book is full of compelling insights into the buying process, the use of salesmanship in advertising and the techniques that Sugarman uses to grab attention and keep it while convincing prospects to exchange their hard-earned money to buy a product or service. He also relates numerous case histories - stories of his successes (and failures) and those of others. And Sugarman has been highly recognized by his peers. He was selected Direct Marketing Man of the Year, won the distinguished Maxwell Sackheim Award for his career contributions to direct marketing and became a role model for many in sales and marketing. If you are a copywriter, a marketing person, somebody who enjoys a few fabulous success stories or if you just plain like Sugarman's writing style, this book will grab you and keep you fascinated - just like one of his uniquely innovative ads.

    Their motivations, their changes, their actions compel us to read on, anxiously trying to discern what will happen next.In Dynamic Characters, award-winning author and Writer's Digest columnist Nancy Kress explores the fundamental relationship between characterization and plot, illustrating how vibrant, well-constructed characters act as the driving force behind an exceptional story.Kress balances her writing instruction with hands-on checklists to help you build strong characters from the outside in. Blending physical, emotional and mental characterization, you'll learn to create characters that initiate exciting action, react to tense situations, make physical and emotional transformations, and power the plot from beginning to end.

    Ken Rand offers his own advice and twenty-five years of experience for the benefit of other writers.His no-nonsense approach to editing fiction will do more to make writing more professional.

    The Modern Library relaunches the series with the first of its specialized collections -- interviews with sixteen women novelists, poets, and playwrights, all offering rich commentary on the art of writing and on the opportunities and challenges a woman writer faces in contemporary society.

    Learn how to write the synopsis to develop your book's theme, determine what elements of plot and character should be included, choose which method to use to begin your synopsis, and format it properly.Using movies as examples, the author provides preliminary, plot development, character development, and story outline worksheets. Learn how to complete the blank worksheets for your book, complete the checklist to ensure you have included the necessary elements in your synopsis, and study the long and short sample synopses provided for each movie discussed.• What a synopsis is and why editors want one• What to put in your synopsis, what to leave out and why• How to include plot and character development, including resolution, in your synopsis• Learn the key to a good synopsis• Fill out the worksheets to write a synopsis of your book

    In this expanded series, Killgallon presents the same proven methodology but offers all-new writing exercises for middle school, high school, and college students.Unlike traditional grammar books that emphasize sentence analysis, these worktexts asks students to imitate the sentence styles of professional writers, making the sentence composing process enjoyable and challenging. Killgallon teaches subliminally, nontechnically-the ways real writers compose their sentences, the ways students subsequently intuit within their own writing.Designed to produce sentence maturity and variety, the worktexts offer extensive practice in four sentence-manipulating techniques: sentence unscrambling, sentence imitating, sentence combining, and sentence expanding. It's demonstrably true that Sentence Composing can work anywhere--in any school, with any student.

    In this expanded series, Killgallon presents the same proven methodology but offers all-new writing exercises for middle school, high school, and college students.Unlike traditional grammar books that emphasize sentence analysis, these worktexts asks students to imitate the sentence styles of professional writers, making the sentence composing process enjoyable and challenging. Killgallon teaches subliminally, nontechnicallythe ways real writers compose their sentences, the ways students subsequently intuit within their own writing.Designed to produce sentence maturity and variety, the worktexts offer extensive practice in four sentence-manipulating techniques: sentence unscrambling, sentence imitating, sentence combining, and sentence expanding. It's demonstrably true that Sentence Composing can work anywhere--in any school, with any student.

    NPR sponsorships.

    Writer's will discover: Why boldness beats blandness in queries every time; The 10 basics they must have in their article queries; The 10 query blunders that can destroy publication chances; How to rocket a query right past the slush pile; What a book proposal is, why itis needed and how to write it; How to dramatize a novel with a query/synopsis package; How to make a big impression with a little cover letter; Wood includes chapter-ending Question & Answer sections that clarify issues concerning the type of letter at hand. He's also packed the book with illustrative examples.

    With a combination of anecdotes, meditation, and advice, he breaks down the creative process from beginning to end--from coping with writer's block, to song construction, chords, and even self-promotion. Webb also gives readers a glimpse into the professional music world.

    Introduction by Jesse Sheidlower; illustrations by Arnold Roth.

    Even if you are new to the craft of writing, this inspiring guide will show you how to take your love for this special age group and turn it into powerful stories that capture adolescents' unique thoughts, feelings and experiences. From mystery and romance to nonfiction and literary works, award-winning young adult author Sherry Garland leads you through writing for this specialized category. In addition, Garland explains what to do when it's time to sign on the dotted line, from how to deal with agents and editors to understanding the terminology of publishing contracts. She even includes resource listings to help you contact other young adult writers, find additional reference materials and locate popular YA magazines.

    -- Robert Goldsborough, Special Projects Director Advertising Age Holy smoke! This is amazing! A thesaurus for advertising copywriters. Where has it been all my life? -- Denny Hatch, Editor Target Marketing Six seconds. That's all you have to grab your prospect's attention and make a sale. Use the right phrase or slogan, however, and you've made your sale. Use the wrong one, and you've lost your opportunity . . . maybe forever. Choosing the right phrase or slogan is vital to your success. And so is Phrases That Sell. It's the ultimate resource for anyone needing hands-on, instant access to the key phrases, slogans, and attention grabbers that will gain more attention and sell more product. Organized by category . . . indexed and cross-referenced for ease of use . . . loaded with expert advice on how to write copy that sells, Phrases That Sell covers everything, including those hard-to-describe product and service qualities and those product/service attributes that are subtle or abstract. It has 143 selling phrases to describe service, 153 for fun, 341 covering style and design, 180 phrases related to price, and much more! In this book you'll find: 5,000+ sales phrases for consumer and business-to-business products and services a copywriter's primer called 10 Basic Rules of Copywriting, with insider's tips on usage a special section on the seven steps to writing winning slogans Expert advice on how to target your message to specific audiences Whether you sell products, ideas, or services . . . whether you are a novice or an old pro . . . this creative toolbox will give you fresh ideas, new perspectives, and renewed confidence. With Phrases That Sell at your side you'll be able to enthusiastically tackle the most challenging copywriting tasks and eliminate that dreaded writer's block.

    Fifty fantastic and surreal illustrations multiply the books dimensions and dementia.

    Anessential reference for students and all writers, it incorporates numerous lively exercises that emphasize the contemporary applications of classic styles. The book opens with an extended discussion of diction and continues with an analysis of sentence composition and Professor Corbett's famousnumerical style studies, which unite the principles of diction and sentence organization. Its catalogue of figures of speech is exceptionally comprehensive and includes definitions of the classic tropes. A practical application of imitation as a means of developing style introduces the final sectionof the text, which consists of the analysis of selected short readings ranging from an eighteenth-century work by Hugh Blair to John F. Kennedy's inaugural address.

    - Point-of-use lesson plans with step-by-step instructional support- Differentiated instruction strategies to meet the needs of all students- Coverage of the five essential acts of reading --key strategies for strengthening literacy skills- Vocabulary support for each selection- Detailed guidelines for assessing students' progress

    The 12 chapters cover image detail, slow motion, hook, persona, point of view, dialogue, plot, narrative presence, good cliches, character, surrealism, and resolution. Each opens with a discussion of the topic at hand, followed by an exercise, and finishes with a workshop section in which the reader is encouraged to work with at least one other person to get helpful feedback. For individuals, workshops, and classes, this is the first how-to-write book to give full credit to the creative unconscious since Becoming a Writer, the 1934 classic by Dorothea Brande.

    Sol Stein''s book includes advice on how to use techniques of fiction to enhance works of non-fiction.'

    Book by Crutchfield, Roger S.

    Each edition of this popular work has quickly become an Oryx bestseller, and the new fifth edition has been extensively revised to reflect the significant impact of the Internet and other electronic resources on the writing and publishing of scientific papers.This new edition presents seven new chapters that cover the topics of equipment and software; electronic publishing formats; the Internet and the World Wide Web; publishing on the World Wide Web; electronic journals; e-mail and newsgroups; and searching for information on the Web. Many chapters from the previous edition have also been revised and updated.

    For the first time, a guide which brings together the terminology of both traditional and functional models to create a multi-purpose grammar. Designed for easy reference, A Grammar Companion for Primary Teachers provides comprehensive and accessible descriptions and explanations of all grammatical features of English. Back cover - 1998.

    Written by an experienced clinical researcher and editor, it uses hundreds of examples, tables and figures to show how to produce successful abstracts, posters, oral presentations, and manuscripts for publication. This book also serves as a companion to the popular text, Designing Clinical Research.This edition contains the latest:• Guidance on getting work accepted in medical journals and at scientific meetings• Examples of the do’s and don’ts of data presentation• Explanations of confusing statistical terminology• Templates to get started and avoid writers’ block• Tips for creating simple graphics and tables• Help for those who are not fluent in English• Suggestions about getting the most from a poster session• Checklists for each section of a manuscript or presentation• Advice about authorship and responding to reviewers’ commentsPlus with this edition, there is access to a companion website with fully searchable text so you can access the content anytime, anywhere.

    Rebel Yell is ideal for individual or classroom use. Fast-paced and entertaining Rebel Yell, by acclaimed award-winning novelist Lance Olsen, begins with a concise but thorough presentation of compositional basics and quickly progresses to more sophisticated concerns, such as navigating the murky waters of the publishing industry, jump-starting your creative muse, and getting the most out of writing workshops. Whether you are sculpting a great hook, deciphering contract rights and wrongs, or coping with the challenges of a writer's life, hip and honest Rebel Yell can guide you to find your own best solutions. Innovative writing exercises at the end of each chapter encourage writers of all abilities to stretch and flex their creative muscles, while supplemental reading lists guide those who want to push the power of their pens to the next level. Best of all, Rebel Yell features something entirely lacking in many texts: more than 40 interviews with contemporary authors, editors, and publishers (including Kathy Acker, Robert Coover, Samuel R. Delany, Raymond Federman, and Larry McCaffery) working in diverse media, providing significant insights into the multifaceted worlds of "them that's doin' it." Witty and informative, Rebel Yell is the definitive guide to writing fiction that will grab attention in a crowded literary world.

    Through every stage of the writing process the author provides strategies and criteria to help pinpoint the problems in your work and fix them. He looks at sacred" first ideas, slow starts, out-of-sequence events, imprecise language, inflated imagery, weak sentence structure, insufficient dialogue, action and description. In addition to illustrating his points with examples from contemporary writers he traces the evolution of three of his own stories throught drafts to final versions."

    These essays range from Jeffery Dahmer's domestic habits and madness, to her own burial plans and the day her ex-lover moved out.

    The correspondence between Beckett and Schneider offers an unparalleled picture of the art and craft of theater in the hands of two masters. It is also an endlessly enlightening look into the playwright's ideas and methods, his remarks a virtual crib sheet for his brilliant, eccentric plays.Alan Schneider premiered five of Beckett's plays in the United States, including Waiting for Godot, Krapp's Last Tape, and Endgame, and directed a number of revivals. Preparing for each new production, the two wrote extensive letters--about intended tone, conception of characters, irony and verbal echoes, staging details for scenes, delivery of individual lines. From such details a remarkable sense of the playwright's vision emerges, as well as a feel for the director's task. Of Godot, Beckett wrote to Schneider, "I feel my monster is in safe keeping." His confidence in the director, and Schneider's persistent probing for a surer understanding of each play, have produced a marvelous resource: a detailed map of Beckett's work in conception and in production.The correspondence starts in December 1955, shortly after their first meeting, and continues to Schneider's accidental death in March 1984 (when crossing a street to mail a letter to Beckett). The 500 letters capture the world of theater as well as the personalities of their authors. Maurice Harmon's thorough notes provide a helpful guide to people and events mentioned throughout.

    Their comments will interest readers devoted to their novels and stories, other writers, and aspiring writers. 12 photos.

    New to SPD, this odd and compelling book is a collection of Stewart Home's letters, mostly to Florian Cramer, regarding the fabricated 'movement' they call Neoism. As Home puts it in his Introduction, [I] insist that Neoism is no more ridiculous as a 'cultural' phenomenon than Futurism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Lettrism or Situationism. All of these 'groups' operated on the basis of speculation, aiming to create the illusion that a 'movement' that bore their name actually existed ... The `avant-garde' has long denied its `avant-garde' status because it does not wish to acknowledge the ebb and flow of its own discontinuous `tradition'. I hope the selection of letters to third parties, cut into this blend and clash of opinion, adds productively to the general sense of disorientation and confusion.

    In this practical guide for students and academics, the author takes the reader step-by-step through the entire writing and publication process - from choosing a subject, to developing content, to submitting the final manuscript for publication. The book contains exercises, helpful checklists, exemplars and advice drawn from the author′s experience.

    Enter an exhilarating time of change and clashing foes in this highly readable, authoritative exploration of a dangerous aspect of medieval life. Ewart Oakeshott explodes the myth that medieval battles were all similar, pointing instead toward the different and fascinating tactics used in four specific battles covering the 12th to the 16th centuries - at Arsuf, Lincoln, Mauron, and Marignano. He touches on the long and terrible wars of The Crusades; explores the charged feud between Richard the Lionhearted and his nemesis, Saladin; and examines how the development of weapons altered armor and fighting techniques.

    A comprehensive, easy-to-use reference book packed with valuable information, useful techniques, practical tips and guidelines.

    In "Elkheart," critically acclaimed naturalist and essayist David Petersen presents a deeply personal, intimately informed, and (by his own admission) "somewhat eccentric" portrait of the North American elk, or wapiti, and its wild and woolly world.

    The editors have also included essays by nine dancer-scholars who examine qualitative and quantitative inquiry and delineate the most common approaches for investigating dance, raising concerns about philosophy and aesthetics, historical scholarship, movement analysis, sexual and gender identification, cultural diversity, and the resources available to students. The writers have included study questions, research exercises, and suggested readings to facilitate the book’s use as a classroom text.

    It includes a detailed description of a wide variety of voice experiences, an overview of theories which attempt to explain why they occur and a comprehensive set of practical strategies for dealing with unwanted or disturbing voices.

    Lyrical, pointed, open, and embracing, Dancing Naked also tells the story of a life lived through the direct confrontation of fear and rigidity, through to a re-visioning of community and hope. Di Brandt's essays have appeared in a variety of books and magazines across the country.

    Examines the important contributions of various women, Northern, Southern, and slave, to the American Civil War, on the battlefield, in print, on the home front, and in other areas where they challenged traditional female roles.

    Real Writing, for the paragraph-to-essay course; Real Essays, for the essay course; and now Real Skills, a new book for the sentence-to-paragraph course, motivate students with their message that writing is an essential and achievable skill: advice, examples, assignments, and interviews with successful former students show the relevance of writing to all aspects of students' lives. Now, the fourth edition of Real Writing gives students more help with every skill they need for college success.

    Skill areas include grammar, punctuation, mechanics, usage and sentence editing. Also included are scope and sequence charts, suggestions for use, and answer keys.

    A fun and frolicking book of wordplay.- Hundreds of acrostics, anagrams, palindromes, puns, riddles, and spoonerisms- Presented in lively prose and light verse- Features a chapter of skill-testing word games

    Finding a letter amid catalogs, impersonal flyers, and bills is like getting an unexpected present -- created just for the recipient. "Victoria The Pleasures of Staying in Touch" gives excellent, reassuring advice, helping the reader to get started. Whether the occasion calls for an invitation, a thank-you, a note of congratulations, or a letter of condolence, Victoria shows the way. Examples of memorable and appropriate letters for every situation are included, providing both help and inspiration.

    Whether he is discussing rhythm as a form of cosmology, examining children's verse, or probing what it means to worship without belief, his explorations constantly fascinate and entertain.At a time when literary theory can be highly abstract, Body Music is anchored in a writer's working experience. It opens up dramatic new ways to think about words and the world.

    Working with these tools can help individuals and teams surface their mental models, communicate the "story," and engage in creative dialogue about the entire system. Written by top authors in the field, this workbook brings you the latest thinking about the archetypes--and provides plenty of practice using them. Familiarize yourself with eight classic archetypes, such as "Fixes That Fail" and "Limits to Success," by working step-by-step through vivid examples, illustrations, and exercises. Additional activities, potential responses, a handy "archetypes at a glance" chart, and a glossary of terms complete your learning experience. Ideal for self-study or group practice, Systems Archetype Basics will give you the confidence and skill to start putting your knowledge to work.

    This is neither a monograph nor a patchwork miscellany: certain motifs develop from one piece to the next: there is (almost) common ground, outlined in the opening piece called `Imagination and Lyric Voice'. `Middleton is easily the most intelligent and serious of our innovators,' writes John Lucas in the New Statesman, `a poet with a disconcerting knack of making it new in almost every poem.' He brings to his prose the inventive wisdom of the verse practitioner, so that when he writes on translation, it's about the art of translating rather than theories of the craft. `It is the action, of the original, of the translator, that I was exploring.' The conclusions he reaches are always provisional: what matters is the process of imagination and analysis by which they are reached, the journey rather than the point of arrival. `The essays are neither strictly theoretical, nor empirical, nor scholarly -- nor even literary, come to that.' Middleton's most celebrated essays `The Viking Prow', 1 and 2, are reprinted here, along with `The Pursuit of the Kingfisher'. Among authors specifically considered are Shakespeare, Coleridge, Holderlin, Mallarme, Blake, Brecht, Eich and Celan.