Book picks similar to
Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress
writing
non-fiction
nonfiction
on-writing
Page After Page: Discover the Confidence & Passion You Need to Start Writing & Keep Writing (No Matter What!)
Heather Sellers - 2004
Self-doubt. Mind games. They end the moment you pick up this book. With an inspiring mix of humor, wisdom, and creativity, Page After Page shows you how to find the courage and commitment to start writing and keep writing.Author Heather Sellers draws on twenty years of teaching and personal writing experience to provide lively anecdotes and exercises to help you develop a mindset and lifestyle conducive to daily creation. As each chapter takes you deeper into the eccentric, exclusive world known only to writers, you'll learn how to build a productive creative life that keeps you writing page after page, day after day.
Showing & Telling: Learn How to Show & When to Tell for Powerful & Balanced Writing
Laurie Alberts - 2010
Writers are often told to write scenes, dramatize, cut exposition, cut summary-but it's misguided advice. The truth is good writing almost always requires both showing and telling. The trick is finding the right balance of scene and summary-the two basic components of creative prose. "Showing and Telling" shows you how to employ each of these essential techniques in the appropriate places within a narrative. You'll learn how to: write scenes and cut exposition compress time and summarize background information create graceful transitions effectively inject interpretation and more Complete with examples from bestsellers and interactive exercises, this comprehensive guide offers an in-depth look at scene development, the role of reflection in storytelling, the art of summarizing, and how to bring it all together.
Why I Write (Great Ideas #020)
George Orwell - 1946
Whether puncturing the lies of politicians, wittily dissecting the English character or telling unpalatable truths about war, Orwell's timeless, uncompromising essays are more relevant, entertaining and essential than ever in today's era of spin.Contents:"Why I Write", first published 1946"The Lion and the Unicorn", first published 1940"A Hanging", first published 1931"Politics and the English Language", first published 1946
Writing Great Books for Young Adults: Everything You Need to Know, from Crafting the Idea to Landing a Publishing Deal
Regina Brooks - 2008
Despite this, little has been written to help authors hone their craft to truly connect with this audience. Writing Great Books for Young Adults gives writers the advice they need to tap this incredible market. Topics covered include: Listening to the voices of youthMeeting your young protagonist Developing a writing styleConstructing plotsTrying on points of view
Agent Regina Brooks has developed award-winning authors across the YA genre, including a Coretta Scott King winner. She attends more than 20 conferences each year, meeting with authors and teaching.
The Modern Library Writer's Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction
Stephen Koch - 2003
Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.” —Kurt Vonnegut“‘The cat sat on the mat’ is not the beginning of a story, but ‘the cat sat on the dog’s mat’ is.” —John Le CarréNothing is more inspiring for a beginning writer than listening to masters of the craft talk about the writing life. But if you can’t get Vladimir Nabokov, Virginia Woolf, and Gabriel García Márquez together at the Algonquin, The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop gives you the next best thing. Stephen Koch, former chair of Columbia University’s graduate creative writing program, presents a unique guide to the craft of fiction. Along with his own lucid observations and commonsense techniques, he weaves together wisdom, advice, and inspiring commentary from some of our greatest writers. Taking you from the moment of inspiration (keep a notebook with you at all times), to writing a first draft (do it quickly! you can always revise later), to figuring out a plot (plot always serves the story, not vice versa), Koch is a benevolent mentor, glad to dispense sound advice when you need it most. The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop belongs on every writer’s shelf, to be picked up and pored over for those moments when the muse needs a little help finding her way.
Rock Your Plot: A Simple System for Plotting Your Novel
Cathy Yardley - 2012
It includes: how to test your premise, some easy steps to develop your character and define your story question from that character, how to hit your major plot points, and how to write a scene outline. Concise, clear, and action-oriented, this book is all about plotting, simplified.
A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of Inspiration and Encouragement
Barbara Abercrombie - 2012
In this collection of anecdotes, lessons, quotes, and prompts, author and writing teacher Barbara Abercrombie provides a delightfully varied cornucopia of inspiration — nuts-and-bolts solutions, hand-holding commiseration, and epiphany-fueling insights from fellow writers, including Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners and Abercrombie’s students who have gone from paralyzed to published.
Dear Writer, You Need to Quit
Becca Syme - 2019
There are a thousand of those out there and you've read them all.What this book is: a mindset shift book. If you want to stay in this industry, there are some things you need to quit. And I'm not going to tell you "how", but I am going to tell you why.
Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View
Jill Elizabeth Nelson - 2012
This handbook shows you how to perform the transformation from ordinary narrative to deep narrative in clear, easy-to-master steps. I invite you to sweep your writing to the next level with a technique that creates immediacy and intimacy with your readers and virtually eliminates show/don't tell issues. My Best to You, Jill