His passion for the genre, along with a refreshingly open and honest relationship with his fans, shows why he is such a unique talent.In About Writing, Powell shares his insights and tips from the world of fiction. More than just an instructional how-to, this is a practical, inspirational field guide, and a unique, invaluable insight into what it takes to be a successful author.

    But eliminating sugar from your diet can be tricky if you don't know where sugar is hiding. We all know there's sugar in candy and chocolate - but did you know there's heaps of the stuff hiding out in foods you probably thought were safe to eat? This book is a no-nonsense guide to the sugar content in all the popular foods we eat every day. It's a great place to discover just how much sugar is lurking in your favorite foods. Use this guide to check out what you can eat, and what you can't eat when you're trying to kick the sugar habit.

    But here is the secret world of the index: an unsung but extraordinary everyday tool, with an illustrious but little-known history.Charting its curious path from the monasteries and universities of thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first, Dennis Duncan reveals how the index has saved heretics from the stake, kept politicians from high office, and made us all into the readers we are today. We follow it through German print shops and Enlightenment coffee houses, novelists’ living rooms and university laboratories, encountering emperors and popes, philosophers and prime ministers, poets, librarians, and—of course—indexers along the way. Duncan reveals the vast role of the index in our evolving literary and intellectual culture, and he shows that in the Age of Search we are all index-rakers at heart.

    USA Today Bestselling Author Cara Bristol has written a thesaurus for romance authors to help you find the appropriate words to make your sex scene sizzle. Naughty Words for Nice Writers is packed with more than 2,000 usable, functional synonyms geared for romance, erotic romance, and erotica. Included are more than 50 word lists for male and female anatomy, foreplay, orgasm, kissing, sex scene locations, specific sexual acts, sexual noises, spanking terminology, and much more. The guide offers suggestions on how to write a sex scene and how to tighten your writing so it sings. With an emphasis on verbs, this guide will help you “show” the intimacy between your characters rather than tell it. Whether you’re writing a “fade to black” scene or a graphic and explicit one, Naughty Words for Nice Writers will provide the tools. Naughty Words was originally published in 2015. This version has been updated with 800 MORE synonyms and more than a dozen new categories.

    The book became a national bestseller, won a slew of awards, and is soon to be a major motion picture. Get the first draft down quickly! The 90-Day Novel is a day-by-day guide through the process of getting the first draft of your novel onto the page. The 90-Day Novel has been used at the L.A. Writers' Lab over ten years and has helped hundreds of writers complete their work. Some of Watt's students have gone on to become bestselling authors and win major literary awards.The 90-Day Novel is structured into three parts. Part One describes the process of getting your story from imagination to the page and prepares you, through a few simple, powerful writing exercises to access the story within. Part Two is a series of 90 daily letters that will guide you through the hero's journey. Writers often tend to get stuck halfway through, mired somewhere in their "idea" of the story. The 90-Day Novel will show you how and why you got stuck, and how to get to the end of your first draft. Part Three is a compendium of stream-of-consciousness writing exercises designed to access the primal forces in your story, as well as the Structure Questions that will invite up images at key stages in your hero's journey. The 90-Day Novel teaches you how to distill your plot to its nature, and clarifies the mysterious process of assembling vague disparate images into a coherent narrative. Working in this way, story structure (which is often taught as a formula) becomes a springboard, setting you free to explore the far reaches of your imagination. "There are no rules," Watt tells us. "Stay out of your left brain, and let your unconscious do the heavy lifting." The 90-Day Novel clearly articulates the process of marrying the rigor of story structure to the wildness of the imagination, and in the process reminds us of something we so often forget . . . that writing is actually fun. For more information, go to www.lawriterslab.com."For years I have been fascinated by the industry legend of how Alan Watt wrote his masterful novel, Diamond Dogs, in 90 days. Now, at last, he shares his secrets. The 90-Day Novel is smart, insightful, thorough and wise. It's also one of the best books on novel-writing I have ever seen. I feel confident that anyone who takes this program seriously will have a solid manuscript to show for the effort."- David Liss (national bestselling author and Edgar winner of A Conspiracy of Paper)"Let Al Watt take your heart by its hand and get your 90-Day Novel onto the page. It will be the experience of a lifetime."- Viki King (author of How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method)"The 90-Day Novel is the real deal. Alan Watt gets down to it by brilliantly articulating the fusion of the muse to the rigor of story structure. If you've been struggling with your story, or really want to get dangerous on the page, read this book. Follow it, and you will have a first draft in 90 days."- Eric Miles Williamson (Pen finalist for his novel East Bay Grease, and author of Say It Hot) "The 90-Day Novel provides the inspiration, focus, and structure that every novelist needs to finally put down on paper what has been alive inside him, perhaps for years, struggling to get out."- Allison Burnett (author of Christopher, finalist for Pen Center USA's Literary Award in Fiction)"The 90 daily letters are absolutely worth the price of admission. A friendly nudge, a gentle reminder of our commitment, a powerful blast of insight: all serve to boost our flagging morale, or comb out our confusion, or intercede with the bitter fight against our creative impulses."- Mary Shannon (Professor of Creative Writing, Cal State Northridge/90-Day NovelistAbout the AuthorBestselling author Alan Watt has received many awards for his writing, including France's 2004 Prix Printemps (best foreign novel). He founded LA Writers' Lab in 2002. He lectures on the creative process and teaches The 90-Day Novel workshops to writers throughout the world.

    This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!

    This is not one of those books. On the contrary, this is a collection of terrible, awkward, and laughably unreadable excerpts that will teach you what to avoid—at all costs—if you ever want your novel published.In How Not to Write a Novel, authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman distill their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing, and reviewing fiction to bring you real advice from the other side of the query letter. Rather than telling you how or what to write, they identify the 200 most common mistakes unconsciously made by writers and teach you to recognize, avoid, and amend them. With hilarious "mis-examples" to demonstrate each manuscript-mangling error, they'll help you troubleshoot your beginnings and endings, bad guys, love interests, style, jokes, perspective, voice, and more. As funny as it is useful, this essential how-NOT-to guide will help you get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstore.

    Shimmering Images teaches the aspiring memoirist how to locate key memories using Lisa's technique for finding, linking, and fleshing out those vibrant recollections of important moments and situations.Shimmering Images will address:*the difference between memoir and autobiography*how to claim your voice*the art of storytelling*honesty, truth, and compassion in writing*authentic dialogue and the need for specificityReaders will learn how to craft a short piece of narrative nonfiction grounded in their core memories and master a technique they can use over and over again for writing other narratives.A must-have book for anyone who has treasured Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott or Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.

    Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer's craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King's advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported near-fatal accident in 1999 -- and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it -- fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.(back cover)

    We'll prove it to you. Do you have an amazing idea for a novel but you struggle to get words on the page? Maybe the problem isn't writer's block. Maybe you need a writing process.Publishing veterans and bestselling authors Zach Bohannon and J. Thorn share their proven system for developing a plan that will bridge the gap between a collection of random notes and a cohesive first draft.This comprehensive book will teach you the foundations of fiction: Plot, Structure, Genre, Theme, Character, and World.Discover:Why you need a system to finish a first draft whether you plot or pants What Aristotle said about storytelling thousands of years ago that still applies today How studying Star Wars can make you a better writer What some of the most prolific authors believe about the craft How all stories can be reduced to three components Which archetypes create a more engaging reader experience How the Hero's Journey is alike and different than the Virgin's Promise Why you should cast your characters like a movie producer Developed over 10 years and applied on millions of words of fiction, Thorn and Bohannon will show you how to layer your approach and build a fantastic story from the ground up.No more staring at a blinking cursor when you sit down to write!Become a master storyteller today. Three Story Method will transform you from a struggling writer into a career author.Downloadable worksheet and full list of resources included! Get it now!

    This indispensable bundle - AVAILABLE ONLY FOR A LIMITED TIME - has over 1000 pages of solid tactics, proven strategies, and actionable advice you can use during each step of the publishing process, from content creation to production and distribution to marketing. Tap into: * expert methods for building story worlds, characters, and plots * a psychology-driven model to shape stories into must-have "products" * best practices for editing * practical approaches to cover design, formatting and pricing * optimized tips for selling fiction vs non-fiction * short-term vs long-term marketing plans * updated tactics for building platform and launching new books * collaborative techniques for selling * strategies for optimizing profit beyond the written word These are THE SAME recently updated editions of popular titles you've heard of by industry names you trust. In fact, the authors have collaborated to bring you additional exclusive BONUS content you can access FREE! Whether you're a newbie or an indie expert, you'll find plenty of insights here to help inform your career. THE INDIE AUTHOR POWER PACK includes the full versions of: ________________ * WRITE. PUBLISH. REPEAT.: The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success - Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant In 2013, Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt published 1.5 million words and made their full-time livings as indie authors. In WRITE. PUBLISH. REPEAT., they tell you exactly how they did it: how they created over 15 independent franchises across 50+ published works, how they turned their art into a logical, sustainable business, and how any independent author can do the same to build a sustainable, profitable, future-proof career with their writing. ________________ * LET'S GET DIGITAL: How To Self-Publish, And Why You Should - David Gaughran The internet has revolutionized every business it has come into contact with, and publishing is no different. These changes are handing power back to the writer. It's up to YOU if you want to profit from them. With practical, hands-on publishing advice; best practices on editing, cover design, formatting, and pricing; and effective marketing strategies that won't eat into your writing time or budget. And that's just for starters... ________________ * HOW TO MARKET A BOOK - Joanna Penn Get to grips with marketing! Learn the values and marketing principles that will help your long-term career as a writer and encourage you to think more like an entrepreneur, while using short-term tactics to kick up immediate sales. Includes recommendations for branding, content marketing, social networking and working with the media. With methods to take you beyond the book into professional speaking, making money from other products and creating new opportunities.

    Through months of trial-and-error, hundreds of hours of experimentation, and dozens of manuscripts, she tweaked and honed until she could easily write 10,000 words in a day, at speeds over 3500+ words per hour! She shares all her insights, secrets, hacks, and data in this tome dedicated to improving your writing speeds, skyrocketing your monthly word count, and publishing more books. You'll learn: - The 4-step framework that Monica used to reach speeds of 3500+ new fiction words per hour - The tracking systems you need to double or triple your writing speed in the next couple months - The killer 4-step pre-production method Monica uses to combat writer's block, no matter what the project is! - The secrets to developing a daily writing habit that other authors don't talk about enough - How Monica went from publishing only one book per year from 2009-2013, to publishing 8 books in a single year in 2014 For serious authors, both beginner and advanced, who want to improve their output this year! Write Better, Faster: How To Triple Your Writing Speed and Write More Every Day will help you kick your excuses and get more writing done. As part of the Growth Hacking For Storytellers series, it explores how to hack your writing routine to be more efficient, more productive, and have a ton of fun in the process!

    Foreword by James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief Midwest Book Review Winner, ForeWord Magazine 2008 Book of the Year Award in the category of Writing

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    The book was written as an answer to the glut of tired A-Z screenwriting books that have flooded the market over the years. Instead of another extensive How-To guide, Scriptshadow Secrets looks at 50 popular movies from the past six decades and offers 10 (give or take) screenwriting tips from each. The idea is to not only teach screenwriters valuable lessons, but show how those lessons have been incorporated into successful films. This way, writers learn by example, instead of having to take the author's word for it. From Aliens to Pirates Of The Caribbean to The Hangover to The Empire Strikes Back, Secrets teaches you screenwriting lessons from the greatest films of all time. Author Carson Reeves began as a screenwriter himself, yet struggled to figure out the elusive formula for writing a successful screenplay. Then, about seven years ago, he started getting his hands on spec sale scripts and reading them. Within weeks, he'd learned more about screenwriting than he had in the past seven years combined. He then turned his attention from writing to helping others write. This was the genesis behind the Scriptshadow website - a way to teach screenwriting through reading professional screenplays.The site blew up but quickly became controversial, due to Reeves breaking down material that Hollywood considered private. As such, the site's become a "love it or hate it" fixture in both Hollywood and the screenwriting community. Still, the site has tens of thousands of aspiring screenwriters who visit daily and make it the most popular screenwriting site on the web. The site's most popular feature, the "What I learned" section at the end of each review, was the main inspiration behind Scriptshadow Secrets, as Reeves saw how positively writers responded to quick context-relevant tips.