Whether you're writing a rags-to-riches tell-all memoir or literary journalism, telling true stories well is hard work. In You Can't Make This Stuff Up, Lee Gutkind, the go-to expert for all things creative nonfiction, offers his unvarnished wisdom to help you craft the best writing possible. Frank, to-the-point, and always entertaining, Gutkind describes and illustrates every aspect of the genre. Invaluable tools and exercises illuminate key steps, from defining a concept and establishing a writing process to the final product. Offering new ways of understanding the genre, this practical guidebook will help you thoroughly expand and stylize your work.

    Nancy Lamb can help you achieve that dream. She mixes insightful advice for mastering storytelling with dozens of examples that illustrate a variety of plot-building techniques.Nancy's instruction covers everything from format and content to setting and characterization. She also draws from a range of children's classics, including "Where the Wild Things Are," "Charlotte's Web" and "Bridge to Tarabithia" to explore and illuminate the unique nature of children's literature.Nancy also shares writing tips and tricks accumulated through years of successful storytelling–invaluable advice for crafting fiction that resonates with children of all ages, from 4 to 14 and beyond.

    Newly revised and expanded for this Third Edition, Creating Short Fiction is a popular and widely trusted guide to writing short stories of originality, durability, and quality. Celebrated short-story author and writing instructor Knight also includes many examples and exercises that have been effective in classrooms and workshops everywhere.

    McCann asks his readers to constantly push the boundaries of experience, to see empathy and wonder in the stories we craft and hear.A paean to the power of language, both by argument and by example, Letters to a Young Writer is fierce and honest in its testament to the bruises delivered by writing as both a profession and a calling. It charges aspiring writers to learn the rules and even break them.These fifty-two essays are ultimately a profound challenge to a new generation to bring truth and light to a dark world through their art.

    It’s an eclectic collection of essays, more inspiration guide than style guide, complete with three indexes and a satisfyingly chunky glossary of terms related to grammar and usage. Word Up! does what too few books on writing do: it practices while preaching, shows while telling, uses powerful writing to talk about powerful writing.Do you read as much for pleasure as for information? Do you teach or study the craft of writing? If so, this book belongs on your shelf.

    How? By elaborating parts of a story that matter most to you and your readers. By offering an organizational system that keeps your head clutter-free. By taking the fear and frustration out of writing. The Fool Proof Outline is filled with just the right amount of brainstorming prompts, both challenging you to engage readers emotionally and propelling your novel toward completion. Character, plot, and scene questionnaires are also included to keep you focused one step at a time.Even the most seasoned writer will appreciate the Fool Proof Outline, yet it offers an ease-of-use that will benefit writers of every level.The ebook contains a link to the Fool Proof Outline in both Scrivener and Excel. If you’ve been considering Scrivener, this is a wonderful place to start!You'll also get access to the Fool Proof Outline's online site, where you can ask questions and share your success. No registration necessary. The Fool Proof Outline is the result of an incredible evolution far beyond my earlier outline template, The Ultimate Novel Template. Those familiar with that early version will shout with joy at the improvements. I do!

    Read this book to learn all about it.From Harry Potter to Twilight, from Wonder Woman to Star Wars, you’ll never look at pop culture the same way again.With over a dozen NYT and USA Today bestsellers, and over a million books in print, popular genre author and former archaeologist Gail Carriger brings her cheeky comedic tone and over a decade of making her living as a fiction author to this fascinating look at one of the most popular yet neglected narratives of our time. The presentation she does on this subject sells for hundreds of dollars.“I’m not sure how you can just rewire my brain to see the heroine’s journey like this and then expect me to make coherent, thought-out comments about the text when all I want to do is hold it in my twisted little grip while I shove it at people screaming like a madman and pointing at passages.”~ Author Beta ReaderGail Carriger uses the heroine’s journey to produce bestselling, critically-acclaimed books that genre blend science fiction, cozy mystery, young adult, urban fantasy, romance, historical fiction, and alternate history. In this non-fiction book she uses her academic background and creative writing skills to bring to life the archetypes, tropes, story beats, themes, and messages inherent in the heroine’s journey. Part treatise on authorship, part feminist literary criticism, part how to write guide, Carriger uses mythology, legend, and Gothic victorian 19th century literature to explore movies, screenwriting, books, and audience desires.This is an excellent reference guide for genre fiction authors seeking to improve their craft or for readers and pop culture enthusiasts interested in understanding their own taste. It is the perfect counterpoint to The Hero with a Thousand Faces not to mention Save the Cat, Women Who Run With The Wolves, and The Breakout Novelist.

    Here's the book writers have been waiting for! Covering every aspect of the creative journey, The Novel Writer's Toolkit shows readers how to: - Develop salable ideas- Set a writing schedule and stick to it- Develop compelling characters and plot- Find an agent or an editor who will help publish their work- Understand the submission and publishing process- Write dialogue that sounds real and engaging- Dissect bestsellers in order to discover what makes them work- Stay alive and inspired through it all- Turn ideas into stories- Conduct accurate research- Promote their work

    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.

    

    At once a memoir, meditation on the artistic process, and advice on craft, Still Writing is an intimate and eloquent companion to living a creative life.Through a blend of deeply personal stories about what formed her as a writer, tales from other authors, and a searching look at her own creative process, Shapiro offers her gift to writers everywhere: an elegant guide of hard-won wisdom and advice for staying the course. "The writer's life requires courage, patience, empathy, openness. It requires the ability to be alone with oneself. Gentle with oneself. To be disciplined, and at the same time, take risks." Writers--and anyone with an artistic temperament--will find inspiration and comfort in these pages. Offering lessons learned over twenty years of teaching and writing, Shapiro brings her own revealing insights to weave an indispensable almanac for modern writers.Like Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, Virginia Woolf's A Writer's Diary, and Stephen King's On Writing, Dani Shapiro's Still Writing is a lodestar for aspiring scribes and an eloquent memoir of the writing life.

    It should be carefully sewn into the fabric of the story to create tension-filled moments that will keep readers turning pages. In Writing with Emotion, Tension, & Conflict, you'll learn how to layer emotional moments and deep connections to create a tapestry filled with conflict, pathos, and genuine feeling.- Create emotional depth, conflict, and tension in your novel by carefully crafting your plot, characters, setting, word choice, and more. - Learn what makes readers "tick"--and what will elicit the strongest emotional responses. - Write believable, emotional scenes and dialogue--and trim away the sappiness.When writing a novel, your ultimate goal is to make readers smile, weep, rage, and laugh right along with your characters. Writing with Emotion, Tension, & Conflict will show you how to evoke a multitude of feelings in your readers--and keep them coming back for more.

    Throughout history, the timely use of the apt word has held enormous sway, in literature, speeches, and texts. How is it that some words hold such power? One thing we know: great words often engage the senses. Thesaurus of the Senses expands your possibilities to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell to describe the world around you. It collects some of the best English sensory words in one place to enliven your writing and help you build persuasive description. It's an indispensable tool for writers, poets, bloggers, editors, storytellers, students, teachers, communicators, and word lovers alike — anyone wanting to add more spark to his or her writing.

    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.

    With both humor and reverence, Room to Write playfully prevails on us to experience the world through a writer's eyes, and respond to the creative sparks that charge good writing.In two hundred daily essays, the author invites the reader--whether an experienced writer or someone just starting out--into the crucibles from which creative writing erupts: emotion, imagination, intellect, and soul. Once there, she urges the reader to grab a pen, grasp a keyboard, and seize the moment when perception fires revelation and language becomes art.Each page features an essay exploring an aspect of the writing process, an exercise to get the reader writing, and a quotation to tickle the mind and keep the writing going. Ultimately, readers learn about how they write, and how to trust their intuition. Room to Write is a collection of beguiling provocations, an irresistible invitation to all those who believe that writing, like any creative endeavor, is a way of life.