The ups and downs of writing life—including self-doubt and writer's block—are here, along with tips about getting published and writing in the electronic age. On your own, this book can be your "teacher," while groups, in or out of the classroom, can profit from sharing weekly assignments.

     The traditional writing workshop was established with white male writers in mind; what we call craft is informed by their cultural values. In this bold and original examination of elements of writing—including plot, character, conflict, structure, and believability—and aspects of workshop—including the silenced writer and the imagined reader—Matthew Salesses asks questions to invigorate these familiar concepts. He upends Western notions of how a story must progress. How can we rethink craft, and the teaching of it, to better reach writers with diverse backgrounds? How can we invite diverse storytelling traditions into literary spaces?Drawing from examples including One Thousand and One Nights, Curious George, Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, and the Asian American classic No-No Boy, Salesses asks us to reimagine craft and the workshop. In the pages of exercises included here, teachers will find suggestions for building syllabi, grading, and introducing new methods to the classroom; students will find revision and editing guidance, as well as a new lens for reading their work. Salesses shows that we need to interrogate the lack of diversity at the core of published fiction: how we teach and write it. After all, as he reminds us, "When we write fiction, we write the world."

    Provides new insights and observations from Vogler's pioneering work in mythic structure for writers.

    With inspiring wit and wisdom he will not only teach you how to be a better writer, but a more observant person and a better student in any field. You'll find yourself uncontrollably thinking deep thoughts about writing, film or anything else you are passionate about in life. Foreword by Glen Keane. "Listen to Brian, he has the unique ability to articulate what makes good writing." - Al Higgins, Writer "News Radio," "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Mike & Molly" "If you don't already have a mentor, here's one you'll love, in portable form." -- Steve Englehart novelist and writer of classic versions of dozen of comics series such as Batman and The Avengers "Brian's book is filled with insightful and useful gems for writers of any experience level. The only reason you'll want to put it down is to go start writing yourself." -- J. Elvis Weinstein writer/producer "Freaks and Geeks," "Mystery Science Theater 3000," "Cinematic Titanic" "Brian writes in clear, readily usable ways to improve your screenwriting. Like time-release story capsules they ignite and helped me over many movies and countless story bends. Give him a read, take a couple and repeat as needed." -- Ronnie del Carmen, story supervisor on UP and Finding Nemo, director and writer at Pixar Animation Studios. "I use Brian McDonald's books in my classes because I'm a student of his work. All teachers are students all the time. Brian hasn't forgotten that he occupies both a seat in the classroom and the spot in front of the classroom." -- Shawn Wong Professor, Department of English University of Washington

    In this unique guide for writers of all levels, Gail Sher—a poet who is also a widely respected teacher of creative writing—combines the inspirational value of Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way with the spiritual focus of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Here she introduces a method of discipline that applies specific Zen practices to enhance and clarify creative work. She also discusses bodily postures that support writing, how to set up the appropriate writing regimen, and how to discover one's own "learning personality." In the tradition of such classics as Writing Down the Bones and If You Want to Write, One Continuous Mistake will help beginning writers gain access to their creative capabilities while serving as a perennial reference that working writers can turn to again and again for inspiration and direction.

    He shows you how to transform anxiety into "productive elation," how to separate vision from revision, and how to develop your own writing agenda.This book, based on his writing seminars, research into dreams and creativity, and film development, is, as the New York Times states, "crammed with the sort of useful advice that it seems to take some people years to learn."

    It's not that every person has lived such a unique or dramatic life, but we inherently understand that writing memoir-whether it's a book, blog, or just a letter to a child-is the single greatest portal to self-examination. While there have been other writing books, there's been nothing like Marion Roach Smith's THE MEMOIR PROJECT. Marion has written four books and she's been teaching a sold-out memoir writing class for 13 years. Her new book is a disarmingly frank, but wildly fun, distillation of all the unsentimental lessons that WORK. Tired topics like writing exercises, morning pages and "writer's block" are replaced with quirky, provocative tactics that teach you to write with purpose. Previously self-published in April 2010 (under the title Writing What You Know: Realia), the book has already proven hugely popular, and with its new title and updated content, it is sure to find an even bigger and even more enthusiastic audience.

    Formatter to New York Times bestselling writers and indie authors alike, Henkel makes the process understandable and easy to follow for anyone.Whether you want to create an eBook for Kindle, or you want to format your manuscript as an ePub file, "Zen of eBook Formatting" is the perfect companion for the task.“Zen of eBook Formatting” covers the entire process from basic clean-up of the manuscript to basic HTML tagging, all the way to advanced features, and error-checking, teaching you the skills necessary to give your own eBooks the professional polish they deserve.Here is a look at the Table of Contents, to give you an impression of the breadth of subjects covered in the book. Table of Contents Preface Introduction 1 - The Road to Right 2 - Data Structure 3 - Cleaning Up the Manuscript 4 - From Word Processor to Programming Editor 5 - General Techniques 6 - Advanced Techniques 7 - eBook Generation 8 - eBooks Outside the Box Parting Thoughts Appendices Note:I would like to point out that the “Look Inside” preview is currently garbled and the formatting is off. Amazon is aware of the problem and working on it, hopefully rectifying the error in their previewer as soon as possible. I think it is important o point out that the formatting in the actual eBook is working correctly and does not suffer from the same flaws.

    You will learn how to break the topic down into easy-to-attack projects; how and where to do research; a process that makes writing easy; how to improve material; how to evaluate your publishing options and how to develop an individualized and workable plan. Using the pilot system of organization, the binder concept and the check-off lists, the book becomes easy to write. This plan will accelerate book writing whether you type it or dictate it..

    It offers practical and inspiring advice on such subjects as structuring a plot and handling rejection. And it combines one of today's most successful fiction writers with a published non-fiction writer who teaches creative fiction. HOW I WRITE is the perfect reference for anyone looking to improve their writing, and for those fans who are hungry to find out more about just how Janet Evanovich ticks.

    Scenes act as dynamic structures that thrust both your characters and readers forward through conflict, baiting them with goals that may–or may not–be obtained. Writing good scenes makes the difference between a tale that crackles with energy and momentum and a story that falls flat.In "Novelist's Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes," Raymond Obstfeld leads you through the creation process, examining all the elements that go into making scenes successful, cohesive and compelling. Tackling topics like finding a scene's "hot spot," identifying its dominating purpose and avoiding a cliched ending, Obstfeld provides essential reading for novice and novelist alike. Using examples from film, short stories, and best-selling fiction, he documents why and how scenes work. You'll learn:what is (and isn't) a scenehow to make scenes memorablehow to use point of viewhow to focus on character, plot and themehow to make scenes pay offhow to structure a scenehow to use settinghow to revise a scenethe importance of first impressionsEvery page of "Novelist's Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes" opens a new window of opportunity for writers by offering valuable insight, articulate advice and expert examples. It's a reference, a road map and a romp, all rolled into one. So go on–make a scene. And make it unforgettable.

    This Live Wire Writer Guide presents a simple, effective technique to sharpen your hook, charge your scenes, and amplify your voice whether you're a beginner or an expert.Most writing manuals skirt craft questions with gimmicks and quick fixes rather than plugging directly into your story's power source. Energize your fiction and boost your career with a new characterization method that jumpstarts drafting, crafting, revision, and pitching.  skill-builders to intensify language, stakes, and emotion for your readers.  battle-tested solutions for common traps, crutches, and habits.  a dynamic story-planning strategy effective for plotters and pantsers.  ample examples and exercises to help you upgrade fiction in any genre.  Blast past overused tics and types with storycraft that busts your ruts and awes your audience. Whether you like to wing it or bring it, Verbalize offers a fresh set of user-friendly, language-based tools to populate your pages and lay the foundations of unforgettable genre fiction.

    Do we have to strip away all femininity to make a female character strong? How do we keep a strong female character likeable? If we're writing historical fiction or science fiction or fantasy based on a historical culture, how far can we stray from the historical records when creating our female characters? In Strong Female Characters: A Busy Writer's Guide you'll learn - what “strong female characters” means, - the keys to writing characters who don’t match stereotypical male or female qualities, - how to keep strong female characters likeable, and - what roles women actually played in history. Each book in the Busy Writer’s Guide series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don’t, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editor's-eye view. Strong Female Characters is a mini-book of approximately 4,000 words.

    Rethinking the usage guide for the twenty-first century, Pinker doesn’t carp about the decline of language or recycle pet peeves from the rulebooks of a century ago. Instead, he applies insights from the sciences of language and mind to the challenge of crafting clear, coherent, and stylish prose. In this short, cheerful, and eminently practical book, Pinker shows how writing depends on imagination, empathy, coherence, grammatical knowhow, and an ability to savor and reverse engineer the good prose of others. He replaces dogma about usage with reason and evidence, allowing writers and editors to apply the guidelines judiciously, rather than robotically, being mindful of what they are designed to accomplish. Filled with examples of great and gruesome prose, Pinker shows us how the art of writing can be a form of pleasurable mastery and a fascinating intellectual topic in its own right.

     You've heard the term "Rapid Release" and you're wondering if it's a viable strategy for you. This book has everything you need to get started writing and releasing quicker, as well as half a dozen case studies outlining 6 different Rapid Release Launches Elana has tried for herself. There's something for every Indie author, in every stage of their self-publishing career, though this isn't a how-to book on self-publishing. You'll get tips and tricks to organize a Rapid Release, as well as an entire chapter dedicated to the how-to of writing faster. Elana is transparent with her numbers, and she outlines many marketing strategies while detailing her thoughts behind her Rapid Release strategies that can be applied to any launch, regardless of how quickly the books come out. Get inspired in your Indie career with Elana!