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

    Spanning topics from the importance of daydreaming to the necessity of writing an outline, from the fine art of showing instead of merely telling to creating believable characters who make readers care what happens to them, Brooks draws upon his own experiences, hard lessons learned, and delightful discoveries made in creating the beloved Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover series, The Word and The Void trilogy, and the bestselling Star Wars novel The Phantom Menace.In addition to being a writing guide, Sometimes the Magic Works is Terry Brooks’s self-portrait of the artist. “If you don’t think there is magic in writing, you probably won’t write anything magical,” says Brooks. This book offers a rare opportunity to peer into the mind of (and learn a trick or two from) one of fantasy fiction’s preeminent magicians.

    While keeping the same basic approach and material as in earlier editions, the Third Edition more fully develops communicative and interactive language-learning activities. Some of the new features are: *Numerous real communication opportunities *More options for interactive work in pairs and groups *Additional open-ended communicative tasks for both speaking and writing *Expanded error analysis exercises *Interesting and lively new exercise material *Shorter units for easy class use The program components include the Student Book, Workbook, Chartbook, Teacher's Guide, and Companion Website. Also available: Understanding and Using English Grammar Interactive (a multimedia CD-ROM).

    Macy and director Gregory Mosher. It is written for any actor who has ever experienced the frustrations of acting classes that lacked clarity and objectivity, and that failed to provide a dependable set of tools. An actor's job, the authors state, is to "find a way to live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play'.' The ways in which an actor can attain that truth form the substance of this eloquent book.

    Delving deep into the creative process, Bret Lott reveals truths we scarcely realized we needed to know but without which we as writers will soon lose our way. In ten intimate essays based on his own experiences and on the seasoned wisdom of writers including Eudora Welty, E. B. White, Henry David Thoreau, Henry James, and John Gardner, Lott explores such topics as• why write? why keep writing?• the importance of simple words• the finer points of character detail• narrative and the passage of time• the pitfalls of technique• making a plan–and letting it go• risking failure–and reaping the benefits• Accepting rejectionWriters travel alone, but Bret Lott’s book makes the journey less lonely and infinitely more rewarding. Before We Get Started will help you make your work as good as it can be: “Pay attention recklessly. Strain to see through the window of your own artistic consciousness in the exhilarating knowledge that there is no path to the waterfall, and there are a million paths to the waterfall, and there is, too, only one path: yours.”

    

    

    While unraveling the inner workings of the human mind it also introduces many of the luminaries in the field along the way, including William James, Aaron Beck, and (of course) Sigmund Freud. From Behaviorism to Cognitivism, what better way to get a handle on your inner demons?Wundt's introspection --Watson's behaviorism --Psychoanalysis - Profile: Sigmund Freud --The cognitive revolution --Evolutionary psychology --Positive psychology --Piaget's stages --Vygotsky's zone --Birth order --Profile: Jean Piaget --Harlow's monkeys --Kohlberg's moral stages --Neuroplasticity --Ekman's universal emotions --Festinger's boring task --James-Lange theory of emotion --Profile: William James --Damasio's emotional decision making --Wason's confirmation bias --Baumeister's ego depletion --Kahneman & Tversky's prospect theory --The bystander effect --Jansi's groupthink --Allport's contact hypothesis --Zimbardo's prison --Profile: Stanley Milgram --Milgram's obedience study --Stereotype threat --Follow the leader --The Lake Wobegon effect --The big five --Fundamental attribution error --Profile: Hans Eysenck --Nature via nurture --The Flynn effect --Ericsson's 10,000-hour rule --Nominative determinism --Sperry's split brains --Seligman's prepared learning --Charcot's hysteria --Rosenhan's insane places --Profile Aaron Beck --Kapur's aberrant salience --Maslow's humanistic psychology --Beck's cognitive therapy --Extreme male brains --The placebo effect --Pavlov's dogs --Sapir-Whorf hypothesis --Chomsky's universal grammar --Loftus's false memories --Profile: Elizabeth Loftus --Embodied cognition --Broadbent's bottleneck --Miller's seven --Consciousness