Creative Writing: A Workbook with Readings


Linda Anderson - 2005
    Suitable for use by students, tutors, writers' groups or writers working alone, this book offers:A practical and inspiring section on the creative process, showing you how to stimulate your creativity and use your memory and experience in inventive ways in-depth coverage of the most popular forms of writing, in extended sections on fiction, poetry and life writing, including biography and autobiography, giving you practice in all three forms so that you might discover and develop your particular strengths a sensible, up-to-date guide to going public, to help you to edit your work to a professional standard and to identify and approach suitable publishers a distinctive collection of exciting exercises, spread throughout the workbook to spark your imagination and increase your technical flexibility and control a substantial array of illuminating readings, bringing together extracts from contemporary and classic writings in order to demonstrate a range of techniques that you can use or adapt in your own work.Creative Writing: A Workbook with Readings presents a unique opportunity to benefit from the advice and experience of a team of published authors who have also taught successful writing courses at a wide range of institutions, helping large numbers of new writers to develop their talents as well as their abilities to evaluate and polish their work to professional standards. These institutions include Lancaster University and the University of East Anglia, renowned as consistent producers of published writers.

Writing Life Stories


Bill Roorbach - 1998
    Writer's will discover: Why boldness beats blandness in queries every time; The 10 basics they must have in their article queries; The 10 query blunders that can destroy publication chances; How to rocket a query right past the slush pile; What a book proposal is, why itis needed and how to write it; How to dramatize a novel with a query/synopsis package; How to make a big impression with a little cover letter; Wood includes chapter-ending Question & Answer sections that clarify issues concerning the type of letter at hand. He's also packed the book with illustrative examples.

The 10% Solution


Ken Rand - 1998
    Ken Rand offers his own advice and twenty-five years of experience for the benefit of other writers.His no-nonsense approach to editing fiction will do more to make writing more professional.

Tell, Don't Show!


James Lofquist - 2013
    And your next, and your next... The technique I share within these pages is extremely easy to learn and do. You will be able to start using it now, today, and see immediate differences in your writing.It's also a fast read. I've condensed the book down to just a handful of pages, so you can read it all in less than an hour. I know what it's like to try and improve my writing by reading books on how to write. Too much time is lost wading through pages and pages of filler. And the more of these books that we read, the thicker our brains become, with too many details and steps and opinions. This book is different. Read it over lunch, and then go try it out. You'll see for yourself that it works.Here is a bit more about why Tell, Don't Show! is truly worth your time.First of all, the words will come much easier. I promise it. I've seen it transform the writing of many students and friends over the years, and before that, my own writing. The technique is so simple that you won't have any excuse for not using it the next time you sit down to write. It's a real pleasure to write this way. Forget about being a suffering writer. With this one little technique, you'll actually learn to love the process of writing.And do you ever wonder why you aren't writing so much? Do you think that if you could write faster, much faster, you'd want to write more? We're not talking about blindly banging away at the keys, but rather, quickly penning powerful stories and novels in a fraction of the time it takes you right now. That is, if you're even writing now. The truth is that when our writing is too slow and introspective, we lose momentum, and sooner or later, we finally stop. Don't do that. Write faster. The technique I'm sharing in this book will show you how to write faster and a lot more than you are now.Finally, by using this technique, you'll find your creativity expanding by the hour, by the day! It will free up your imagination to focus on the big picture, lifting you up and away from both micromanagement and nitpickiness, such common traps during first drafts. Your stories will grow richer and deeper, and you'll find yourself seeing your characters and settings more vividly. Subtext and subplots will rise up and beg for your attention. And this is just the beginning.You'll find all of the above and much more in Tell, Don't Show!

The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present


Phillip Lopate - 1994
    Distinguished from the  detached formal essay by its friendly, conversational tone, its loose structure, and its drive toward candor and self-disclosure, the personal essay seizes on the minutiae of daily life-vanities, fashions, foibles, oddballs, seasonal rituals, love and  disappointment, the pleasures of solitude, reading, taking a walk -- to offer insight into the human condition and the great social and political issues of the day. The Art of the Personal Essay is the first anthology to celebrate this fertile genre. By presenting more than seventy-five personal essays, including influential forerunners from ancient Greece, Rome, and the Far East, masterpieces from the dawn of the personal essay in the sixteenth century, and a wealth of the finest personal essays from the last four centuries, editor Phillip Lopate, himself an acclaimed essayist, displays the tradition of the personal essay in all its historical grandeur, depth, and diversity.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association(r)


American Psychological Association - 1952
    With millions of copies sold, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the style manual of choice for writers, editors, students, educators, and professionals in psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, social work, and justice administration, and other disciplines in which effective communication with words and data is fundamental.In addition to providing clear guidance on grammar, the mechanics of writing, and APA style, the Publication Manual offers an authoritative and easy-to-use reference and citation system and comprehensive coverage of the treatment of numbers, metrication, statistical and mathematical data, tables, and figures for use in writing, reports, or presentations. The new edition has been revised and updated to include: The latest guidelines and examples for referencing electronic and online sources New and revised guidelines for submitting papers electronically Improved guidelines for avoiding plagiarism Simplified formatting guidelines for writers using up-to-date word-processing software All new guidelines for presenting case studies Improved guidelines for the construction of tables Updates on copyright and permissions issues for writers New reference examples for audiovisual media and patents An expanded and improved index for quick and easy access Writers, scholars, and professionals will also find: New guidelines on how to choose text, tables, or figures to present data Guidelines for writing cover letters for submitting articles for publication, plus a sample letter Expanded guidelines on the retention of raw data New advice on establishing written agreements for the use of shared data New information on the responsibilities of co-authors New and experienced readers alike will find the 5th Edition a complete resource for writing, presenting, or publishing with clarity and persuasiveness.Approximately 400 pages

The Art of Syntax: Rhythm of Thought, Rhythm of Song


Ellen Bryant Voigt - 2009
    Through brilliant readings of poems by Bishop, Frost, Kunitz, Lawrence, and others, Voigt examines the signature musical scoring writers deploy to orchestrate meaning. "This structure—this architecture—is the essential drama of the poem's composition," she argues. The Art of Syntax is an indispensable book on the writer's craft by one of America's best and most influential poets and teachers.

Word Hero: A Fiendishly Clever Guide to Crafting the Lines that Get Laughs, Go Viral, and Live Forever


Jay Heinrichs - 2011
    What it does require is some knowledge of the tricks and techniques that make words stick.   In Word Hero, Jay Heinrichs rescues the how-to of verbal artistry from cobwebbed textbooks and makes it entirely fresh – even a little mischievous.  Fear not: on offer here are not dry, abstract ideas couched in academic jargon.  Rather, Heinrichs takes you on an amusing – and amazingly helpful – tour of the mechanisms that make powerful language work.  You’ll learn how to slyly plant your words in people’s heads and draw indelible verbal pictures by employing such tools as “crashing symbols,” “rapid repeaters,” “Russian Dolls” and even the powers of Mr. Potato Head.   With those tools and others tucked in your utility belt, you might not immediately achieve “wordsmith immortality” but you will become a better speaker, writer, and raconteur…and long after people have forgotten everything else, they’ll remember your priceless lines.

The Forest for the Trees


Betsy Lerner - 2000
    From her long experience working with successful writers and discovering new voices, Lerner looks at different writer personality types and addresses the concerns of writers just getting started as well as those stalled mid-career.

Writing to Persuade: How to Bring People Over to Your Side


Trish Hall - 2019
    As the person in charge of the Op-Ed page for the New York Times, Hall spent years immersed in argument, passion, and trendsetting ideas—but also in tangled sentences, migraine-inducing jargon, and dull-as-dishwater writing. Drawing on her vast experience editing everyone from Nobel Prize winners and global strongmen (Putin) to first-time pundits (Angelina Jolie), Hall presents the ultimate guide to writing persuasively for students, job applicants, and rookie authors looking to get published. She sets out the core principles for connecting with readers—laid out in illuminating chapters such as “Cultivate Empathy,” “Abandon Jargon,” and “Prune Ruthlessly.” Combining boisterous anecdotes with practical advice (relayed in “tracked changes” bubbles), Hall offers an infinitely accessible primer on the art of effectively communicating above the digital noise of the twenty-first century.

How to Write a Selling Screenplay


Christopher Keane - 1998
    In How to Write a Selling Screenplay, he takes writers through the entire process, from developing a story to finding the best agent. Using an annotated version of an often-optioned screenplay of his own, and citing examples from movies ranging from Casablanca and Lethal Weapon to Sling Blade and The English Patient, he discusses how to create three-dimensional characters, find a compelling story, build an airtight plot structure, fine-tune dialogue, and much more. Keane's tips on the difference between writing for film and television, as well as his advice on dealing with Hollywood movers and shakers, make this an essential companion for people writing their first--or their fortieth--screenplay.

When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse


Ben Yagoda - 2007
    Not since School House Rock have adjectives, adverbs, articles, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs been explored with such infectious exuberance. Read If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It and: Learn how to write better with classic advice from writers such as Mark Twain (“If you catch an adjective, kill it”), Stephen King (“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs”), and Gertrude Stein (“Nouns . . . are completely not interesting”). Marvel at how a single word can shift from adverb (“I did okay”), to adjective (“It was an okay movie”), to interjection (“Okay!”), to noun (“I gave my okay”), to verb (“Who okayed this?”), depending on its use. Avoid the pretentious preposition at, a favorite of real estate developers (e.g., “The Shoppes at White Plains”). Laugh when Yagoda says he “shall call anyone a dork to the end of his days” who insists on maintaining the distinction between shall and will. Read, and discover a book whose pop culture references, humorous asides, and bracing doses of discernment and common sense convey Yagoda’s unique sense of the “beauty, the joy, the artistry, and the fun of language.”

The Short Story Romance Handbook: How I Make Over $1,000 a Month Writing Short Story Romance (and it only took me 3 months)


Hope Ford - 2018
    Since then I have had three best sellers in the short romance category and am now making over $1,000 a month. I went from making $10.64 for January (my first month) to making $1297.72 for March (my third month). I am projected, by looking at sales, to make $1800+ for April (my fourth month). This book is a tell-all of exactly what I did and how I did it. This is a short book. I guarantee there is no fluff here. I get straight to the point and tell you exactly what I did. I truly want to help you become a bestselling author and help you make money writing books. Please, I encourage you to follow the steps outlined in this book. Happy Writing! #1 bestselling short romance author Hope Ford writes short, steamy, sweet romances. There is always an alpha male (because who doesn’t love an alpha male) and a woman he makes his queen. Sit back, grab a glass of wine, and get lost in this happily ever after story – that’s also a little naughty.

The Five Minute Writer: Exercise And Inspiration In Creative Writing In Five Minutes A Day


Margret Geraghty - 2007
    It may also change the way you think about writing. Drawing on a mix of disciplines, including psychology, art, linguistics, and advertising, each chapter offers you a writing-related discussion, followed by a five-minute exercise. Whether you are a beginner writer, an experienced writer looking for new ideas, or you simply want to use writing to gain self-awareness, the book will help you to: * Access your inner self, the personal memories that reflect universal patterns of the total human narrative. * Gain fresh insight into the nature of stories and storytelling. * Recognise your own life as an inexhaustible source of story ideas. * Stimulate creative thought, including right-brain techniques for 'stepping outside the box'. * Escape writing blocks. * Establish an enjoyable writing routine. Just pick a page and begin your writer's journey.

Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded


Joshua Schimel - 2011
    Success isn't defined by getting papers into print, but by getting them into the reader's consciousness. Writing Science is built upon the idea that successful science writing tells a story.It uses that insight to discuss how to write more effectively. Integrating lessons from other genres of writing with those from the author's years of experience as author, reviewer, and editor, the book shows scientists and students how to present their research in a way that is clear and that willmaximize reader comprehension.The book takes an integrated approach, using the principles of story structure to discuss every aspect of successful science writing, from the overall structure of a paper or proposal to individual sections, paragraphs, sentences, and words. It begins by building core arguments, analyzing why somestories are engaging and memorable while others are quickly forgotten, and proceeds to the elements of story structure, showing how the structures scientists and researchers use in papers and proposals fit into classical models. The book targets the internal structure of a paper, explaining how towrite clear and professional sections, paragraphs, and sentences in a way that is clear and compelling. The ideas within a paper should flow seamlessly, drawing readers along. The final section of the book deals with special challenges, such as how to discuss research limitations and how to writefor the public.Writing Science is a much-needed guide to succeeding in modern science. Its insights and strategies will equip science students, scientists, and professionals across a wide range of scientific and technical fields with the tools needed to communicate effectively.