An imprisoned man receives an unexpected caller, after which "everything changed..."And the reader is hooked. But whether or not readers will stay on for the entire wild ride will depend on how well the writer structures the story, scene by scene.This book is your game plan for success. Using dozens of examples from his own work - including "Dropshot," "Tiebreaker" and other popular novels - Jack M. Bickham will guide you in building a sturdy framework for your novel, whatever its form or length. You'll learn how to: -"worry" your readers into following your story to the end -prolong your main character's struggle while moving the story ahead -juggle cause and effect to serve your story action As you work on crafting compelling scenes that move the reader, moment by moment, toward the story's resolution, you'll see why believable fiction must make more sense than real life. Every scene should end in disastersome scenes should be condensed, and others built big. Whatever your story, this book can help you arrive at a happy ending in the company of satisfied readers.

    A LIST OF 1,000 ADJECTIVES Indie Author Resources Book 3 Are boring adjectives leaving your writing dull, bland, and yawn-inducing? If so, this book is for you! Broken down into easy-to-navigate categories like "texture," "height," and "brightness," these adjectives will help you pack your writing with descriptions that will leave your readers asking for more!

    Michael Theune's breakthrough concept encourages students, teachers, and writers to use structure as a tool to see the fundamental affinities between strikingly different kinds of poetry and radically different literary eras. The book includes examination of the mid-course turn and the elegy, as well as the ironic, concessional, emblem, and retrospective-prospective structures, among others. In addition, 14 contemporary poets provide an example of and commentary on their own work.

    Professional editor and author Elizabeth Lyon offers aspiring novelists the guidance and instruction they need to write and edit well-crafted and compelling stories that will stand out from the competition and attract the attention of agents and publishers, including:- Stand-out style techniques, from accessing an authentic voice to applying techniques of "wordsmithing" that transform prose - How to rewrite characterization for dimensionality, a universal need, and theme - Adjustment suggestions to match the prose style and structure of specific genres - Correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and style - Strategies to strengthen story beginnings and endings - Methods for increasing plot stakes, creating movement, and adjusting pace for maximum suspense

     You know it’s been rattling around in your head since you were young. You want to write a book because the call of the muse has been getting stronger. And, perhaps you have heard You Must Write a Book. The two keys to success for aspiring authors is consistency and a little bit of time. Honorée Corder and Brian D. Meeks are full-time authors who have written over three dozen books combined, both fiction and non-fiction. Honorée is an expert in non-fiction and Brian has penned tomes across five fiction genres. They’ve combined their knowledge to lay out the best practices and answer the most common questions they hear from new authors. The Nifty Fifteen will take you from the blank page to finished book by wiping away the fear that is born of not knowing where to begin. In addition, you’ll be given access to Brian’s Beautiful Gears, which is a session by session look at how he wrote his 13th novel in just fifteen minutes per day. You’ll see the unedited work with all of its errors to show how a full-time author is worried about one thing…get the first rough draft out. The edited version, all polished up and without the daily comments, will also be made available upon its release. Lastly you’ll be given exercises that will make the process easy to undertake. Everyone has a story to tell. It just takes a little time each day, so why not give The Nifty Fifteen a read.

    Debt sucks. Period. And that includes student loan debt. No matter what you believed—or were told—when you took out your loans, you need to get serious about getting rid of your debt fast, because it’s costing you more than you know. That’s why bestselling author Anthony ONeal wrote this motivating 64-page Quick Read—to show you why you need to dump your debt fast and how to do it.If you have student loan debt and have never heard of Ramsey Solutions or the 7 Baby Steps, this 64-page Quick Read is for you. Anthony will walk you step-by-step through Baby Steps 1 and 2 to show you how to dump your debt forever. You’ll learn:The ugly truth about how debt hurts youThe importance of an emergency fund and how to budget (Baby Step 1)The power of the debt snowball (Baby Step 2)Exactly what to do to pay off your student loans fasterHow to control your money so it doesn’t control youYou’ll also hear stories from real people about how they paid off their debt fastYou don’t need relief from your debt, you need to get mad at it. Because the truth is, when you get mad enough, you can pay off your loans faster than you ever thought possible—and take control of your money, and your life, for good! Don’t let anything stand in the way of your future. This plan has helped millions get out of debt and you’re next. You can do this!(Ramsey Press)

    'The art of writing, ' Kingsley Amis said, 'is the art of applying the seat of one's trousers to the seat of one's chair.' Looking at different aspects of writing, this book features set exercises to help the reader improve their confidence and technique, covering essential skills for all would-be novelists

    Packed with 30 exercises, abundant examples, and practical strategies, this guidebook will help you write unforgettable characters who "come alive" on the page, create compelling dialogue, and chart more breathtaking emotional journeys for your characters. Stant Litore is the author of The Ansible Stories, The Zombie Bible, The Running of the Tyrannosaurs, and Dante's Heart. Best known for his weird fiction, alternate history, and scifi, he has taught frequent courses for writers across the genres and has served as a developmental editor for Westmarch Publishing. His own fiction has been acclaimed by NPR, has served as the subject of scholarly work in Relegere and Weird Fiction Review, and he has been hailed as "SF's premier poet of loneliness." He lives in Colorado with his wife and two daughters, and is working on his next book.

    A fascinating collection of six essays, written for the William Empson Lectures in Oxford, each exploring an aspect of writerly contemplation.

    It's an entertaining, easy-to-read, and deeply helpful guide to take your story from concept to completion using the most cutting-edge writing program available.Yes, it will teach you how to use many of Scrivener's features with screenshots and illustrations. More importantly, however, it will show you how each feature can be applied to the creative writing process to maximize results, increase your productivity, and help you finish your books faster.The tutorial is packed with advice from other successful authors, so you can pick and choose what works for you, and leave the rest alone.If you're ready to gain access to your writerly superpowers, get the sample and try the book today.

    And all of them are phonies. Well, not completely. There are real, applicable techniques and strategies in any writing reference to help you. But the idea that there's only one way of writing? Nuts! With unconventional approaches to the craft, fresh angles on novel writing and selling, a healthy dose of humor, and no promise of refunds, Writing Without Rules is for those writers who have tried and tried again--and are ready to success on their own terms. In these pages, accomplished author Jeff Somers will show you:The key to a successful writing career is doing the actual writing, no matter the circumstances.Fantastic ideas are available everywhere--you just need to know how to tap into sources through a variety of approaches.Important craft aspects that you should focus on, such as characters and dialogue, while spending less time on others, like setting.Effective ways to get published--whether it's traditional or self-publishing--and how to supplement your income.Whether you're a plotter, a pantser, or somewhere in-between, Writing Without Rules is for those writers who are looking for a fresh take on tackling the challenge of writing and selling a novel, and building a career. As Somers will show you, it's less about being perfect in everything, and more about having the confidence to complete everything.

    

    This cornucopia was devoted mainly to culture and the arts, the craft of writing, and travels to remote places, along with the movies, American popular song, email, multitasking, baseball, Central Park, Tina Brown, Pauline Kael, Steve Martin, and other complications of modern life. Written with elegance and humor, these pieces are now collected in The Writer Who Stayed."If you value vintage journalism of an old-fashioned vividness and integrity please, please read this book."—Wall Street Journal"Our 'endlessly supple' English language will, Zinsser says, 'do anything you ask it to do, if you treat it well. Try it and see.' Try him and see craftsmanship."—George F. Will"Zinsser—who, with On Writing Well, taught a whole lot of us how to set down a clean English sentence—last year won a National Magazine Award for his Friday web columns in The American Scholar. They're now in a collection that's completely charming, impeccably polished, and Strunk-and-White-ishly brief. He's the youngest 90-year-old you'll read this week."—New York MagazineWilliam Zinsser is a lifelong journalist and nonfiction writer—he began his career on the New York Herald Tribune in 1946—and is also a teacher, best known for his book On Writing Well, a companion held in affection by three generations of writers, reporters, editors, teachers, and students. His 17 other books range from memoir (Writing Places) to travel (American Places), jazz (Mitchell & Ruff), American popular song (Easy to Remember), baseball (Spring Training) and the craft of writing (Writing to Learn). During the 1970s he was at Yale University, where he was master of Branford College and taught the influential nonfiction workshop that would start many writers and editors on their careers. He has taught at the New School, in New York, his hometown, and at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

    Copy veteran Constance Hale is on a mission to make creative communication, both the lyrical and the unlawful, an option for everyone.With its crisp, witty tone, Sin and Syntax covers grammar’s ground rules while revealing countless unconventional syntax secrets (such as how to use—Gasp!—interjections or when to pepper your prose with slang) that make for sinfully good writing. Discover how to:*Distinguish between words that are “pearls” and words that are “potatoes”* Avoid “couch potato thinking” and “commitment phobia” when choosing verbs* Use literary devices such as onomatopoeia, alliteration, and metaphor (and understand what you're doing)Everyone needs to know how to write stylish prose—students, professionals, and seasoned writers alike. Whether you’re writing to sell, shock, or just sing, Sin and Syntax is the guide you need to improve your command of the English language.

    Light bulbs went off in my head as I read Kelly L. Stone's Time to Write with its shrewd observations and sage, practical advice for making time to write." -Hallie Ephron, author of Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel and 1001 Books for Every Mood"When it's a writing day, I'm writing. Period."—Jodi Picoult "I set myself a 500 word a day goal. . . . If I can do that, I can finish a first draft in six months."—Hallie Ephron "If the trouble is just getting started in the morning, I often change my writing place or method."—Jennifer Blake In Time to Write, more than 100 professional writers from across genres-including Sandra Brown, Catherine Coulter, Wendy Corsi Staub, Merline Lovelace, Steve Berry, Tess Gerritsen, Ann Major, Cherry Adair, Christine Feehan, Julia London, and Eloisa James-share their secrets to finding time to write. And if they could find the time to write, then so can you. The time is now.