Realistic, credible bad guys create essential story complications, personalize conflict, add immediacy to a story line, and force the protagonist to evolve. From mischief-makers to villains to arch nemeses, "Bullies, Bastards & Bitches" shows you how to create nuanced bad guys who are indispensable to the stories in which they appear. Through detailed instruction and examples from contemporary bestsellers and classic page-turners, author Jessica Page Morrell also shows you how to: Understand the subtle but key differences between unlikeable protagonists, anti-heroes, dark heroes, and bad boys Supply even your darkest sociopath with a sympathetic attribute that will engage readers Set the stage for an unforgettable standoff between your hero and your villain Choose the right type of female villain–femme fatale, mommy dearest, avenger, etc.–for your story "Bullies, Bastards & Bitches" is your all-encompassing bad-guy compendium to tapping into any character's dark side.

    Ray and co-author Bret Norris can help readers do just that, with this practical and accessible step-by-step guide to completing a novel in just a year's worth of weekends.THE WEEKEND NOVELIST shows writers at all levels how to divide their writing time into weekend work sessions, and how to handle character, scene, and plot. This new, revised version is far more skills-based than its predecessor, and includes both classic and contemporary literature models, contains a sample Novel in Progress, and at the end offers readers the choice to rewrite their novel, draft a memoir, or turn their rough draft into a screenplay.Readers for a decade have been instructed and inspired by THE WEEKEND NOVELIST.This new edition will help many more strive to realize their writing potential.

    Brimming with examples, quotes, and case studies that include an illuminating discussion of Max Perkins's editorial collaboration with F. Scott Fitzgerald on The Great Gatsby, this book proves how fundamental editing is to great writing. Bell also offers strategic tips and exercises for self-editing, and a series of remarkable interviews, that take us into the studios of established authors such as Michael Ondaatje, Tracy Kidder, and Ann Patchett to learn from their various approaches to shaping their work after its initial creation. Much more than a manual, The Artful Edit inspires readers to think about both the discipline and the creativity of editing and how editing can enhance their work. A vigorous investigation into the history and meaning of the edit, this book, like The Triggering Town and The Elements of Style, is a must-have companion for every writer.

     When novelist Jewel Allen's earnings tapered to a buck per month for each of her 11 books on her back list, she knew she had to change her self-publishing model. Applying the principles of rapid release, where an author publishes fast to keep readers’ interest before the dreaded 30-day cliff, she started a to-market series and recouped five times her investment in 30 days. She repeated it, not just once, but six times on her way to energizing her publishing career. In this book, learn how Jewel: *spotted a hot publishing trend for a series *wrote and published quality 50k-word novels monthly *overcame the mind games that shut down productivity *launched a series with a bang despite a small fan base *earned a profit from a series immediately With special guest commentary: Q&A with bestselling author Bree Livingston Rapid Releasing a Regency Series by Sally Britton Rapid Releasing a Multi-Author Series by Jo Noelle Rapid Releasing by stockpiling manuscripts by Eliza Boyd Rapid Releasing a Sports Romance Series by Brittney Mulliner

    "The Observation Deck" is a 160-page book by Naomi Epel presenting the writing secretsinsights, tips, exercisesof today's most talented writers. It's paired with 50 inspiring flash cards to break the spell of writer's block and overcome hurdles to creativity. Great for both beginning and seasoned writers, "The Observation Deck" offers encouragement and ingenious strategies from great writers who've been there. This little box, tailor-made for writers, is loaded with effective techniques to get the writing going, right now.

    Having written in a number of genres -- prose, poetry, personal and critical essays, as well as plays -- she is an artist ideally suited to answer essential questions about what makes a story striking, a novel come alive, a writer an artist as well as a craftsman.In The Faith of a Writer, Oates discusses the subjects most important to the narrative craft, touching on topics such as inspiration, memory, self-criticism, and "the unique power of the unconscious." On a more personal note, she speaks of childhood inspirations, offers advice to young writers, and discusses the wildly varying states of mind of a writer at work. Oates also pays homage to those she calls her "significant predecessors" and discusses the importance of reading in the life of a writer.Oates claims, "Inspiration and energy and even genius are rarely enough to make 'art': for prose fiction is also a craft, and craft must be learned, whether by accident or design." In fourteen succinct chapters, The Faith of a Writer provides valuable lessons on how language, ideas, and experience are assembled to create art.

    Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling. But this is only the prelude to an investigation into how and why we are 'programmed' to imagine stories in these ways, and how they relate to the inmost patterns of human psychology. Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., Christopher Booker then leads us through the extraordinary changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose. Booker analyses why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years.This seminal book opens up in an entirely new way our understanding of the real purpose storytelling plays in our lives, and will be a talking point for years to come.

    A Writer’s Book of Days is a compilation of all that she’s learned from getting together to write with other people. She says, “the book came about because I saw the difference ongoing, regular practice could make in a writer’s life.” Practice makes perfect, and this book makes practice easy by providing writers and would-be writers with stimulating topics, helpful instruction, monthly guidelines, dozens of inspiring quotes, writerly lore, and tips for special writing sessions such as marathons, cafe writing, and other ways to make the work of writing more creative and fun.

    What It Is demonstrates a tried-and-true creative method that is playful, powerful, and accessible to anyone with an inquisitive wish to write or to remember. Composed of completely new material, each page of Barry’s first Drawn & Quarterly book is a full-color collage that is not only a gentle guide to this process but an invigorating example of exactly what it is: “The ordinary is extraordinary.”

    Includes tips about everything from agents to electronic publishing.

    Kelby, Heather Sellers, and Donald Maass, plus a foreword by James Scott Bell. You'll learn invaluable skills for mastering every area of the craft:Define and refine your characters.Make your plot and conflict high-energy and intense.Hone your story's point of view.Create a rich setting and backstory.Craft dialogue that rings true.Select the right words and descriptions throughout your story.Revise your story to perfection.Throughout you'll find supplemental sections that cover special topics like getting started, beating writer's block, researching your work, and getting published. They'll help you integrate your skills into a balanced, productive, and fulfilling career.Whether you're writing flash fiction, a short story, a novel, or an epic trilogy, you'll come away with the tools you need for strong and effective storytelling.

    Although the rules of composition popularized in William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White's Elements of Style have been de rigueur for decades, they won't exactly set your writing free.To the rescue comes Spunk & Bite, a guide to bold and radiant language and style. The secret, according to bestselling author and former publishing executive Arthur Plotnik, is to embrace those qualities that composition rulebooks sidestep, among them, surprise, personality, engagement, edge, and fearlessness. Drawing on selections from today's most exciting writers: Jonathan Franzen, Sandra Cisneros, Bill Bryson, Maureen Dowd, and many dozens more.Plotnik reveals the tricks and techniques that make prose fresh, forceful, and publishable. For all types of writing: novels, articles, poems, ad copy, blogs, and even e-mails,this uncommon handbook reveals how to make your words so fetching that readers beg for more.

    (Neil Gaiman)Drawn from Gaiman's trove of published speeches, poems and creative manifestos, 'ART MATTERS' is an embodiment of this remarkable multimedia artist's vision - an exploration of how reading, imagining, and creating can transform the world and our lives. 'ART MATTERS' brings together four of Gaiman's most beloved writings on creativity and artistry:❖1❖"CREDO", his remarkably concise and relevant manifesto on free expression, first delivered in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings❖2❖"MAKE GOOD ART", his famous 2012 commencement address delivered at the Philadelphia University of the Arts❖3❖"MAKING A CHAIR", a poem about the joys of creating something, even when the words won't come❖4❖"ON LIBRARIES", an impassioned argument for libraries that illuminates their importance to our future and celebrates how they foster readers and daydreamers.'ART MATTERS' is a stirring testament to the freedom of ideas that inspire us to make art in the face of adversity and dares us to choose to be bold.RUNNING TIME ⇰ 49mins.©2018 Neil Gaiman (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

    An updated handbook for prospective authors describes what editors are looking for in a book proposal; discusses outlines, sample chapters, and submission requirements; explains how to test-market a book idea and select the right editors and publishers for a proposal; and includes sample proposals.

    Telling True Stories presents their best advice—covering everything from finding a good topic, to structuring narrative stories, to writing and selling your first book. More than fifty well-known writers offer their most powerful tips, including: • Tom Wolfe on the emotional core of the story • Gay Talese on writing about private lives • Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of profiles • Nora Ephron on narrative writing and screenwriters • Alma Guillermoprieto on telling the story and telling the truth • Dozens of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists from the Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and more . . .The essays contain important counsel for new and career journalists, as well as for freelance writers, radio producers, and memoirists. Packed with refreshingly candid and insightful recommendations, Telling True Stories will show anyone fascinated by the art of writing nonfiction how to bring people, scenes, and ideas to life on the page.