No, it's the subtle kind of curse. It's the kind you might not notice until you're 46 years old at a desk job wondering why you let the best years of your life slip away. It's the kind that keeps you paralyzed at 18 when you know you have something special to offer the world but everyone says you are too young.This book is not about overcoming that curse.It's not about outgrowing the curse.It's about learning to live with it. What if loneliness is not something to be defeated, but an incredible source of power and inspiration? What if that vision you have nobody else can see is the very thing which will set you apart from the rest of the world? What if what makes you weird also makes you unique?The Creative's Curse is real, it's here to stay, and it shows up in all 3 phases of the creative journey:- Discovery -When the voices in your head are telling you nothing you create will ever be good enough.- Discipline -When you start to taste success, but freeze with the challenge of replicating that success.- Destiny -When you feel you've reached your artistic potential... and now have to figure out what on earth to do with your life. Because the Creative is afraid of success and failure and obscurity and fame all at the same time. She is beautiful and bold and timid and courageous. He is unique to the core, so will never be understood by anyone. This is the Creative's Curse.

    In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?” He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity.A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.

    Whether you're crafting a novel, composing an e-mail, or creating a technical report, Mastering the Craft of Writing presents 52 practical techniques to improve your prose. Spend a week with each technique, or use this book as a go-to reference. Either way, you'll have the tools to enliven your writing and delight your readers. Write with economy: Eliminate wordiness, use strong verbs to drive your sentences, and don't trust modifiers. Write with emphasis: Use punctuation for effect, structure sentences and paragraphs for coherency and flow, and employ repetition to make your point. Write with distinction: Use your imagination to create the unexpected, add a light-hearted touch to your writing, and go beyond clarity to eloquence and grace. With exercises, entertaining asides, and a wealth of useful information, Mastering the Craft of Writing is an invaluable resource for any writer. Once you master these techniques, you'll want to use them in everything you write.

    Their collaboration has rendered translations both precise and sublime, and their selection, which span 1,500 years, from the early T’ang dynasty to the present day, includes many poems that have never before been translated into English. Stryk and Ikemoto offer us Zen poetry in all its diversity: Chinese poems of enlightenment and death, poems of the Japanese masters, many haiku — the quintessential Zen art — and an impressive selection of poems by Shinkichi Takahashi, Japan’s greatest contemporary Zen poet. With Zen Poetry, Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto have graced us with a compellingly beautiful collection, which in their translations is pure literary pleasure, illuminating the world vision to which these poems give permanent expression.

     Language learners of all levels can turn to this easy-to-navigate grammar guide again and again for quick and authoritative information. From conjugating verbs to crafting sentences to developing your own style, Grant Barrett provides you with the tools and motivation to improve the way you communicate. Perfect English Grammar helps you clearly say what you want to say—and the best way to say it. Never Be Wrong: Catchy examples help you remember core grammar rules Sharpen Your Style: Composition guidelines let you express yourself fully Look It Up: Seamless navigation makes it easy to find answers quickly Geek Out: Explore the tricky questions with Grant Barrett’s help Whether you’re a busy professional or on the job hunt, Perfect English Grammar makes it easier than ever to improve your grasp of grammar.

    Each chapter serves a different purpose. The chapters are For The Healing, For The Erasing, For the Loving, For the Oppressed, and For the Broken. This book teaches you to love yourself and others. It's better experienced than described, so sit down with some coffee and allow yourself to feel-- and heal.

     Let bestselling novelist and host of the popular Worried Writer podcast, Sarah Painter, show you how to skip past negativity, free-up writing time, cope with self-doubt, and beat procrastination. Along with mega successful authors such as C.L.Taylor, Mark Edwards, and Julie Cohen, Sarah will show you how to: smash writing blocks to finish stories faster, handle self-doubt so that it doesn't stop you creating, trick yourself into being more productive, schedule your time, and much more. Packed with honest, supportive, and hard-won advice, this is your practical guide to getting the work done. Don't let creative anxiety kill your writing dreams: Stop Worrying and Start Writing today! 'Inspiring, comforting, warm and wise. Both new writers and established authors will find something helpful here.' Keris Stainton, YA author. 'The best book on writing and productivity I have read in a long time. It tackles the fear and self-doubt we all feel when it comes to our writing in such an engagingly honest way, that there are times when I was laughing aloud because here was someone who truly understood. Written with such heart, Sarah, in her characteristically kind, and gentle way that listeners of The Worried Writer podcast have come to love and appreciate, offers solid, actionable advice that will inspire you to approach your writing with enthusiasm and renewed determination!' Lily Graham, author of The Cornish Escape

    With over 70 entertaining and thought-provoking list topics ranging from the quintessential (favorite books by genre, authors to explore) to the lovably idiosyncratic (favorite reading spots, books to skip), this illustrated journal will serve as a unique autobiography and reading log for bibliophiles.

    But finding your voice isn't easy, so where better to look than to the greatest writers of our time?"Write Like the Masters" analyzes the writing styles of twenty-one great novelists, including Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, Franz Kafka, Flannery O'Connor, and Ray Bradbury. This fascinating and insightful guide shows you how to imitate the masters of literature and, in the process, learn advanced writing secrets to fire up your own work.You'll discover: Herman Melville's secrets for creating characters as memorable as Captain Ahab.How to master point of view with techniques from Fyodor Dostoevesky.Ways to pick up the pace by keeping your sentences lean like Ernest HemingwayThe importance of sensual details from James Bond creator Ian FlemingHow to add suspense to your story by following the lead of the master of horror, Stephen KingWhether you're working on a unique voice for your next novel or you're a composition student toying with different styles, this guide will help you gain insight into the work of the masters through the rhetorical technique of imitation. Filled with practical, easy-to-apply advice, "Write Like the Masters" is your key to understanding and using the proven techniques of history's greatest authors.

    It’s the harmful debris of your education—a mixture of half-truths, myths, and false assumptions that prevents you from writing well. Drawing on years of experience as a writer and teacher of writing, Verlyn Klinkenborg offers an approach to writing that will change the way you work and think. There is no gospel, no orthodoxy, no dogma in this book. What you’ll find here isn’t the way to write. Instead, you’ll find a way to clear your mind of illusions about writing and discover how you write. Several Short Sentences About Writing is a book of first steps and experiments. They will revolutionize the way you think and perceive, and they will change forever the sense of your own authority as a writer. This is a book full of learning, but it’s also a book full of unlearning—a way to recover the vivid, rhythmic, poetic sense of language you once possessed. An indispensable and unique book that will give you a clear understanding of how to think about what you do when you write and how to improve the quality of your writing.

    Under the time-tested banner of Roget's Thesaurus, this collection will quickly become the most essential tool on your desk when you're working on your next piece. Far from an ordinary word list, each entry in this book is organized by meaning and offers a list of compelling word choices that relate to the ideas you'd like to use. It also provides a pronunciation guide, definition, antonyms, synonyms, and a sample sentence for each listing. Filled with thousands of unique and compelling words, this book will help you find inspiration, expand your vocabulary, and create one-of-a-kind sentences for any writing assignment. With Roget's Thesaurus of Words for Writers, you'll set your projects in the right direction and engage your audience--one word at a time.

     I’m going to show you examples, rock solid proof, that unknown authors used the keyword phrases in this book to rank higher than superstar authors like J.A. Konrath or Barry Eisler. You can start getting visibility today because...This Book Marketing Guide Answers The Most Critical Question You Face As A Fiction Writer:What keyword phrases should I use for my novel? I’m not going to show you how to find them. I’m going to tell you what they are. This Kindle selling book is quite literally an encyclopedia of keyword phrases that buyers type into Amazon’s search engine when they try to find books in your genre. It’s your biggest challenge answered: Discoverability.Writing a Young Adult novel? Click on the “Young Adult” link in this Kindle selling book and it’ll take you to a list of keyword phrases people use to find YA books. Writing a thriller? A romance? Same thing. My team of researchers pulled the keyword phrases directly out of Amazon’s “Leading Indicators.” Special Bonus! They include Amazon’s “Relative Importance” ranking, which shows you which keyword phrases are more likely to lead to a sale. Get excited! This is your ticket to huge sales! Inside This Kindle Publishing Guide You Will Find The Most Effective Keyword Phrases For Books In: • Romance- Christian- Contemporary- Fantasy & Futuristic- Historical Romance- Paranormal- Romantic Suspense- Time Travel- Vampires- Westerns • Fantasy- Alternative History- Contemporary- Dark Fantasy- Epic- Historical- Paranormal- Urban • Mystery & Thrillers- Crime- Mystery- Police Procedurals- Thrillers• Horror- Dark Fantasies- Occult- Ghosts• And...- Science Fiction- Action Adventure- Contemporary Fiction- Erotica- Literary Fiction- Historical Fiction- Christian Fiction- Gay & Lesbian- Medical- Men’s Adventure- Sea Adventures- Sports- War How To Sell More Books On Amazon, Part Two. Every book buyer goes through nine decision points on their way to a purchase. Will they click on your cover? Read your book description? Click on “Look Inside? Wince at your price? Read your reviews? I’m going to show you how you can influence each of the nine decision points so they result in a sale. This includes how to:• Come up with clever, must-click titles.• Create mesmerizing covers.• Write a book description that ignites click lust. • Use HTML to format your book description.• Use the “look inside!” Feature to clinch the sale.• Set the right price for your book.• Get reviews that jump-starts sales.About Michael AlvearWhen I published my first books on Kindle, I’d check my anemic sales and let out a string of cuss words that made my dog blush. Then I developed my Attract•Engage•Convert strategy and sales took off.

    You want to write great poems. You want to write poems that challenge, inspire and awe. You want to write poems that forever alter your audience, that forever alter yourself. Those poems take guts. Glitter in the Blood: A Poet's Manifesto to Better, Braver Writing will put you in constant contact with your guts. Pushcart prize nominated and highly accomplished performance poet Mindy Nettifee is not going to lead you step-by-step up a how-to staircase. With this collection of essays, prompts and exercises, Mindy is giving you the wrench you need to open up the blood and let it flow into your writing.

    The result is a lyrical and piercingly insightful collection of essays, letters (to her grandmother, to the basketball star Michael Jordan, to Death), and her own brand of essay-meets-prose poetry about identity and culture. Inspired by Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, Lydia Davis’s short prose, and Vivian Gornick’s exploration of interior life, Chew-Bose captures the inner restlessness that keeps her always on the brink of creative expression.Too Much and Not the Mood is a beautiful and surprising exploration of what it means to be a first-generation, creative young woman working today.

    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.