The Mechanics of Creative Writing


Book Description

Do you fancy yourself as a creative writer? Do you enjoy composing great works of literary art-meticulous texts, elegant e-mails, scathing or amusing letters to an editor, scintillating blogs, entertaining short stories, erudite reference books, unputdownable novels? Is there even such a word as unputdownable? (There is now!)Is your grammar up to scratch? Do you copy edit your own compositions? Did you know there are no officially-sanctioned rules for English grammar? There is, however, a multitude of opinions on what constitutes correct usage, incorrect usage, and usage that will attract attention-to boldly go springs to mind.I use what I call the bish-bash-bosh style of creative writing: bish the words down into a Word file, bash them around, and bosh them to perfection. If this is your writing style, do you know how to manipulate your embryonic text into its final magnificent form using the hidden powers of Microsoft Word (Styles, Paragraph Marker, Find and Replace, Spellcheck and Autocorrect)? How about graphics? Do you understand the copyright infringement perils of copying and using images, and text, from websites for use in your scholarly production? Finally, when you've finished creating, do you know how to self-publish as an e-book, or even as a something-to-be-proud-of paperback or hardback book?So many questions; so little time. Read this book and gain a head start into the heady world of creative writing and self-publishing.




Reading Like a Writer


Book Description

In her entertaining and edifying New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and tricks of the masters to discover why their work has endured. Written with passion, humour and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire readers to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart – to take pleasure in the long and magnificent sentences of Philip Roth and the breathtaking paragraphs of Isaac Babel; to look to John le Carré for a lesson in how to advance plot through dialogue and to Flannery O’ Connor for the cunning use of the telling detail; to be inspired by Emily Brontë ’ s structural nuance and Charles Dickens’ s deceptively simple narrative techniques. Most importantly, Prose cautions readers to slow down and pay attention to words, the raw material out of which all literature is crafted, and reminds us that good writing comes out of good reading.




Rip the Page!


Book Description

Here are the ideas, experiments, and inspiration to unfold your imagination and get your writing to flow off the page! This is the everything-you-need guide to spark new poems and unstick old stories, including lists of big, small, gross-out, and favorite words; adventurous and zany prompts to leap from; dares and double dares to help you mash up truths and lies into outrageous paragraphs; and letters of encouragement written directly to you from famous authors, including: Annie Barrows, Naomi Shihab Nye, Lemony Snicket, C. M. Mayo, Elizabeth Singer Hunt, Moira Egan, Gary Soto, Lucille Clifton, Avi, Betsy Franco, Carol Edgarian, Karen Cushman, Patricia Polacco, Prartho Sereno, Lewis Buzbee, and C. B. Follett. This is your journal for inward-bound adventures—use it to write, brainstorm, explore, imagine—and even rip!




Working Words


Book Description

Working Words is a multigenre introduction to creative writing. Designed for beginning writers, the text focuses initially on the process of creative writing before turning to genre distinctions and end products. Abundant exercises, student writing samples for analysis, and activities and suggestions for workshop settings enable students to gain the greatest possible writing fluency and to become more demanding and competent readers of their own and others' writing.




The Informationist


Book Description

Governments pay her. Criminals fear her. Nobody sees her coming. Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information—expensive information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle's most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she's never looked back. Until now. A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. It’s not her usual line of work, but she can’t resist the challenge. Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood, betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead. If she has any hope of escaping the jungle and the demons that drive her, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget. The first book in the Vanessa Michael Munroe series, gripping, ingenious, and impeccably paced, The Informationist marks the arrival or a thrilling new talent. “Stevens’s blazingly brilliant debut introduces a great new action heroine, Vanessa Michael Munroe, who doesn’t have to kick over a hornet’s nest to get attention, though her feral, take-no-prisoners attitude reflects the fire of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander….Thriller fans will eagerly await the sequel to this high-octane page-turner.” —Publishers Weekly, starred, boxed review




How to Be a Writer


Book Description

Athletes practice. Musicians practice. As a writer you need to do the same. Whether you have dreams of writing a novel or a memoir or a collection of poems, or you simply want to improve your everyday writing, this innovative book will show you how to build your skills by way of practice. Through playful and purposeful exercises, you'll develop your natural aptitude for communication, strengthening your ability to come up with things to say, and your ability to get those things into the minds (and the hearts) of readers. You'll learn to: • Train and develop your writer's powers—creativity, memory, observation, imagination, curiosity, and the subconscious • Understand the true nature of the relationship between you and your readers • Find your writer's voice • Get required writing projects done so you have more time for the writing you want to do • And much more Empowering and down-to-earth, How to Be a Writer gives you the tools you need, and tells you what (and how) to practice so that you can become the writer you want to be.




Thanks, But This Isn't for Us


Book Description

A fun, practical guide that reveals the essentials of good fiction and memoir writing by exposing the most common mistakes literary writers make. All great works of fiction and memoir are unique-but most bad novels, stories, and memoirs have a lot in common. From clunky dialogue to poorly sketchedout characters, sagging pacing to exaggerated prose, these beginners' mistakes drive any agent or editor to their stock rejection letter, telling the aspiring writer "Thanks, but this isn't for us," and leaving many to wonder what exactly it is that they're doing wrong. Veteran writing coach, developmental editor, and writing instructor Jessica Page Morrell will fill in the gaps in every rejection letter you've ever received. In Thanks, But This Isn't for Us, Morrell uses her years of experience to isolate the specific errors beginners make, including the pitfalls of unrealistic dialogue, failing to "show, not tell," and over-the-top plot twists. These are just a few of the problems that keep writers from breaking through with their work. Sympathetic and humane, but pulling no punches, Thanks, But This Isn't for Us shows writers precisely where they've gone wrong and how to get on the right track. In sixteen to-the-point chapters, with checklists, exercises, takeaway tips, and a glossary, Morrell helps readers transcend these mistakes so that they don't have to learn the hard way: with another rejection letter.




Write. Publish. Repeat.


Book Description

Write. Publish. Repeat. The No-Luck-Required Guide to Publishing In 2013, Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt published 1.5 million words and made their full-time livings as indie authors. In Write. Publish. Repeat., they tell you exactly how they did it: how they created over 15 independent franchises across 50+ published works, how they turned their art into a logical, sustainable business, and how any independent author can do the same to build a sustainable, profitable career with their writing. Write. Publish. Repeat. explains the current self-publishing landscape and covers the truths and myths about what it means to be an indie author now and in the foreseeable future. It explains how to create books your readers will love and will want to return to again and again. Write. Publish. Repeat. details expert methods for building story worlds, characters, and plots, understanding your market (right down to your ideal reader), using the best tools possible to capture your draft, and explains proven best practices for editing. The book also discusses covers, titles, formatting, pricing, and publishing to multiple platforms, plus a bit on getting your books into print (and why that might not be a good idea!). But most importantly, Write. Publish. Repeat. details the psychology-driven marketing plan that Sean and Johnny built to shape their stories into "products" that readers couldn't help but be drawn into -- thus almost automatically generating sales -- and explores ways that smart, business-minded writers can do the same to future-proof their careers. This book is not a formula with an easy path to follow. It is a guidebook that will help you build a successful indie publishing career, no matter what type of writer you are ... so long as you're the type who's willing to do the work. What Indie Authors and Thought Leaders Are Saying: "Two of the best in the biz... A gem for aspiring authors." -- Hugh Howey "I have a pretty popular blog on self-publishing, and I've written a couple of books on the topic myself - meaning I've read a lot on the topic and come across lots of different strategies and approaches to building a loyal audience. For my money, this is the best book on self-publishing out there." -- David Gaughran "It's tough to find more honest and straight-forward marketing advice than what you'll get from these indie authors." -- Jane Friedman, former publisher of Writer's Digest "The most important book on self-publishing I've ever read. " -- Karol Gajda "Consider it the most valuable guide book to publishing success." -- Jim Kukral, Author Marketing Club You'll Wish You Could Have Read it Years Ago!




A Guide to Creative Writing


Book Description

Does the idea of creative writing excite you, but you've no idea how to begin? Do you want to write a story, a local interest book, or even complete a book of poetry? Maybe you would love to create a legacy piece to hand down to future generations, or capture the essence of your relative’s lives but don't know where to start or what to include? Between suggestions, tips, anecdotes, and exercises, you will glean a mountain of information that will set you on your way no matter if you are new to creative writing or have a book or three under your belt. With a friendly, accessible tone, A Guide to Creative Writing gives you the tools you need to write for the love of it or to take it further.




Wrecked


Book Description

Goins shares his own struggle as a missionary and 20-something who understands the call to live radically for God while dealing with the everyday responsibilities of life. "Wrecked" is for a generation dissatisfied with the status quo and wanting to make a difference.