PEN-demonium!
Using their experience as journalists and marketers, the authors instruct you on how to become a sharper everyday writer with communication skills that can be translated into any field.
"From the universally acclaimed, best-selling author of the National Book Award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking: ten pieces never before collected that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary writer. Here are six pieces written in 1968 from the "Points West" Saturday Evening Post column Joan Didion shared from 1964 to 1969 with her husband, John Gregory Dunne about: American newspapers; a session with Gamblers Anonymous; a visit to San Simeon; being rejected by Stanford; dropping in on Nancy Reagan, wife of the then-governor of California, while a TV crew filmed her at home; and...
"When Madeleine L'Engle was very small, she marvelled at the stars. They guided her throughout her life, making her feel part of a big and exciting world, even when she felt alone. They made her want to ask big questions-Why are we here? What is my place in the universe?-and let her imagination take flight. Books, too, were like stars-asking questions and proposing answers. Books kept Madeleine company, and soon, she began to write and share her own. But would other people see the wonder she found in the world? Written by Madeleine's granddaughter Charlotte Jones Voiklis and bestselling picture...
Would you like to write a story? This book willshow you how. It's full of cuious characters, unusual places and exciting story ideas. All you need is a pen or pencil and your own imagination. (back cover).
"A deeply personal how-to book for aspiring writers, encouraging them to look inward and excavate their own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page"--
"When Robert Frost was a child, his family thought he would grow up to be a baseball player. Instead, he became a poet. His life on a farm in New Hampshire inspired him to write "poetry that talked, " and today he is famous for his vivid descriptions of the rural life he loved so much. There was a time, though, when Frost had to struggle to get his poetry published. Told from the point of view of Lesley, Robert Frost's oldest daughter, this is the story of how a lover of language found his voice"--
""A triumph on every level. One of the losses to literature is that Harper Lee never found a way to tell a gothic true-crime story she'd spent years researching. Casey Cep has excavated this mesmerizing story and tells it with grace and insight and a fierce fidelity to the truth." --David Grann, best-selling author of Killers of the Flower Moon. <> The stunning story of an Alabama serial killer and the true-crime book that Harper Lee worked on obsessively in the years after To Kill a Mockingbird. Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his...
"A collection of essays, lectures, and observations on the art of writing fiction from Alice McDermott, winner of the National Book Award and unmatched "virtuoso of language and image" (Rebecca Steinitz, The Boston Globe)"--
"We were all taught the fundamentals of writing well in school. But how do we write effectively in today's hyper-interactive world? When The Elements of Style and On Writing Well were published in 1959 and 1976, the internet hadn't been invented. Since then, there has been a radical transformation in how we communicate. The average American adult receives over 120 emails and over 100 text messages each day. With all this correspondence, gaining a busy reader's attention is now a competition. Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink, both behavioral scientists, offer practical writing advice you can use today. They begin by...
Get unprecedented insights from a publishing industry expert to distinguish your book from the competition and improve your chances of publication.
"The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays"--
Writing fiction is about making connections. Use more than 200 exercises to sharpen your skills in linking character and plot, setting and conflict, memory and imagination.
""Turchi explores how every piece of writing is a kind of puzzle, offers tangrams as a model for presenting complex characters; suggests labyrinths as an alternative to the narrative line, and argues that readers and writers, like puzzle solvers, not only tolerate but find pleasure in difficulty"--Provided by publisher"--
"A modern and actionable guide to the fundamentals of writing compelling, well-crafted, authentic stories in any medium, with lessons illustrated by novels, plays, films, music, video games, and TV, and writers from Shakespeare and Dostoevsky to Quentin Tarantino and Eminem."--
"Four new and revelatory essays by the author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter. In 2020, Claire Luchette in O, The Oprah Magazine described the beloved Italian novelist Elena Ferrante as 'an oracle among authors.' Here, in these four crisp essays, Ferrante offers a rare look at the origins of her literary powers. She writes about her influences, her struggles, and her formation as both a reader and a writer; she describes the perils of 'bad language' and suggests ways in which it has long excluded women's truth; she proposes a choral fusion of feminine talent as she...
The Newbery Honor-winning author of Genesis Begins Again offers a picture book rendering of Zora Neale Hurston’s childhood to illuminate the rich natural-world and cultural experiences that shaped her education and career as a storyteller.
"Poet and novelist Helen Humphreys's And a Dog Called Fig, a meditation on the benefits of dogs to the creative life, including the dogs of well-known writers from history, portraits of all the dogs from the author's life, and the arrival and raising of her new puppy"--
A renowned Syracuse University professor builds on her memoirs and literary anecdotes to outline her personal writing process while identifying the elements of a successful memoir.
"Plants, borders, and various horticultural paraphernalia make surprisingly frequent appearances in mystery plots. In this wide-ranging survey of classic and contemporary murder fiction, Marta looks at the detectives, motives, methods, opportunities, and writers that have used the garden as their point of departure. The result is a diverting and eye-opening study that deepens our appreciation of the great crime fiction writers while illuminating the close link between murder mysteries and the world of gardening"--
The noted biographer provides an unprecedented gathering of personal and revealing recollections about his experiences researching and writing his acclaimed books.
The creative writer's handbook is divided into sections covering different aspects of the writing process - coming up with ideas, planning, punctuation and grammar - as well as advice on different forms of writing, including stories, blogs, non-fiction and poetry. Throughout, there are helpful tips and suggestions, internet links and quotations from well known authors to illustrate different writing techniques.
"Essays that show how Smiley draws inspiration from across literary history to invigorate her own writing. Among the authors she examines are Marguerite de Navarre, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, Franz Kafka, Halldor Laxness, and Jessica Mitford"--
"A biography of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry from New York Times bestselling author Tracy Daugherty. In over forty books, in a career that spanned over sixty years, Larry McMurtry staked his claim as a superior chronicler of the American West, and as the Great Plains' keenest witness since Willa Cather and Wallace Stegner. Larry McMurtry: A Life traces his origins as one of the last American writers who had direct contact with this country's pioneer traditions. It follows his astonishing career as bestselling novelist, Pulitzer-Prize winner, author of the beloved Lonesome Dove, Academy-Award winning...
"Every writer knows that as rewarding as the creative process is, it can often be a bumpy road. Have hope and keep at it! Designed to kick-start creativity, this handsome handbook from the executive director of National Novel Writing Month gathers a wide range of insights and advice for writers at any stage of their career. From tips about how to finally start that story to helpful ideas about what to do when the words just aren't quite coming out right, Pep Talks for Writers provides motivation, encouragement, and helpful exercises for writers of all stripes"--
Presents an account of E.B. White's life and career through personal letters, photographs, family ephemera, and original artwork, while offering glimpses into the origins of his iconic works.
Finding Narnia is Caroline McAlister and Jessica Lanan's captivating picture book biography of two brothers, Jack and Warnie Lewis, whose rich imaginations led to the creation of the magical world of Narnia.
An American landscape designer, historian, writer and lecturer celebrates twenty-five women, both historical and current, whose influential writing helps deepen our connection to and understanding of the natural world.
"From storytelling phenomenon and hit podcast The Moth, featuring contributions from Elizabeth Gilbert, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Lin-Manuel Miranda alongside tales of an international rescue mission for Paddington Bear, a family matriarch running numbers in Detroit, an epic Lucha libre showdown in Mexico City, and more. An inspiring and entertaining collection of unforgettable true stories about finding unexpected beauty in life's transitions. Carefully selected by the creative minds at The Moth and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of stories told live, onstage and without notes, readers of The Moth Presents: A Point of Beauty will encounter...
"From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling memoir about unlocking and embracing her creativity-and how it saved her life"--
Presents advice on the basic elements of narrative prose, covering point of view, sentence length and complex syntax, indirect narration, grammar, punctuation, and the sound of writing.
"Following on the heels of Lisa Cron's breakout first book, Wired for Story, this writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story. It's every novelist's greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite. The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron...
"The first biography of Shirley Hazzard, the author of The Transit of Venus and a writer of "shocking wisdom" and "intellectual thrill" (The New Yorker)"--
"From New York Times bestselling author Heather Morris comes the memoir of a life of listening to others. In Listening Well, Heather will explore her extraordinary talents as a listener-a skill she employed when she first met Lale Sokolov, the tattooist at Auschwitz-Birkenau and the inspiration for her bestselling novel. It was this ability that led Lale to entrust Heather with his story, which she told in her novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the bestselling follow up, Cilka's Journey. Now Heather shares the story behind her inspirational writing journey and the defining experiences of her life, including her profound...
Presents advice on how to write creatively, discussing the importance of discipline and offering a series of writing exercises.
"In Tell It Like It Is, bestselling author, writing coach, and teacher Roy Peter Clark offers a succinct and practical guide to writing with clarity, honesty, and conviction. By analyzing stellar writing samples from a diverse collection of public writers, Clark highlights and explains the tools journalists, scientists, economists, fact-checkers, even storytellers use to engage, inform, and hook readers, and how best to deploy them in a variety of contexts"--
The book extension of the growing writer’s movement and challenge to write 1,000 words a day helps readers and writers discover how to uncover their creative desires and stay motivated and offers advice from over 50 well-known writers.
"Book advocate Colby Sharp presents more than forty beloved, award-winning, diverse and bestselling authors and illustrators in a creative challenge! Colby Sharp invited more than forty authors and illustrators to provide story starters for each other; photos, drawings, poems, prose, or anything they could dream up. When they received their prompts, they responded by transforming these seeds into any form of creative work they wanted to share. The result is a stunning collection of words, art, poetry, and story by some of our most celebrated children book creators. A section of extra story starters by every contributor provides fresh inspiration...
Ann Patchett reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays.
"A picture book biography of legendary children's book editor, Ursula Nordstrom"--
A 150th anniversary tribute describes the cultural significance of Louisa May Alcott's classic, exploring how its relatable themes and depictions of family resilience, community, and female resourcefulness have inspired generations of writers.
Describes John Newbery's life and how he reinvented children's literature by creating books that were designed to bring young children pleasure and entertainment, as opposed to mere instruction.
"Renowned writing coach Alan Gelb shows baby boomers how to create "last says"--short personal narratives that serve as a powerful form of life review. As the baby-boomer generation ages, its members are looking ahead to the biggest challenge of all: making sense of life in its third act. Having the Last Say takes life review out of the realm of memoir writing and journaling--making the rich and timeless tradition of authentic storytelling accessible to those who have never considered themselves "writers." In creating "legacies" in the form of short personal narratives, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the...
"In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders guides the reader through seven classic Russian short stories he's been teaching for twenty years as a professor in the prestigious Syracuse University graduate MFA creative writing program. Paired with stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, these essays are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. Saunders approaches each of these 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...
