Writing Fiction offers the novice writer engaging and creative activities, making use of insightful, relevant readings from well-known authors to illustrate the techniques presented. This volume makes use of new versions of key chapters from the recent Routledge/Open University textbook Creative Writing: A Workbook with Readings for writers who are specializing in fiction. Using their experience and expertise as teachers as well as authors, Linda Anderson and Derek Neale guide aspiring writers through such key aspects of writing as: how to stimulate creativity keeping a writer's notebook character creation setting point of view structure showing and telling. The volume is further updated to include never-before published interviews with successful fiction writers Andrew Cowan, Stevie Davies, Maggie Gee, Andrew Greig, and Hanif Kureishi. Concise and practical, Writing Fiction offers an inspirational guide to the methods and techniques of authorship and is a must-read for aspiring writers.

If you teach creative writing or facilitate a writing group, you will want to inspire, inform and encourage would-be writers. This book is a unique, practical resource offering guidance, ideas and exercises to help you do just that. It moves from planning and structuring courses to giving ideas and exercises on all the key aspects of creative writing, providing a wealth of really useful advice and tips. It will enable you to pass on your particular expertise and enthusiasm imaginatively and professionally to all your students. * Guidance on teaching all the skills of creative writing * Ideas on lesson content, example exercises and setting homework * Support on dealing with problems and adapting for different abilities * Tips on group management and feedback * A - Z of specific genres with examples of learning activities. This book will ensure that your teaching will be effective, fun and immensely rewarding.

From the former U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winner, an illuminating dissection of poetic form for students, enthusiasts, and newcomers alike A Little Book on Form brilliantly synthesizes Hass's formidable gifts as both a poet and essayist. In it he takes up the central tension between poetry as genre and the poetics of the imagination. A wealth of vocabulary exists with which to talk about poetry in traditional formal terms. But the more intuitive, creative parts of a poet's work and processes are more elusive: if the most interesting aspect of form is the shaping power of the essential, expressive gestures inside it, how do we come to a language in which to speak about form as the search for the radiant shapes- the wholeness or brokenness-we experience inside powerful works of art? In suggestive, informal "notes," Haas thinks through the idea of a poem from its barest building blocks-the one line haiku, the brief epigram or prayer-to the complex villanelle and sonnet, and beyond them, to the grand forms of elegy and ode through which poets across human cultures have investigated the shapes of grieving and desiring. His approach singularly employs postmodern perspectives on shape, thought, feeling, content, and movement, calling on Catullus and Allen Ginsberg, Kobayashi Issa and Czeslaw Milosz. Begunb as a project for students of poetry, A Little Book on Form is anything but-Hass investigates the ancient roots of the poetic impulse, taking a wide-ranging look at the most intense experience of human thought and feeling in language.

What choices must a biographer make when stitching the pieces of a life into one coherent whole? How do we best create an accurate likeness of a private life from the few articles that linger after death? How do we choose what gets left out? This intriguing and witty collection of essays by an internationally acclaimed biographer looks at how biography deals with myths and legends, what goes missing and what can't be proved in the story of a life. "Virginia Woolf's Nose" presents a variety of case-studies, in which literary biographers are faced with gaps and absences, unprovable stories and ambiguities surrounding their subjects. By looking at stories about Percy Bysshe Shelley's shriveled, burnt heart found pressed between the pages of a book, Jane Austen's fainting spell, Samuel Pepys's lobsters, and the varied versions of Virginia Woolf's life and death, preeminent biographer Hermione Lee considers how biographers deal with and often utilize these missing body parts, myths, and contested data to "fill in the gaps" of a life story.

In "Shelley's Heart and Pepys's Lobsters," an essay dealing with missing parts and biographical legends, Hermione Lee discusses one of the most complicated and emotionally charged examples of the contested use of biographical sources. "Jane Austen Faints" takes five competing versions of the same dramatic moment in the writer's life to ask how biography deals with the private lives of famous women. "Virginia Woolf's Nose" looks at the way this legendary author's life has been translated through successive transformations, from biography to fiction to film, and suggests there can be no such thing as a definitive version of a life. Finally, "How to End It All" analyzes the changing treatment of deathbed scenes in biography to show how biographical conventions have shifted, and asks why the narrators and readers of life-stories feel the need to give special meaning and emphasis to endings.

Virginia Woolf's Nose sheds new light on the way biographers bring their subjects to life as physical beings, and offers captivating new insights into the drama of "life-writing."

"Virginia Woolf's Nose" is a witty, eloquent, and funny text by a renowned biographer whose sensitivity to the art of telling a story about a human life is unparalleled--and in creating it, Lee articulates and redefines the parameters of her craft.

In this revised and updated edition of the StoryCenter's popular guide to digital storytelling, StoryCenter founder Joe Lambert offers budding storytellers the skills and tools they need to craft compelling digital stories. Using a "Seven Steps" approach, Lambert helps storytellers identify the fundamentals of dynamic digital storytelling - from conceiving a story, to seeing, assembling, and sharing it. Readers will also find new explorations of the global applications of digital storytelling in education and other fields, as well as additional information about copyright, ethics, and distribution. The book is filled with resources about past and present projects on the grassroots and institutional level, including new chapters specifically for students and a discussion of the latest tools and projects in mobile device-based media. This accessible guide's meaningful examples and inviting tone makes this an essential for any student learning the steps toward digital storytelling.

Walt Harrington, a Washington Post reporter and author of two acclaimed books of non-fiction narrative, offers an anthology of first person journalism. Although there is a rule that journalism must be written in the third person, great journalists such as Pyle, Orwell, Agee, Plimpton, and Hunter S. Thompson have all, at one time or another, been characters in their own stories, people with personalities that shaped what they saw and reported, who were touched and changed by the experiences about which they wrote. These pieces represent the very best of an increasing trend toward personal narrative: Mike Sager stalking Marlon Brando in the Tahitian jungle; J.R. Moehringer's quest to discover the true identity of an old boxer; Bill Plaschke's story about a woman with cerebral palsy who runs a Los Angeles Dodgers web site nobody reads; Scott Anderson's story of his lifetime of covering war after war, Barbara Ehrenreich's story of her struggle to understand the social and personal meaning of suffering with cancer; Adam Gopnik's story of his relationship with his aging and oblique Freudian psychiatrist, and Harrington's own tale of his family's struggle to persevere.

Discover the methods and skillful tricks of master news writer, Rene J. Cappon, to create your own compelling and clear writing style. Designed to help writers at any level improve the quality and flow of their writing. Former long-time Associated Press (AP) General News Editor, Rene J. Cappon offers timeless, practical advice and lively commentary on writing like a pro for novices and seasoned professionals alike. Cappon covers all the essential methodologies of researching and generating the written word in this guide. Learn how to develop a hook, choose the most effective words, construct a good lead, and implement more strategies for success. Here's a preview of what you'll find in this valuable writer's resource: How to write in a clear, knowledgeable and compelling way The nuances of news writing How to start from "square one" Understand the role of punctuation in journalism How to use detail to add color and depth to your writing What you must avoid in your writing How to uncover new angles on old stories and develop new stories The magic of "angle" to the written word Whether you plan to become a journalist or just want to markedly improve your writing ability, The Associated Press Guide to News Writing offers tried and proven advice and techniques to take your writing to the next level.

Ways of Re-Thinking Literature creates a unique platform where leading literary thinkers and practitioners provide a multiplicity of views into what literature is today. The texts gathered in this extraordinary collection range from philosophy to poetry, to theater, to cognitive sciences, to art criticism, to fiction, and their authors rank amongst the most significant figures in their fields, in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Topics covered include an assessment of the role of literary narratives in contemporary writing, new considerations on the novel, a redefinition of the "poetic" factor in poetry and life, and a discussion of how literature engages with contemporary forms of individuality. Under the auspices of literary luminaries Helene Cixous and the late John Ashbery, these new pieces of writing bring to light contributions by innovative and well-established authors from the English-speaking sphere, as well as never-before translated prominent new voices in French theory. Featuring original work from some of today's most influential authors, Ways of Re-Thinking Literature is an indispensable tool for anybody interested in the future and possibilities of literature as an endeavor for life, thought, and creativity. With special cover artwork by Rita Ackermann, the volume includes contributions from Emily Apter, Philippe Artieres, John Ashbery, Paul Audi, Dodie Bellamy, Tom Bishop, Helene Cixous, Laurent Dubreuil, Tristan Garcia, Stathis Gourgouris, Donatien Grau, Boris Groys, Shelley Jackson, Wayne Koestenbaum, Camille Laurens, Vanessa Place, Mael Renouard, Peter Schjeldahl, Adam Thirlwell, and Camille de Toledo.

Your one-stop guide to writing and selling books for children
Get the tools you need to:
* Develop story ideas that work
* Strengthen your writing skills
* Improve your work habits
* Write for different age groups
* Look at your work critically
* Submit proposals and manuscripts
* Find the right publisher for your work
* Understand and negotiate contracts
* Work with agents and editors
* Join the writing community

Do you dream of becoming the next J. K. Rowling? Are you excited about writing for children but have no idea how to begin or where to send your material? Now, respected children's writer Barbara Seuling gives you the essential steps to getting published in the competitive, exciting world of children's literature.
From finding story ideas and creating character sketches to plotting, writing dialogue, editing, and revising your work, you'll learn how to complete a manuscript and prepare it for submission. Whether you want to write picture or chapter books, fiction or nonfiction, poetry or plays, Seuling helps you master the different genres and capture a child's interest and imagination, from the early years to young adult. Her fully revised guide also covers the major developments in book publishing, including vital information about using the Internet to research the market and contact publishers. Seuling even discusses recent successes such as the Harry Potter series, as well as the growth of Amazon.com.
Complete with updated lists of writing organizations, marketing information, and recommended reading, this is the only guide you need to start writing, get published, and touch the lives of children.

"Securing a Place for Reading in Composition" addresses the dissonance between the need to prepare students to read, not just write, complex texts and the lack of recent scholarship on reading-writing connections. Author Ellen C. Carillo argues that including attention-to-reading practices is crucial for developing more comprehensive literacy pedagogies. Students who can read actively and reflectively will be able to work successfully with the range of complex texts they will encounter throughout their post-secondary academic careers and beyond.

Considering the role of reading within composition from both historical and contemporary perspectives, Carillo makes recommendations for the productive integration of reading instruction into first-year writing courses. She details a "mindful reading" framework wherein instructors help students cultivate a repertoire of approaches upon which they consistently reflect as they apply them to various texts. This metacognitive frame allows students to become knowledgeable and deliberate about how they read and gives them the opportunity to develop the skills useful for moving among reading approaches in mindful ways, thus preparing them to actively and productively read in courses and contexts outside first-year composition.
"Securing a Place for Reading in Composition" also explores how the field of composition might begin to effectively address reading, including conducting research on reading, revising outcome statements, and revisiting the core courses in graduate programs. It will be of great interest to writing program administrators and other compositionists and their graduate students.

A STYLE GUIDE BY STEALTH - HOW ANYONE CAN WRITE WELL (AND FULLY ENJOY GOOD WRITING) 'Joe Moran is a wonderfully sharp writer, calm, precise and quietly comical' Craig Brown Advanced maths has no practical use, and is understood by few. A symphony can be enjoyed, but created only by a genius. Good writing, however, can be written (and read) by anyone if we give it the gift of our time. Enter universally praised historian Professor Joe Moran. From the Bible and Shakespeare to Orwell and Diana Athill, First You Write a Sentence.show us how the most ordinary words can be turned into verbal constellations, sharing: - The tools of the trade; from typewriters to texting and the impact this has on the craft - Writing and the senses; how to make the world visible and touchable - How to find the ideal word, build a sentence, and construct a paragraph Good writing can ignite the hearts and minds of readers, help us notice the world better and live more meaningful lives. And it's a power we all can wield. 'What a lovely thing this is: a book that delights in the sheer textural joy of good sentences . . . Any writer should read it' Bee Wilson 'Thoughtful, engaging, and lively . . . when you've read it, you realise you've changed your attitude to writing (and reading)' John Simpson, formerly Chief Editor of the OED and author of The Word Detective 'Moran is a past master at producing fine, accessible non-fiction' Helen Davies, Sunday Times

In a world awash in screenwriting books, The Science of Screenwriting provides an alternative approach that will help the aspiring screenwriter navigate this mass of often contradictory advice: exploring the science behind storytelling strategies. Paul Gulino, author of the best-selling Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach, and Connie Shears, a noted cognitive psychologist, build, chapter-by-chapter, an understanding of the human perceptual/cognitive processes, from the functions of our eyes and ears bringing real world information into our brains, to the intricate networks within our brains connecting our decisions and emotions. They draw on a variety of examples from film and television -- The Social Network, Silver Linings Playbook and Breaking Bad -- to show how the human perceptual process is reflected in the storytelling strategies of these filmmakers. They conclude with a detailed analysis of one of the most successful and influential films of all time, Star Wars, to discover just how it had the effect that it had.

On Becoming a Novelist contains the wisdom accumulated during John Gardner's distinguished twenty-year career as a fiction writer and creative writing teacher. With elegance, humor, and sophistication, Gardner describes the life of a working novelist; warns what needs to be guarded against, both from within the writer and from without; and predicts what the writer can reasonably expect and what, in general, he or she cannot. "For a certain kind of person," Gardner writes, "nothing is more joyful or satisfying than the life of a novelist." But no other vocation, he is quick to add, is so fraught with professional and spiritual difficulties. Whether discussing the supposed value of writer's workshops, explaining the role of the novelist's agent and editor, or railing against the seductive fruits of literary elitism, On Becoming a Novelist is an indispensable, life-affirming handbook for anyone authentically called to the profession. "A miraculously detailed account of the creative process." Anne Tyler, Baltimore Sun"

Once you understand the basics of screenwriting, ideas for your next screenplay are everywhere. Whether it comes from a favorite children's book, a summer novel you discover accidentally, a news story that catches your imagination, or a chapter from your own life - advanced screenwriting strategies should now guide you through your first adaptation. In Screen Adaptation: Beyond the Basics, award-winning screenwriter Eric Williams uses examples from award-winning screenplays to explain new storytelling techniques. His real-world examples illustrate a range of advanced approaches - including new ways to identify and craft tension, how to reimagine structure and character, and how to strengthen emotional depth in your characters and in the audience. Screen Adaptation: Beyond the Basics teaches readers new ways to engage with source material in order to make successful adaptation decisions, regardless of the source material. The book offers: Three detailed examples of award-winning adaptations by the author, including the complete short story and final scripts used in the Voices From the Heartland project; Breakout boxes highlighting modern and historical adaptations and providing examples for each concept discussed in the book; More than fifty charts providing easy-to-use visual representations of complex concepts; New screenwriting techniques developed by the author, including the Triangle of Knowledge, the Storyteller's Parallax, and the idea of Super Genres as part of a Screenwriters Taxonomy.

The industry speaks out about SUCCESSFUL TELEVISION WRITING

"Where was this book when I was starting out? A fantastic, fun, informative guide to breaking into–and more importantly, staying in–the TV writing game from the guys who taught me how to play it."
–Terence Winter, Coexecutive Producer, The Sopranos

"Goldberg and Rabkin write not only with clarity and wit but also with the authority gleaned from their years of slogging through Hollywood’s trenches. Here is a must-read for new writers and established practitioners whose imagination could use a booster shot."
–Professor Richard Walter, Screenwriting Chairman, UCLA Department of Film and TV

"Not since William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade has there been a book this revealing, funny, and informative about The Industry. Reading this book is like having a good, long lunch with your two best friends in the TV business."
–Janet Evanovich

"With sharp wit and painful honesty, Goldberg and Rabkin offer the truest account yet of working in the TV business. Accept no substitutes!"
–Jeffrey B. Hodes and Nastaran Dibai, Coexecutive Producers, Third Rock from the Sun

"Should be required reading for all aspiring television writers."
–Howard Gordon, Executive Producer, 24 and The X-Files

Many narratives of theater history suggest that the 1960s marked the start of a turning away from traditional, script-based, playwright-centric production practices. Literary studies in this period began exploring the concept of the "death of the author" along similar lines. But the author refused to die quietly, and authorship reasserts itself in even revolutionary and avant-garde theaters throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. The model of authorship-valorizing individuality, ownership, and originality-serves to maintain traditional modes of production that reproduce and uphold dominant ideologies even when the products created by those modes of production claim to buck tradition or run counter to cultural currents. This ideology of authorship plays a part in playwrights shutting down productions of their own plays, in the privileging of individual authorship over joint authorship even in collaborative genres, and in the insistence on originality even in performance traditions rooted in a shared repertoire. This tension between the theoretical death of the author and the growth of actual authors' abilities to control access to and even in some cases interpretations of their work exposes the deftness with which dominant ideologies and their attendant modes of production can repurpose the aesthetics of even countercultural or revolutionary movements in theater.

Global Scriptwriting offers a look at an exciting new phase in screen storytelling, as writers and directors from all over the world infuse traditional forms with their own cultural values to create stories that have an international appeal and suggest a universality among readers, viewers, and listeners. A unique blend of screenwriting technique and film studies, Global Scriptwriting discusses screen stories as they have evolved through the years, focusing first on the basics of scriptwriting, then going on to afford a more sophisticated look at script via different models of scriptwriting: the Hollywood model, the independent model, the national model, and various alternative models. It examines the internationalization of storytelling, and illustrates how particular innovations have helped national screen stories to international success.

This book is the first to incorporate the basics of the classical form with the innovative edge of the last decade, as well the culture specific changes that have taken place outside of North America. It offers readers a view of the enriched repertoire available to writers resulting from the introduction of cultural perspectives into traditional story forms. Specific topics examined include, the ascent of voice, the search for new forms, the struggle between style and content, and the centrality of megagenre.
Includes numerous case studies and examples
Focuses on how adaptation, innovation, and cultural values combine to create internationally successful stories

'After a number of years teaching writing courses and appearing at writers' conferences, I began to see that creating a process book utilising one of my novels as an example of each step of my process might prove useful to people who are interested in novel writing or in how this individual writer approaches the complicated task of putting together a British crime novel.' As the author of twenty-four novels, Elizabeth George is one of the most successful - and prolific - novelists today. In Mastering the Process, George offers a master class in the art and science of crafting a novel, sharing her wealth of experience with would-be novelists, and with crime fiction fans. Using her actual work to illustrate the various steps of novel writing that she explores in this book, she illustrates her points about plotting, characterisation and technique with great clarity and generosity. Drawing from her personal photos, early notes, character analyses, and rough drafts for every stage of her novel Careless in Red, George offers us an intimate look at the procedures she follows, from researching location to imagining plot to creating characters to the actual writing and revision processes themselves. At the same time, she gives invaluable advice for writers about what has worked for her - and what hasn't. Mastering the Process provides writers with practical, prescriptive, and achievable tools for creating a novel, editing a novel, and problem solving when in the midst of a novel, from a master storyteller at the top of her game. Elizabeth George has taught creative writing both nationally and internationally for over thirty years and is the author of Write Away, described as 'one novelist's approach to fiction and the writing life'.