The crash of an Amtrak train near Baltimore, the collapse of the Hyatt hotel in Kansas City, the incident at Three Mile Island, and other large-scale technological disasters have provided powerful examples of the ways that communication practices influence the events and decisions that precipitate a disaster. These examples have raised ethical questions about the responsibility of writers within agencies, epistemological questions about the nature of representation in science, and rhetorical questions about the nature of expertise and experience as grounds for judgments about risk.
In "The Rhetoric of Risk: Technical Documentation in Hazardous Environments, " author Beverly Sauer examines how the dynamic uncertainty of the material environment affects communication in large regulatory industries. Sauer's analysis focuses specifically on mine safety, which provides a rich technical and historical context where problems of rhetorical agency, narrative, and the negotiation of meaning have visible and tragic outcomes. But the questions Sauer asks have larger implication for risk and safety: How does writing function in large regulatory industries? What can we learn from experience? Why is this experience so difficult to capture in writing? What information is lost when agencies rely on written documentation alone? Given the uncertainties, how can we work to improve communication in hazardous and uncertain environments?
By exploring how individuals make sense of the material, technical, and institutional indeterminancies of their work in speech and gesture, "The Rhetoric of Risk" helps communicators rethink their frequently unquestioned assumptions about workplace discourse and the role of writers in hazardous worksites. It is intended for scholars and students in technical writing and communication, rhetoric, risk analysis and risk communication, as well as a wide range of engineering and technical fields concerned with risk, safety, and uncertainty.

The best, most comprehensive book for writers is now completely revised and updated to address ongoing changes in publishing. Published in 2005 as "Putting Your Passion Into Print," this is the book that s been praised by both industry professionals ( Refreshingly honest, knowledgeable and detailed. . . . An invaluable resource Jamie Raab, publisher, Grand Central Publishing) and bestselling authors ( A must-have for every aspiring writer. Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner"). With its extensive coverage of e-books, self-publishing, and online marketing, "The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published" is more vital than ever for anyone who wants to mine that great idea and turn it into a successfully published book. Written by experts with thirteen books between them as well as many years experience as a literary agent (Eckstut) and a book doctor (Sterry), this nuts-and-bolts guide demystifies every step of the publishing process: how to come up with a blockbuster title, create a selling proposal, find the right agent, understand a book contract, develop marketing and publicity savvy, and self-publish. There s new information on how to build up a following (and even publish a book) online; the importance of a search-engine-friendly title; producing a video book trailer; and e-book pricing and royalties. Includes interviews with hundreds of publishing insiders and authors, including Seth Godin, Neil Gaiman, Amy Bloom, Margaret Atwood, Larry Kirshbaum, Leonard Lopate, plus agents, editors, and booksellers; sidebars featuring real-life publishing success stories; sample proposals, query letters, and a feature-rich website and community for authors."

This reorganized and updated edition of Writing for Today's Healthcare Audiences provides new digital supports for students and course instructors. Designed primarily for students seeking careers in healthcare communication, this book also serves as a useful guide for nascent practitioners. Healthcare writing audiences are diversifying, from traditional physicians and patients to administrators in government and insurance groups and to technical practitioners in a widening range of fields. Writing for these increasingly diverse healthcare audiences is the focus of this book, which has just enough theory to lay groundwork, plentiful examples to illustrate how theory is practiced, summaries that highlight key points, and realistic practice exercises. The second edition has been reorganized and expanded; new examples throughout refer to the special challenges of healthcare writing in a pandemic. A new companion website for students and general readers provides larger-scale examples by audience, more details on the review and revision processes, and communications skills toolkits; a separate site provides support for instructors planning courses around the book.

This book is for graduate students, and others, who want to become more productive writers. It's especially written for those who want to: increase their motivation, focus, and persistence to move a project to completion overcome procrastination and perfectionistic tendencies reduce (or write in spite of) their anxiety and fear of writing manage their time, work, energy (and advisor) for greater productivity The process or craft of sustained writing is not a matter that's taught to undergraduate or graduate students as part of their studies, leaving most at sea about how to start a practice that is central to a career in academe and vital in many other professional occupations. This book grew out of conversations Jan Allen has held with her graduate students for over 30 years and reflects the fruit of the writing workshops and boot camps she has conducted at three universities, her own and numerous colleagues' experiences with writing and advising, as well as the feedback she receives from her popular Productive Writer listserv. While Jan Allen recognizes that writing is not an innate talent for most of us, she demonstrates that it is a process based on skills, which we can identify, learn, practice and refine. She focuses both on the process and habits of writing as well as on helping you uncover what kind of writer are you, and reflect on your challenges and successes. With a light touch and an engaging sense of humor, she proposes strategies to overcome procrastination and distractions, and build a writing practice to enable you to become a more productive and prolific writer. Jan Allen proposes that you read one of her succinct chapters - each devoted to a specific strategy or writing challenge - each day, or once a week. When you find one that increases your concentration, motivation or endurance, make it a habit. Try it for two weeks, charting the resulting increased productivity. It will become part of your repertoire of writing and productivity tools to which you can progressively add.

There are writing centers at almost every college and university in the United States, and there is an emerging body of professional discourse, research, and writing about them. The goal of this book is to open, formalize, and further the dialogue about research in and about writing centers. The original essays in this volume, all written by writing center researchers, directly address current concerns in several ways: they encourage studies, data collection, and publication by offering detailed, reflective accounts of research; they encourage a diversity of approaches by demonstrating a range of methodologies (e.g., ethnography, longitudinal case study; rhetorical analysis, teacher research) available to both veteran and novice writing center professionals; they advance an ongoing conversation about writing center research by explicitly addressing epistemological and ethical issues. The book aims to encourage and guide other researchers, while at the same time offering new knowledge that has resulted from the studies it analyzes.

Its misleading to think of writers as special creatures, word sorcerers who possess some sort of magic knowledge hidden from everyone else. Writers are ordinary people who like to write. They feel the urge to write, and scratch that itch every chance they have. Writers get their ideas down on paper using particular strategies that seem to work for them. These strategies are available to anyone who wants to be a writer

There is no secret. But there is a process. If you like to write, there are definite steps you can take to help you reach your goals. Good writing isn't forged by magic or hatched out of thin air. Good writing happens when human beings follow particular steps to take control o their sentences-to make their words do what they want them to do.

This book will show you how writers work, how you can become a writer, and how you can find a process that works for you

For courses in first-year composition. This version of Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)* The most balanced coverage of the writing process, grammar, research, and other issues important to today's students. Perfect for students seeking support at any stage of the writing process, Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, Eleventh Edition continues its emphasis on critical thinking and reading as fundamental skills, integral to quality writing and sound research practices. Trusted authors Lynn Troyka and Doug Hesse provide everything that composition students need - how to write college papers, use and document sources, write online, write with visuals, master grammar, and use correct punctuation. Designed for easy use and speedy entry into all topics, this book welcomes students into a conversation about becoming better writers. * The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the "increasing mobility of texts," MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.

This guide has been designed to help undergraduates develop an understanding of practical research methods, and their application in the undergraduate dissertation. Written in an accessible and engaging style, it offers advice on all aspects of undergraduate research, from choosing a dissertation subject through to presenting the finished article.
Features of this book:
* concise chapters which provide introductions to various aspects of research methods, including: why it's important; quantitive and qualitative methods; and practical application.
* advice, hints and tips on planning, presenting, researching and writing undergraduate dissertations.
* a wide range of examples of research to clearly illustrate different issues and methods which students may encounter.
* guides to further reading and thinking at the end of each chapter.

This excellent book covers editing in the digital age, demonstrating the tools needed for effective text editing. Learn how to write powerful headlines and captions, and how to edit body text quickly and cleanly. It also concentrates on design in the digital environment, introducing typography and the related issues of readability and legibility. The skills of picture editing are explored, including image selection, cropping, manipulation and the ethics involved. These core skills and methods are then applied to the World Wide Web. Recent research into how people navigate Web pages is considered, and recommends ways to write more effectively for the online medium.

The first section concentrates on editing in the digital age, demonstrating the tools needed for effective text editing. Dr Quinn shows how to write powerful headlines and captions, and how to edit body text quickly and cleanly.
The middle section concentrates on design in the digital environment. Chapter five introduces typography and the related issues of readability and legibility. Chapter six covers the principles of design and how they can be applied to print and electronic publications. Chapter seven looks at the skills of picture editing, including image selection, cropping, manipulation and the ethics involved. Chapter eight investigates other forms of visual presentation such as diagrams, logos, maps and cartoons.
In the final section, these core skills and methods are applied to the World Wide Web. Chapter nine considers recent research into how people navigate Web pages, and recommends ways to write more effectively for the online medium. Chapter ten examines how the principles of print design can (andcannot) be applied to Web pages.
Learn the skills of subbing from a renowned expert
Covers everything you need to know to get professional results
An indispensable mentor full of practical tips and guidance

Making Your Case: A Practical Guide to Essay Writing outlines skills central to academic essay writing.

This book emphasizes drafting, redrafting, adaptation and correction as essential processes in the transformation and communication of ideas and provides a guide to three different systems of referencing currently used in academic writing. It also book also contains practical examples and exercises.

Offering guidance on writing poetry, nonfiction, and fiction, Environmental and Nature Writing is a complete introduction to the art and craft of writing about the environment in a wide range of genres. With discussion questions and writing prompts throughout, Environmental and Nature Writing: A Writers' Guide and Anthology covers such topics as: * The history of writing about the environment * Image, description and metaphor * Environmental journalism, poetry, and fiction * Researching, revising and publishing * Styles of nature writing, from discovery to memoir to polemic The book also includes an anthology, offering inspiring examples of nature writing in all of the genres covered by the book, including work by: John Daniel, Camille T. Dungy, David Gessner, Jennifer Lunden, Erik Reece, David Treuer, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Alyson Hagy, Bonnie Nadzam, Lydia Peelle, Benjamin Percy, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Nikky Finney, Juan Felipe Herrera, Major Jackson, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, G.E. Patterson, Natasha Trethewey, and many more.

Legendary writing coach Jack Hart spent twenty-six years at the Oregonian and has taught students and professionals of all stripes, including bloggers, podcasters, and more than one Pulitzer Prize winner. Good writing, he says, has the same basic attributes regardless of genre or medium. Wordcraft shares Hart's techniques for achieving those attributes in one of the most broadly useful writing books ever written. Originally published in 2006 as A Writer's Coach, the book has been updated to address the needs of writers well beyond print journalists. Hart breaks the writing process into a series of manageable steps, from idea to polishing. Filled with real-world examples, both good and bad, Wordcraft shows how to bring such characteristics as force, brevity, clarity, rhythm, and color to any kind of writing. Wordcraft now functions as a set with the second edition of Hart's book Storycraft, on the art of storytelling, also available from Chicago.

The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox continues where the Game Narrative Toolbox ended. While the later covered the basics of writing for games, the Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox will cover techniques for the intermediate and professional writer. The book will cover topics such as how to adapt a novel to a game, how to revive IPs and how to construct transmedia worlds. Each chapter will be written by a professional with exceptional experience in the field of the chapter. Key Features Learn from industry experts how to tackle today's challenges in storytelling for games. A learn by example and exercise approach, which was praised in the Game Narrative Toolbox. An in depth view on advanced storytelling techniques and topics as they are currently discussed and used in the gaming industry. Expand your knowledge in game writing as you learn and try yourself to design quests, write romances and build worlds as you would as a writer in a game studio. Improve your own stories by learning and trying the techniques used by the professionals of game writing.

A rare work of nonfiction from Edith Wharton, The Writing of Fiction contains brilliant advice on writing from the first woman ever to win a Pulitzer Prize -- for her first novel The Age of Innocence.

In The Writing of Fiction, Wharton provides general comments on the roots of modern fiction, the various approaches to writing a piece of fiction, and the development of form and style. She also devotes entire chapters to the telling of a short story, the construction of a novel, and the importance of character and situation in the novel.

Not only a valuable treatise on the art of writing, The Writing of Fiction also allows readers to experience the inimitable but seldom heard voice of one of America's most important and beloved writers, and includes a final chapter on the pros and cons of Marcel Proust.