In 1888, Mark Twain reflected on the writer's special feel for words to his correspondent, George Bainton, noting that "the difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter." We recognize differences between a politician who is "willful" and one who is "willing" even though the difference does not cross word-stems or parts of speech. We recognize that being "held up" evokes different experiences depending upon whether its direct object is a meeting, a bank, or an example. Although we can notice hundreds of examples in the language where small differences in wording produce large reader effects, the authors of "The Power of Words" argue that these examples are random glimpses of a hidden systematic knowledge that governs how we, as writers or speakers, learn to shape experience for other human beings.
Over the past several years, David Kaufer and his colleagues have developed a software program for analyzing writing called DocuScope. This book illustrates the concepts and rhetorical theory behind the software analysis, examining patterns in writing and showing writers how their writing works in different categories to accomplish varying objectives. Reflecting the range and variety of audience experience that contiguous words of surface English can prime, the authors present a theory of language as an instrument of rhetorically priming audiences and a catalog of English strings to implement the theory. The project creates a comprehensive map of the speaker and writer's implicit knowledge about predisposing audience experience at the point of utterance.
The book begins with an explanation of why studying language from the standpoint of priming--not just meaning--is vital to non-question begging theories of close reading and to language education in general. The remaining chapters in Part I detail the steps taken to prepare a catalog study of English strings for their properties as priming instruments. Part II describes in detail the catalog of priming categories, including enough examples to help readers see how individual words and strings of English fit into the catalog. The final part describes how the authors have applied the catalog of English strings as priming tools to conduct textual research.

Confusing, inadequate instructions for setting up and using consumer products are not only unhelpful, but potentially dangerous. They may contain wrong information, poor warnings, and no pictures or illustrations. Standards are either non-existent or little known, even though the U.S. government has developed and tested standards for the past thirty years. This book presents a set of guidelines written by The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society that have been tested by human factor specialists. This expert advice is applicable to writing assembly procedures, operational procedures, and user, shop, and repair manuals.

In this volume, Mark Waldo argues that writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs should be housed in writing centers and explains an innovative approach to enhancing their effectiveness: focus WAC on the writing agendas of the disciplines. He asserts that WAC operation should reflect an academy characterized by multiple language communities--each with contextualized values, purposes, and forms for writing, and no single community's values superior to another's. Starting off with an examination of the core issue, that WAC should be promoting learning to write in the disciplines instead of writing to learn, Waldo proposes: *housing WAC in comprehensive writing centers independent of any other department; *using dialogue and inquiry rather than prescriptive techniques in the WAC program's interaction with faculty in other disciplines; and *phasing out writing assessment that depends on one test measuring the writing abilities of students from all disciplines. In the process of making his case, Waldo discusses tutor training, faculty consultancy, and multilayered assessment programs. In addition to presenting the theoretical and practical advantages of discipline-based WAC programs, he also offers clear and compelling evidence from his own institution that supports the success of this approach to writing instruction. Demythologizing Language Difference in the Academy: Establishing Discipline-Based Writing Programs will be of interest to writing program and WAC administrators; writing center administrators; graduate students studying composition; and educators and graduate students involved in WAC initiatives, research, and study.

In this volume, Mark Waldo argues that writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs should be housed in writing centers and explains an innovative approach to enhancing their effectiveness: focus WAC on the writing agendas of the disciplines. He asserts that WAC operation should reflect an academy characterized by multiple language communities--each with contextualized values, purposes, and forms for writing, and no single community's values superior to another's. Starting off with an examination of the core issue, that WAC should be promoting learning to write in the disciplines instead of writing to learn, Waldo proposes: *housing WAC in comprehensive writing centers independent of any other department; *using dialogue and inquiry rather than prescriptive techniques in the WAC program's interaction with faculty in other disciplines; and *phasing out writing assessment that depends on one test measuring the writing abilities of students from all disciplines. In the process of making his case, Waldo discusses tutor training, faculty consultancy, and multilayered assessment programs. In addition to presenting the theoretical and practical advantages of discipline-based WAC programs, he also offers clear and compelling evidence from his own institution that supports the success of this approach to writing instruction. Demythologizing Language Difference in the Academy: Establishing Discipline-Based Writing Programs will be of interest to writing program and WAC administrators; writing center administrators; graduate students studying composition; and educators and graduate students involved in WAC initiatives, research, and study.

Dan Beckmann appears to be an average guy living a common life. That is, until he begins to share his extraordinary collection of surprising stories. He finds adventure the way he finds friends--everywhere. Through his witty, lighthearted, and entertaining tales, he reminds us that the best things in life are free, that extraordinary adventures are always waiting just around the corner--and that it's never too late to laugh your way to the finish line. No matter where you are in life there are people around you who help you step up, step over, or step to it. Even if you've stepped in it

In addition to suggesting specific yoga exercises for various writing roadblocks . . . this is a substantial writing guide, with lessons in voice, symbol, syntax and dialogue.-Dallas Morning NewsWith wisdom for writers at any level and in any genre, nationally known writing and yoga instructor Jeff Davis shows writers how yoga's principles and practical tools can deepen their writing practice and increase their versatility writers. A grounded guide to the body-mind-imagination connection, this book shows ways for writers to reconnect with their deeper intentions for writing, sustain concentration and confidence when writing, and write with an authentic voice.

The Philosophy of Composition (1846) is an essay by Edgar Allan Poe. Recognized as a foundational figure of nineteenth century fiction, Poe has inspired generations of readers and writers with his craftsmanship and taste for tragedy and terror. His brief but meteoric career shaped the trajectory of American literature forever, forming a legacy without which science fiction, horror, and detective writing would surely be shells of themselves. Published only three years before his untimely death, the essay appeared in an April 1846 issue of Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, whose editor had previously made the mistake of turning down "The Raven." Both influential and controversial, Poe's essay on craft was intended as a dismissal of the myth of spontaneous art, arguing instead that a true artist depends upon attention to detail and adherence to a logical creative process. Using his own poetic masterpiece as an example, Poe claims that the writer must maintain "unity of effect" throughout the work in order to inspire the intended emotional response in the reader. Once this element has been set in place, the writer may proceed with the more technical aspects of composition, such as characters, setting, and plot. Although Poe's essay drew the ire of Anglo-American poet T. S. Eliot, it was immensely popular among Poe's Francophone audience and served as inspiration for such artists as Maurice Ravel and Charles Baudelaire. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Edgar Allan Poe's The Philosophy of Composition is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

The publishing landscape can be a tricky one to navigate. There are so many aspects to authoring and publishing a book that it's easy for you to make critical mistakes that can you off course and significantly decrease your chances for success. How many of the 50 biggest mistakes authors make are you making? When you learn to avoid the biggest mistakes authors make you can greatly enhance your chances for success in the publishing world. In this insider's look at the worlds of publishing and book marketing coauthors Rick Frishman, Bret Ridgway and Bryan Hane bring their 65 combined years of experience in the publishing world to you and share their secrets to success. You'll learn: How to master media and other key marketing channels authors should use Keys to capturing the browsing buyer in bookstores and online The new publishing landscape and how it impacts you How to increase the readability of your book so readers keep coming back How your book is the key piece of your own information marketing empire And much, much more

The Fast Track to Getting published! "Are you ready to get out of the slush piles? With the expert tutelage of Frishman and Spizman, an author can increase his/her chances of publication many times over." - John Kremer, author, "1001 Ways to Market Your Books" "I've got a great idea for a book!" But a great idea is not enough---what you need is a killer book proposal. With publishing gurus Rick Frishman and Robyn Spizman as your guides, you can create a proposal that makes your idea sing---and appeals to the right publishers. And once you secure that coveted book deal, Frishman and Spizman give you all you need to know to conceptualize, write, market, and turn your powerful message into a bestseller. We all need a guide on the journey through the publishing world and these experts take you by the hand and help navigate the hypercompetitive book industry. We all have an amazing message within. Now is the time to share it with the world to change your life and the lives of your audience.

The must-have business book. Underneath your polished exterior is a challenged caveperson fending off the mammoth beast of technology every day. Defend yourself by fueling your mind with smart communication concepts, many of which are powered by research in neuroscience and psychology. You'll discover T.H.I.N.K. isn't a stiff ho-hum rules book-it's the Elements of Style guide for communication success. You'll learn: Why we are drawn to technology and how to manage it How to reduce your screen time and be more productive Think, create, and brainstorm wisely and often Experience positive communication Get the messages you want, send the messages they want Write to capture your reader's attention and keep it T.H.I.N.K. is a must-have business book for every busy, business professional. Good news! You don't have to T.H.I.N.K. alone! Use this resourceful guide to create a communications plan with your team and experience the benefits of partying working like it's 1999!

Because the battle begins before a book even hits the selves, an author needs every weapon to get ahead of the competition. Guerrilla Marketing for Writers is packed with proven insights and advice, it details 100 "Classified secrets" that will help authors sell their work before and after it's published. This life range of weapons-practical low-cost and no-cost marketing techniques-will help authors design a powerful strategy for strengthening their proposals, promoting their books, and maximizing their sales.

Are you an attorney working hard, 60-plus, hours per week to right the wrongdoings of the world? Are you enjoying a successful legal career, but are still not wholly satisfied? We were all born artists. But what if the path to becoming an attorney circumvents that deeper inner calling to create? What if you want to do both - be an attorney and write novels? Attorney's quietly imagining themselves as the next John Grishom is more common that most people might think. Using Attorney by Day, Novelist by Night, anyone can indulge their dreams to create, bring more passion for life into their life, and find greater fulfillment - without abandoning their career as an attorney. Release your inner novelist by following Kimberly Benjamin's footsteps to discovering your inner muse. And most importantly, learn how to incorporate more time for writing while balancing the demands of a legal career.

Publishing is the currency of academia. But if publishing is so important, why is it so hard to find time to write? Making Time to Write exposes how women's experiences with writing in their careers are mired in the racist, ableist, patriarchal culture of academia that was built to exclude them. Building on her experience navigating the academy to become a tenured, full professor, and her work as a writing and career coach for hundreds of academic womxn, Cathy Mazak guides readers through the work of finding and honoring writing time. In the process, readers learn to build their careers around their writing practice instead of letting writing occupy the edges. From mindset work to creating a relationship-based writing system, Making Time to Write shatters the myths around writing every day (you don't have to), accountability (it's paternalistic), and motivation (it blames the victim). More than just a how-to guide, Making Time To Write is a manifesto on the feminizing of academic culture through reshaping women's writing practices.

This guide offers detailed advice on the journal article publication process, describing each step of the process and providing insights for improving the presentation of work intended for publication in communication journals. It includes advice from journal editors across the discipline and offers resource materials to help both new and seasoned writers publish their work.
The guide begins with an overview of the publication process, followed by a discussion of each step of the manuscript submission, review, and revision processes. In addition to reality-based answers to questions often posed to editors, resource materials are provided in the appendices, introducing readers to the various forms and correspondence they will encounter when they submit their work for consideration. The guide focuses on the issues and procedures associated with the publication process, examining rules and expectations encountered during the publishing process that are often assumed to be known but are rarely articulated. The guidance provided here will aid in establishing consistency in publication practices and will contribute toward improving the quality of journal submissions, as well as enhancing interaction with editors and reviewers.
As a guide to demystifying procedures associated with the publication process, this resource will serve all academic authors desiring to publish their work in scholarly communication journals.

On the Track offers a comprehensive guide to scoring for film and television. Covering all styles and genres, the authors, both noted film composers, cover everything from the nuts-and-bolts of timing, cuing, and recording through balancing the composer's aesthetic vision with the needs of the film itself. Unlike other books that are aimed at the person "dreaming" of a career, this is truly a guide that can be used by everyone from students to technically sophisticated professionals. It contains over 100 interviews with noted composers, illustrating the many technical points made through the text.

By exploring and explaining the perceptive patterns that readers of English follow in their interpretive process, this rhetoric approaches the task of teaching writing from the perspective of readers. As a result, students learn how to write with conscious knowledge of reader's expectations. KEY TOPICS: Readers have relatively fixed expectations of where in the structure of any unit of discourse (clause, sentence, paragraph, or document) to expect the arrival of specific kinds of substance. Taking most of their textual clues for interpretation not from the meanings of individual works, but rather from where those words appear in the structure of a sentence or paragraph, when trying to understand a sentence, readers need to find the answers to five important questions: What is going on here? Whose story is it? What is the most important piece of information in this sentence? How does this sentence link backwards to the one that precedes it? How does this sentence lean forwards to the one that follows it? In order to answer these questions, readers look in certain places or structural locations in the sentence. With an approach that de-mystifies the language and writing process, the writer has new powers to, (1) control what readers are likely to make of the text; and (2) re-enter their own thought processes to judge both cohesion and coherence. MARKET: Ideal for people who want a rhetoric that approaches the task of teaching writing from the perspective of readers.

Concise Guide to APA Style, Seventh Edition is the official APA Style resource for students. Designed specifically for undergraduate writing, this easy-to-use pocket guide is adapted from the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. It provides complete guidance for new writers on effective, clear, and inclusive scholarly communication and the essentials of formatting papers and other course assignments. New to This Edition: full color throughout content relevant to a range of majors and courses, including psychology, social work, criminal justice, communications, composition, education, business, engineering, and more a new chapter focused on student papers a sample student title page, paper, and annotated bibliography streamlined APA Style headings and in-text citations a new chapter on writing style and grammar chapters on punctuation, lists, italics, spelling, capitalization, abbreviations, numbers, and statistics the latest bias-free language guidelines new sample tables and figures guidance on avoiding plagiarism and self-plagiarism new reference templates and examples

'This "essential cornucopia" aims to inspire you to use uncommon words in their original contex'- Bookseller Ever wanted to ameliorate your atavistic lexicon, engage in a little intellectual badinage or been discombobulated by tricky diction? 500 Words You Should Know has you covered. This book will inspire the reader to use uncommon words in their correct context, utilize the English language to its full potential, and test themselves on the words they think they already know. This is a book for the appreciator of correct usage, and contains words you thought you knew (decimate, caveat, nemesis), words you should know (euphemism, diatribe, tautology), and just a few that you might want to know (peripatetic, shibboleth, callipygian). Arranged thematically, each word is dissected, with a brief explanation of etymology, historical and modern usage, allowing you to fully understand and effectively employ the word in its proper context. For those interested in everything this eclectic language has to offer, who wish to celebrate its majesty and depth, this veracious cornucopia of knowledge will have you confabulating with the literary cognoscenti in no time. By the same author: 9781843176572 My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?) 9781782438205 The Accidental Apostrophe

Information design is an emerging area in technical communication, garnering increased attention in recent times as more information is presented through both old and new media. In this volume, editors Michael J. Albers and Beth Mazur bring together scholars and practitioners to explore the issues facing those in this exciting new field.
Treating information as it applies to technical communication, with a special emphasis on computer-centric industries, this volume delves into the role of information design in assisting with concepts, such as usability, documenting procedures, and designing for users. Influential members in the technical communication field examine such issues as the application of information design in structuring technical material; innovative ways of integrating information design within development methodologies and social aspects of the workplace; and theoretical approaches that include a practical application of information design, emphasizing the intersection of information design theories and workplace reality. This collection approaches information design from the language-based technical communication side, emphasizing the role of content as it relates to complexity in information design. As such, it treats as paramount the rhetorical and contextual strategies required for the effective design and transmission of information.
"Content and Complexity: Information Design in Technical Communication" explores both theoretical perspectives, as well as the practicalities of information design in areas relevant to technical communicators. This integration of theoretical and applied components make it a practical resource for students, educators, academic researchers, and practitioners in the technical communication and information design fields.

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.

Drawing on the advice of experts in the field, The Web Writer's Guide serves as the ideal sourcebook for tips and ideas for freelance and staff writers of online content. This book provides writers of all levels with the information they need in an accessible, easy-to-use fashion. To the many deadline- and project-conscious writers out there who need to further adapt to the dynamics of digital media, this easy-to-use, comprehensive guide serves as a remarkable guidepost.
Featuring interviews with Web writers and developers, this guide will offer writers the benefit of many years' combined field experience as well as a sense of how the content factors into various online publications.
The Web Writer's Guide toolkit includes twenty-four checklists, worksheets, and forms that aid online writers to submit complete, concise, and clean copy. The checklists are also useful career path tools. For those new to online writing, the Quick Start section of the book is organized to help you produce quality copy quickly and professionally, for the first time and thereafter.
* Expert tips for novice writers and writers experienced primarily in print
* Covers topics such as writing content for corporate and e-commerce sites, e-mail newsletters, press releases, and e-zines
* Includes a Web writer's glossary to defining online content and Internet terms

Interrogating stories told about life after deconstruction, and discovering instead a kind of afterlife of deconstruction, Daniel Punday draws on a wide range of theorists to develop a rigorous theory of narrative as an alternative model for literary interpretation. Drawing on an observation made by Jean-Francois Lyotard, Punday argues that at the heart of narrative are concrete objects that can serve as "lynchpins" through which many different explanations and interpretations can come together. Narrative after Deconstruction traces the often grudging emergence of a post-deconstructive interest in narrative throughout contemporary literary theory by examining critics as diverse as Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, Elizabeth Grosz, and Edward Said. Experimental novelists like Ronald Sukenick, Raymond Federman, Clarence Major, and Kathy Acker likewise work through many of the same problems of constructing texts in the wake of deconstruction, and so provide a glimpse of this post-deconstructive narrative approach to writing and interpretation at its most accomplished and powerful.