"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)"--

"They say writing is rewriting. So why does the second part get such short shrift? Refuse To Be Done will guide you through every step of the novel writing process, from getting started on those first pages to the last tips for making your final draft even tighter and stronger. From lauded writer and teacher Matt Bell, Refuse to Be Done is encouraging and intensely practical, focusing always on specific rewriting tasks, techniques, and activities...

How many people would kill to be a bestselling novelist? Especially one like Janet Evanovich.Writers want to know how a bestselling author thinks, writes, plans, and dreams her books. And they are primed for a book from Janet Evanovich that tells, in a witty Q&A format:
- How she comes up with such remarkable characters
- How she nails the perfect name every time
- How she finds out insider details
- Just how she sets up those masterful

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"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...

"Accomplished storytellers Kate Messner and Mark Siegel playfully chronicle the process of becoming a writer in this fun follow-up to How to Read a Story, guiding young storytellers through the joys and challenges of the writing process. From choosing an idea, to creating a problem for their character to resolve, to coming to The End, this empowering picture book breaks down the writing process in a dynamic and accessible way, encouraging kids to...

"E.B. White once said that "a book is a sneeze," and it's hard to disagree. Each classic literary work began as a germ of an idea, often conceived in the most unlikely circumstances and transposed despite critical indifference, personal tragedy, and plain old writer's block. But few sneezes are purely random occurrences. Arthur Golden knew he wanted to write about a geisha's family in Japan, he just didn't know how--until he met one. Stephen King...

Explore advanced fiction writing techniques with a published novelist.

"I'm Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. When the Australian Mystery Writers' Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. But, the Ghan is not the respite I'd been hoping for. It turns out I've trapped myself on an 1,800-mile journey with a powder...