100 Ways to Improve Your Writing (Mentor) (Paperback)

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing (Mentor) (Paperback)
By Gary Provost

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A complete course in the art of writing and an essential reference for any working or would-be writer of any kind. Step-by-step it shows how to come up with ideas, get past writer's block, create an irresistible opening, develop an effective style, choose powerful words and master grammar, rewrite, and much, much more. Read more

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The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well (Paperback)

The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well (Paperback)
By Paula LaRocque

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Teaches the elements of good writing through the use of essential guidelines, literary techniques, and proper writing mechanics.
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Make Your Words Work: Proven Techniques for Effective Writing-For Fiction and Nonfiction (Paperback)

Make Your Words Work: Proven Techniques for Effective Writing-For Fiction and Nonfiction (Paperback)
By Gary Provost

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Gary Provost practices what he preaches in Make Your Words Work. He helps you learn to write well by, among other things, writing well himself. His warm, witty, entertaining instruction teams with solid examples as well as exercises. Get the good word now. This is the writing course to help you make your work more powerful, more readable, more salable. Read more

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We Are Not Alone: The Writer's Guide to Social Media (Writing) (Kindle Edition)

We Are Not Alone: The Writer's Guide to Social Media (Writing) (Kindle Edition)
By Kristen Lamb

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Review & Description

Foreword written by NY Times Best-Selling Author Bob Mayer, “I wished there had been a step-by-step guide for writers on how to not only do social media technically, but do it content-wise. This book is the answer to that wish.”

"Kristen Lamb's WE ARE NOT ALONE is a must-read for any writer dealing with the wildly competitive publishing climate. Even if you think you know what you're doing using social media, Kristen's book will teach you how to use all the tools to maximize your author platform and, most of all, SALES! I'm already recommending this book to all my authors!" Gina Panettieri from Talcott Notch Literary

Social Media is more popular than ever. As society becomes more and more technologically advanced, people are seeking new ways to interact. Humans are social creatures. Relationships and community are vital to our survival and our mental and emotional health.

Writers, published and unpublished, fiction and non-fiction are hearing words like platform and brand with increasing frequency as the publishing paradigm shifts into the 21st century. The world around us is changing faster than ever, and publishing is certainly not immune.

There are more opportunities for a new author today than there has been in the entirety of human history. Yet, the flip side of that reality is, with thousands and thousands of authors with books and blogs, how can a writer ever hope to stand apart let alone succeed?

This book will show you how.

There are countless social media experts, but Kristen's system is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of a writer. Take charge of your future today. You have great books to write, and don't have time for rookie mistakes that can cost you years of rebuilding your name, brand, and platform.

Kristen's method is simple, effective, and helps auhors find ways to harness the imaginatin used for writing and employ this creativity to build a solid platform designed to connect with readers. This system is designed to change the writer's approach, not the writer's personality.

And the best part is you have help. Remember, We Are Not Alone.Foreword written by NY Times Best-Selling Author Bob Mayer, “I wished there had been a step-by-step guide for writers on how to not only do social media technically, but do it content-wise. This book is the answer to that wish.”

"Kristen Lamb's WE ARE NOT ALONE is a must-read for any writer dealing with the wildly competitive publishing climate. Even if you think you know what you're doing using social media, Kristen's book will teach you how to use all the tools to maximize your author platform and, most of all, SALES! I'm already recommending this book to all my authors!" Gina Panettieri from Talcott Notch Literary

Social Media is more popular than ever. As society becomes more and more technologically advanced, people are seeking new ways to interact. Humans are social creatures. Relationships and community are vital to our survival and our mental and emotional health.

Writers, published and unpublished, fiction and non-fiction are hearing words like platform and brand with increasing frequency as the publishing paradigm shifts into the 21st century. The world around us is changing faster than ever, and publishing is certainly not immune.

There are more opportunities for a new author today than there has been in the entirety of human history. Yet, the flip side of that reality is, with thousands and thousands of authors with books and blogs, how can a writer ever hope to stand apart let alone succeed?

This book will show you how.

There are countless social media experts, but Kristen's system is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of a writer. Take charge of your future today. You have great books to write, and don't have time for rookie mistakes that can cost you years of rebuilding your name, brand, and platform.

Kristen's method is simple, effective, and helps auhors find ways to harness the imaginatin used for writing and employ this creativity to build a solid platform designed to connect with readers. This system is designed to change the writer's approach, not the writer's personality.

And the best part is you have help. Remember, We Are Not Alone. Read more

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A Quick Guide to Reviving Disengaged Writers (Workshop Help Desk) (Hardcover)

A Quick Guide to Reviving Disengaged Writers (Workshop Help Desk) (Hardcover)
By Christopher Lehman

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A Writer's Guide to Fiction (Writer's Compass) (Paperback)

A Writer's Guide to Fiction (Writer's Compass) (Paperback)
By Elizabeth Lyon

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Review & Description

The second book in the Writer's Compass series from professional writing instructor Elizabeth Lyon offers both aspiring and established authors the fundamentals of writing and selling a great novel or short story. In addition to the basics of characterization, plot, pacing, and theme, A Writer's Guide to Fiction also features a plan for revising fiction, a guide to marketing, samples of cover and query letters, and methods of honing the writing craft. Read more

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The Write-Brain Workbook: 366 Exercises to Liberate Your Writing (Paperback)

The Write-Brain Workbook: 366 Exercises to Liberate Your Writing (Paperback)
By Bonnie Neubauer

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With The Write-Brain Workbook, writers will never have to face a blank page again. This one-of-a-kind guide provides a full year of writing exercises and games designed to get thoughts brewing and the pen moving across the page. It: Provides 366 10-minute exercises to build momentum and turn on the right side of the brain Helps readers generate work by painlessly leading them into new writing every day Stimulates creativity with a stunning 4-colour package and easy-to-approach prompts People of all ages and occupations can benefit from this book as they open up to new realms of creativity. Read more

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The Chronicles of Abrigal SilverLock (Kindle Edition)

The Chronicles of Abrigal SilverLock (Kindle Edition)
By Virgil Lee Fuqua III

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First tagged by Virgil L. Fuqua III
Customer tags: kindle(10), magic, geas, spell, witch, humor, writing, magic-tech, spell casting, fantasy

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The collection of Here a geas, there a geas, everywhere a geas, geas, geas and An Apprentice Grimorie. Two stories about Abrigal SilverLock and the complication that enters her life when she publish a book on magic.
The collection of Here a geas, there a geas, everywhere a geas, geas, geas and An Apprentice Grimorie. Two stories about Abrigal SilverLock and the complication that enters her life when she publish a book on magic.
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Be A Sex-Writing Strumpet (Kindle Edition)

Be A Sex-Writing Strumpet (Kindle Edition)
By Stacia Kane

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Customer tags: writing(2), urban fantasy romance(2), paranormal romance, authorship, writing skills, stacia kane, romance, teaching

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Stacia Kane writes novels filled with “...flaming hot sex...” (Romantic Times), “...sizzling romance that heats up every page ...” (Darque Reviews), and “...spicy sex scenes beautiful enough to make you cry and hot enough to steam windows at the same time...” (Michele Lee). She has published more than a dozen romances and urban fantasies, with publishers like Ellora’s Cave, Pocket, Del Rey, and HarperVoyager. Now she opens her bag of tricks to show you how you too can write the scenes that readers crave.
From setting the scene to consummating the union, Stacia takes you all the way. She reveals the tricks of the professional author, step by step (with examples taken from her own and others’ writing), giving practical advice you can use in your own books. Be a Sex-Writing Strumpet is like a master class in erotic fiction. (Jim Macdonald)Stacia Kane writes novels filled with “...flaming hot sex...” (Romantic Times), “...sizzling romance that heats up every page ...” (Darque Reviews), and “...spicy sex scenes beautiful enough to make you cry and hot enough to steam windows at the same time...” (Michele Lee). She has published more than a dozen romances and urban fantasies, with publishers like Ellora’s Cave, Pocket, Del Rey, and HarperVoyager. Now she opens her bag of tricks to show you how you too can write the scenes that readers crave.
From setting the scene to consummating the union, Stacia takes you all the way. She reveals the tricks of the professional author, step by step (with examples taken from her own and others’ writing), giving practical advice you can use in your own books. Be a Sex-Writing Strumpet is like a master class in erotic fiction. (Jim Macdonald) Read more

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The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines (Paperback)

The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines (Paperback)
By Tami D. Cowden

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Writing great fiction heroes and heroines. Read more

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How to Write a Damn Good Thriller: A Step-by-Step Guide for Novelists and Screenwriters (Hardcover)

How to Write a Damn Good Thriller: A Step-by-Step Guide for Novelists and Screenwriters (Hardcover)
By James N. Frey

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A quick look at any fiction bestseller list reveals that thrillers make up most of the titles at the top. HOW TO WRITE A DAMN GOOD THRILLER will help the aspiring novelist or screenwriter to design, draft, write, and polish a thriller that is sure to grab readers. Frey uses examples from both books and movies and addresses the following hot topics:*Germinal ideas*Breathing life into great thriller characters*Crafting a gripping opening*Maintaining tension*Creating obstacles and conflicts*Writing a mean, lean thriller scene*Adding surprise twists*Building a smashing climaxand many more. In his trademark approachable and humorous style, Frey illuminates the building blocks of great thrillers and gives the reader the tools to write his or her own. Read more

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Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft (Paperback)

Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft (Paperback)
By David Morrell

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Novelist David Morrell provides insights and advice learned during 30 years of writing and selling novels - insider secrets to help writers achieve the next level of literary success, whether they are just beginning or already published.Distinctions are often made between writers of "literature" and writers of popular fiction. The two seem to come together in David Morrell, author of Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing. Morrell writes thrillers--lots of them--including First Blood, which gave the world Rambo. But Morrell was also a longtime literature professor. He is as likely to quote E.M. Forster as he is Lawrence Block; Steve McQueen appears on the same page as Henry James. Lessons is a lovely examination of writing and the writing life. To read it is to put oneself in the company of a writerly raconteur. Toward the beginning of the book, he discusses Hemingway's bizarre upbringing, wartime experiences, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Toward the end, he reveals the secret to bribing the dispatchers and drivers who supply airport bookstores (a hint rarely, if ever before, reported in a writing book). With chapters devoted to plot, character, research, structure, viewpoint, and dialogue, Morrell covers all the basics. But this is less a how-to book than a written rendition of an intimate university writing workshop. "There are no inferior types of fiction," Morrell implores, "only inferior practitioners of them." --Jane Steinberg Read more

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The E-Book Handbook - A Thoroughly Practical Guide to Formatting, Publishing, Marketing, and Selling Your E-Book (Kindle Edition)

The E-Book Handbook - A Thoroughly Practical Guide to Formatting, Publishing, Marketing, and Selling Your E-Book (Kindle Edition)
By Douglas Klostermann

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Customer tags: ebook(2), for dummies, e book handbook, kindle, author, home business, how to, handbook, format, e book, ipad, amazon

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The E-Book Handbook - A Thoroughly Practical Guide to Formatting, Publishing, Marketing, and Selling Your E-Book is a comprehensive guide that will help you create, publish, and market your own e-book, and sell it online through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple - all easily and inexpensively.

Read this e-book on any device including your Kindle, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, or BlackBerry with free Kindle Reading Apps available on Amazon.

This guide explains how to properly format and convert your text for PDF, tablet, and e-reader versions (such as the Kindle and Nook), create interactive bookmarks and table of contents, and include a book cover and images. It includes step-by-step instructions for easily uploading and selling your e-book on major retail websites including Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing, Barnes and Noble through PubIt!, and Apple's iBooks and iTunes through Smashwords, plus setting up the e-book's descriptions and author pages - all at no cost. And it describes how to set up and automate sales and digital delivery from your own website and blog using reliable, low-cost services.

This e-book explains multiple ways to market your e-book to increase sales, including detailed instructions for setting up a website and blog, marketing through various channels and social media on the Internet, optimizing search engine results so that your e-book and sites are found, and earning additional income from your website and blog through advertising and affiliate programs. The E-Book Handbook also explains how to keep track of and evaluate sales, income, and expenses. Throughout the text, the guide contains Internet links to every website, publisher, and retailer discussed, as well as comprehensive lists in the Appendixes.

The E-Book Handbook will provide you with the knowledge and tools to successfully create, publish, market, and sell your own e-book. It includes tips and straightforward information from the author's experiences as a best-selling e-book writer and publisher in order to make the process as low-cost and efficient as possible.

The E-Book Handbook is a 112 page (in the PDF version), illustrated guide that can help turn you into an e-book author and publisher.The E-Book Handbook - A Thoroughly Practical Guide to Formatting, Publishing, Marketing, and Selling Your E-Book is a comprehensive guide that will help you create, publish, and market your own e-book, and sell it online through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple - all easily and inexpensively.

Read this e-book on any device including your Kindle, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, or BlackBerry with free Kindle Reading Apps available on Amazon.

This guide explains how to properly format and convert your text for PDF, tablet, and e-reader versions (such as the Kindle and Nook), create interactive bookmarks and table of contents, and include a book cover and images. It includes step-by-step instructions for easily uploading and selling your e-book on major retail websites including Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing, Barnes and Noble through PubIt!, and Apple's iBooks and iTunes through Smashwords, plus setting up the e-book's descriptions and author pages - all at no cost. And it describes how to set up and automate sales and digital delivery from your own website and blog using reliable, low-cost services.

This e-book explains multiple ways to market your e-book to increase sales, including detailed instructions for setting up a website and blog, marketing through various channels and social media on the Internet, optimizing search engine results so that your e-book and sites are found, and earning additional income from your website and blog through advertising and affiliate programs. The E-Book Handbook also explains how to keep track of and evaluate sales, income, and expenses. Throughout the text, the guide contains Internet links to every website, publisher, and retailer discussed, as well as comprehensive lists in the Appendixes.

The E-Book Handbook will provide you with the knowledge and tools to successfully create, publish, market, and sell your own e-book. It includes tips and straightforward information from the author's experiences as a best-selling e-book writer and publisher in order to make the process as low-cost and efficient as possible.

The E-Book Handbook is a 112 page (in the PDF version), illustrated guide that can help turn you into an e-book author and publisher. Read more

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Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life (Kindle Edition)

Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life (Kindle Edition)
By Natalie Goldberg

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Customer tags: writers reference, natalie goldberg, taos, on writing, kindle, writing, writing down the bones, writing guides, artists, bird by bird, buddhism, creative writing

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An inspirational, practical, and often lighthearted guide on how to find time to write, how to discover your personal style, and how to make sentences come alive
Natalie Goldberg, author of the bestselling Writing Down the Bones, shares her invaluable insight into writing as a source of creative power, and the daily ins and outs of the writer’s task. Topics include balancing mundane responsibilities with a commitment to writing; knowing when to take risks as a writer and a human being; coming to terms with success, failure, and loss; and learning self-acceptance—both in life and art. Thought-provoking and practical, Wild Mind provides an abundance of suggestions for keeping the writing life vital and active, and includes more than thirty provocative “try this” exercises as jump-starters to get your pen moving. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Natalie Goldberg, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.An inspirational, practical, and often lighthearted guide on how to find time to write, how to discover your personal style, and how to make sentences come alive
Natalie Goldberg, author of the bestselling Writing Down the Bones, shares her invaluable insight into writing as a source of creative power, and the daily ins and outs of the writer’s task. Topics include balancing mundane responsibilities with a commitment to writing; knowing when to take risks as a writer and a human being; coming to terms with success, failure, and loss; and learning self-acceptance—both in life and art. Thought-provoking and practical, Wild Mind provides an abundance of suggestions for keeping the writing life vital and active, and includes more than thirty provocative “try this” exercises as jump-starters to get your pen moving. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Natalie Goldberg, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. Read more

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Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer's Craft (Kindle Edition)

Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer's Craft (Kindle Edition)
By Natalie Goldberg

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Customer tags: creativity, zen, art, natalie goldberg, inspiration, on writing, kindle, writing, writing down the bones, craft, buddhism, beginners guide

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In the sequel to her bestselling Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg advises readers on how to capture the flashes of inspiration of a writer’s life, and turn this “thunder and lightning” into a polished final piece Any writer may find himself or herself with an abundance of raw material, but it takes patience and care to turn this material into finished stories, essays, poems, novels, and memoirs. Referencing her own experiences both as a writer and as a student of Zen, Natalie provides insight into the struggles and demands of turning ideas into concrete form. Her guidance addresses ways to overcome writer’s block, deal with the fear of criticism and rejection, get the most from working with an editor, and improve one’s writing by reading accomplished authors. She communicates this with her characteristic humor and compassion, and a deep respect for writing as an act of celebration. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Natalie Goldberg, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
In the sequel to her bestselling Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg advises readers on how to capture the flashes of inspiration of a writer’s life, and turn this “thunder and lightning” into a polished final piece Any writer may find himself or herself with an abundance of raw material, but it takes patience and care to turn this material into finished stories, essays, poems, novels, and memoirs. Referencing her own experiences both as a writer and as a student of Zen, Natalie provides insight into the struggles and demands of turning ideas into concrete form. Her guidance addresses ways to overcome writer’s block, deal with the fear of criticism and rejection, get the most from working with an editor, and improve one’s writing by reading accomplished authors. She communicates this with her characteristic humor and compassion, and a deep respect for writing as an act of celebration. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Natalie Goldberg, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. “Guidance and wisdom gathered from more than two decades of firsthand experience.” —Shambhala Sun “In her inimitably candid style . . . Goldberg coaches us to work despite the ranting of that universal critic inside . . . This book is like a good conversation with a writer friend who cares enough to tell it like it is.” —The Tennessean “This book is alive and slightly feral at the same time, encouraging and unsettling at once. Whether or not you are a writer . . . please read Thunder and Lightning.” —Inquiring Mind Natalie Goldberg (b. 1948) is the author of ten books, including Writing Down the Bones, which has sold over one million copies and has been translated into fourteen languages. She has also written the beloved Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America, a memoir about her Zen teacher. For the past thirty years she has practiced Zen and taught seminars on writing as a spiritual practice. She lives in northern New Mexico.
More musings from Natalie Goldberg on writing as a spiritual path, as "an authentic Zen way." Goldberg has some nice things to say about the importance of the process of writing. She recommends her students spend two years at writing "practice" before undertaking a specific project, so that they can "get in touch with their wild minds." The most inspired writing, she says, comes when one's conscious mind gets out of the way. Still, we are puzzled by Thunder and Lightning: is it really meant to show us how to turn "our flashes of inspiration ... into a polished piece of work," as the book jacket touts? It comes off more as a collection of Goldberg's ruminations on writing and reading. Goldberg tells us about her friend Julie's writing process. Another pal, Kate, talks about plot. We study Styron with Goldberg's workshop students and take a road trip through the South to try to figure out just how some of the poorest states in the union managed to produce so many great writers. There are some good stories here, and it's vaguely interesting to know what Nat likes to order when she does her café writing or lunches with her editors, but we end up desiring a little less wandering and a little more focus. --Jane Steinberg In the sequel to her bestselling Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg advises readers on how to capture the flashes of inspiration of a writer’s life, and turn this “thunder and lightning” into a polished final piece Any writer may find himself or herself with an abundance of raw material, but it takes patience and care to turn this material into finished stories, essays, poems, novels, and memoirs. Referencing her own experiences both as a writer and as a student of Zen, Natalie provides insight into the struggles and demands of turning ideas into concrete form. Her guidance addresses ways to overcome writer’s block, deal with the fear of criticism and rejection, get the most from working with an editor, and improve one’s writing by reading accomplished authors. She communicates this with her characteristic humor and compassion, and a deep respect for writing as an act of celebration. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Natalie Goldberg, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
In the sequel to her bestselling Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg advises readers on how to capture the flashes of inspiration of a writer’s life, and turn this “thunder and lightning” into a polished final piece Any writer may find himself or herself with an abundance of raw material, but it takes patience and care to turn this material into finished stories, essays, poems, novels, and memoirs. Referencing her own experiences both as a writer and as a student of Zen, Natalie provides insight into the struggles and demands of turning ideas into concrete form. Her guidance addresses ways to overcome writer’s block, deal with the fear of criticism and rejection, get the most from working with an editor, and improve one’s writing by reading accomplished authors. She communicates this with her characteristic humor and compassion, and a deep respect for writing as an act of celebration. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Natalie Goldberg, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. “Guidance and wisdom gathered from more than two decades of firsthand experience.” —Shambhala Sun “In her inimitably candid style . . . Goldberg coaches us to work despite the ranting of that universal critic inside . . . This book is like a good conversation with a writer friend who cares enough to tell it like it is.” —The Tennessean “This book is alive and slightly feral at the same time, encouraging and unsettling at once. Whether or not you are a writer . . . please read Thunder and Lightning.” —Inquiring Mind Natalie Goldberg (b. 1948) is the author of ten books, including Writing Down the Bones, which has sold over one million copies and has been translated into fourteen languages. She has also written the beloved Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America, a memoir about her Zen teacher. For the past thirty years she has practiced Zen and taught seminars on writing as a spiritual practice. She lives in northern New Mexico.
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What Would Your Character Do? (Paperback)

What Would Your Character Do? (Paperback)
By Eric Maisel

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Not just another dry, how-to instruction book, "What Would Your Character Do?" is the first interactive guide that encourages writers to get inside their characters' heads as they create them. This fascinating book: provides more than 20 quizzes to help writers analyse their characters' traits; features easy-to-understand psychological summaries and prompts for further exploration; and includes a wealth of writing and psychology expertise to help writers create believable characters. Whether readers are exploring how their characters react to the death of a loved one or how their characters learned to ride a bike, they're sure to emerge with more compelling heroes, heroines and villains than ever before. Read more

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Amy Winehouse is dead, and other haiku (Kindle Edition)

Amy Winehouse is dead, and other haiku (Kindle Edition)
By Paul Judges

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First tagged by Len Tingle "tingletown"
Customer tags: haiku, writing, england, nature, verse, amy winehouse, love, poetry

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Haiku is an ancient form of micro-poetry, which originated in Japan. These delightful haiku cover a wide variety of subjects, from love to popular culture, with a generous sprinkling of dry humour. Paul Judges is a poet based in Yorkshire, England. He has also published books as Joe Hebden.Haiku is an ancient form of micro-poetry, which originated in Japan. These delightful haiku cover a wide variety of subjects, from love to popular culture, with a generous sprinkling of dry humour. Paul Judges is a poet based in Yorkshire, England. He has also published books as Joe Hebden. Read more

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Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America (Kindle Edition)

Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America (Kindle Edition)
By Natalie Goldberg

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First tagged by Lauren
Customer tags: zen, kindle book, on writing, kindle, writing, autobiography, fiction, buddhism, new, new mexico, biography

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A moving memoir of a journey of self-discovery through Zen Buddhism
In this autobiographical work, Natalie Goldberg takes us on a journey from her suburban childhood to her maturation as a writer. From the high-school classroom where she first listened to the rain, to her fifteen years as a student of Zen Buddhism, Natalie Goldberg’s path is by turns illuminating, disciplined, heartbreaking, hilarious, and healing. Along the way she reflects on her life and work in prose that is both elegant and precise, reminding the reader of what it means to be fully alive. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Natalie Goldberg, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
A moving memoir of a journey of self-discovery through Zen Buddhism
In this autobiographical work, Natalie Goldberg takes us on a journey from her suburban childhood to her maturation as a writer. From the high-school classroom where she first listened to the rain, to her fifteen years as a student of Zen Buddhism, Natalie Goldberg’s path is by turns illuminating, disciplined, heartbreaking, hilarious, and healing. Along the way she reflects on her life and work in prose that is both elegant and precise, reminding the reader of what it means to be fully alive. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Natalie Goldberg, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
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The Vincent Zandri Vox (Kindle Edition)

The Vincent Zandri Vox (Kindle Edition)
By Vincent Zandri

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First tagged by Bri Clark
Customer tags: crime and satire, vincent zandri, writing, thriller

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The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success (The Renegade Writer's Freelance Writing series) (Paperback)

The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success (The Renegade Writer's Freelance Writing series) (Paperback)
By Linda Formichelli

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58 used and new from $7.49
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Customer tags: writing(20), freelance writing(16), freelance(11), writers(10), writing guides(10), writing guide(8), magazine(6), authorship(3), how to write(3), copywriting(2), magazine writing(2), freelancing writing(2)

Review & Description

Written by two freelancers who broke the rules to win the game, this handbook contains a wealth of information for writers who are frustrated by the seemingly limited ways to operate in the freelance market. It explains that freelancers can negotiate for more money and better terms without risking their careers, shows that editors are not the writer-gobbling monsters many freelancers fear, and explains how to establish and foster work relationships. In this updated second edition there are more ideas, more rules to break, and more resources to get started, including a suite of appendixes covering topics such as contract procedures, getting paid, services for freelancers, generating ideas, and doing research. As inspiration, the book includes examples of real writers who have gone against "expert" advice and flourished. Being shy doesn't pay, and following the rules puts a writer in a long line of other sheep; with this text as a guide, writers can step out of the herd and build a successful business in a crowded market.
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You Can Write Your Family History (Paperback)

You Can Write Your Family History (Paperback)
By Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

16 used and new from $5.17
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Customer tags: genealogy(5), writing(3), writing guides(3), writing guide(2), ancestry(2), family history(2), self publishing, sharon carmack, research, first edition, already own, palmpilot

Review & Description

There's no reason a fully documented family history can't read like a page-turning novel. In this concise and accessible book, Sharon DeBartolo Carmack shows genealogists, history buffs, and writers at all levels exactly how to record the fascinating tales of their ancestors. Based on her own extensive experience writing family histories, the author shares her best methods for: - Conducting historical and thematic research - Organizing materials - Outlining and plotting a story - Illustrating with pictures and charts - Making money writing the histories of other families The advice, inspiration and instruction in You Can Write Your Family History makes it possible for anyone - even those who've never written a single page - to successfully chronicle the lives of near or distant relatives. It's the next best thing to having a personal instructor by your side. Read more

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A Seat In the Middle (Kindle Edition)

A Seat In the Middle (Kindle Edition)
By Robert Soul

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Customer tags: prison(3), incest(3), love(3), spirituality(3), murder(2), guilt(2), god(2), grace(2), literary fiction(2), faith(2), afterlife(2), death(2)

Review & Description

In A Seat in the Middle, Marco Sebastian falls in love with the angelic April, a beautiful Hollywood executive. The downward spiral that ensues may be enough to take his life. Sebastian's friends and enemies have their opinions about his new life and he is caught in a seat in the middle. Battling the demons of murder, incest, alcoholism, and suicide, Marco tries to learn if grace can conquer all.

Robert Soul's first published novel will provide hours of entertainment and will leave you wanting and waiting for his next page-turner, Ruined My Rhythm, coming in 2012!In A Seat in the Middle, Marco Sebastian falls in love with the angelic April, a beautiful Hollywood executive. The downward spiral that ensues may be enough to take his life. Sebastian's friends and enemies have their opinions about his new life and he is caught in a seat in the middle. Battling the demons of murder, incest, alcoholism, and suicide, Marco tries to learn if grace can conquer all.

Robert Soul's first published novel will provide hours of entertainment and will leave you wanting and waiting for his next page-turner, Ruined My Rhythm, coming in 2012! Read more

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We Wanted to Be Writers: Life, Love, and Literature at the Iowa Writers' Workshop (Paperback)

We Wanted to Be Writers: Life, Love, and Literature at the Iowa Writers' Workshop (Paperback)
By Eric Olsen

Buy new: $11.29

Customer tags: creative writing(3), on writing(2), mfa(2), writing(2), nonfiction(2), iowa, creativity, style, inspiration

Review & Description

“It was the best teaching-writing job I ever had.” —John Irving

We Wanted to be Writers is a rollicking and insightful blend of original interviews, commentary, advice, gossip, anecdotes, analyses, history, and asides with nearly thirty graduates and teachers at the now legendary Iowa Writers' Workshop between 1974 and 1978. Among the talents that emerged in those years-writing, criticizing, drinking, and debating in the classrooms and barrooms of Iowa City-were the younger versions of writers who became John Irving, Jane Smiley, T. C. Boyle, Michelle Huneven, Allan Gurganus, Sandra Cisneros, Jayne Anne Phillips, Jennie Fields, Joy Harjo, Joe Haldeman, and many others. It is chock full of insights and a treasure trove of inspiration for all writers, readers, history lovers, and anyone who ever "wanted to be a writer."

Jane Smiley on the Iowa writers' workshop: "In that period, the teachers tended to be men of a certain age, with the idea that competition was somehow the key-the Norman Mailer period. The story was that if you disagreed with Norman, or gave him a bad review, he'd punch you in the nose. You were supposed to get in fights in restaurants."

T.C. Boyle on his short story "Drowning": "I got $25 for it, which was wonderful . . . You know, getting $25 for the product of your own brain? You could buy a lot of beer in Iowa City back then for that."

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Tarranau: Book One of The Four Part Land (Volume 1) (Paperback)

Tarranau: Book One of The Four Part Land (Volume 1) (Paperback)
By James Tallett

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First tagged by L.M. Stull
Customer tags: books to read, writing, epic fantasy, fantasy

Review & Description

The Four Part Land simmers with discontent, as old rivalries and ancient grudges bubble to the surface. The great kingdoms plot and scheme against one another, looking to use treachery to gain an advantage in the upcoming conflict. Some will succeed, and some will fail, but each kingdom dares against all comers. Into this cauldron of malice is thrust a young mage named Tarranau. Exiled from his home, ripped from his friends and family, he is forced to undertake a perilous journey across The Four Part Land, in answer to a goal he does not yet understand. Along the way he finds unexpected friends and implacable enemies, and has his eyes opened to a world more sinister than any he had imagined. Read more

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Essay Apprentice Essay Writing System (Common Core and NCTE/IRA Standards-Aligned Teaching Guide) (Perfect Paperback)

Essay Apprentice Essay Writing System (Common Core and NCTE/IRA Standards-Aligned Teaching Guide) (Perfect Paperback)
By Kristen Bowers

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First tagged by Kristen Bowers
Customer tags: fantastic grammar starter, reading comprehension, essay writing, writing skills, writing prompts, lesson plans, classroom strategies, writing, creative writing, teaching

Review & Description

The perfect precursor to the best-selling Essay Architect, the Essay Apprentice Writing Program helps students who are unable to write a five-paragraph essay or need a lot of extra help with the essentials of good writing. By building the basic foundations of writing through simple, yet practical activities, students learn the step-by-step process of creating writing they can be proud of. Help students build autonomy and confidence through simple, practical, creative writing activities and exercises. Help struggling or anxious writers through the basics parts of an essay by working step-by-step on each part of the writing process. This unique, research-based, yet practical Essay Apprentice Writing Program includes: Creative Writing Exercises to focus on purposes and types of writing, including: Writing to Entertain: Cartoon Strip, Writing to Entertain: Horoscope, Writing to Entertain: Poetry, Writing to Inform: Recipe of Me, Writing to Inform: Quick Messages and Notes, Writing to Persuade: Personal Advertisement, Writing to Persuade: Magazine Advertisement, and more! Sentence Construction Activities focused on writing clean, succinct sentences that make sense: Sentence Structure, Fragments, Main and Subordinate Clauses, Simple and Compound Sentences, Punctuating Sentences, Expanding Sentences, Sentence Variety, Sentence Combining, Using Modifiers, and more! Paragraph Construction Activities to help students develop focused and coherent paragraphs: Paragraph Structure and Formatting, Developing Paragraph Details, Types of Writing, Writing Thesis Statements, Writing Introductions, Writing Conclusions, and more! Preparing for Formal Writing through whole-class and small group Activities: Structure of the Essay, Evaluating Essays, Verbal Discussion of Ideas, Organizing Ideas, Writing Group Essays, Evaluating Model and Non-Model Essays with: What Should an Essay Look Like?, Peer-Editing and Evaluation Activities, Sample Model and Non-Model Essays, and more! Preparing for Individual Writing with: Verbal Discussion of Ideas, Writing Thesis Statements, Individual Organization of Thoughts, Pre-Writing Process, Writing Individual Essays Resources, Tips, and Hints, including: Using a Dictionary and Thesaurus, Reading an Essay Prompt, Essay Templates, Show, Don't Tell, Using Idioms, Precise Word Choice, Vivid Verbs, Misspelled and Confusing Words, and more...plus 15 Essays for Editing and Evaluation! Read more

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Sling Words (Kindle Edition)

Sling Words (Kindle Edition)
By Joan Reeves

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First tagged by Joan Reeves "It's never too late to live happily ever after!"
Customer tags: writer resource and book publishing, writers reference, ebook business, writing how to, writing, women and writing, book blog, blogging skills, writing guides, writing life, ebook reader, writing blog

Review & Description

Novelist and Freelance Writer Joan Reeves lives The Writing Life with all its triumphs and disappointments. Join her each day as she slings words about the art, craft, and business of writing.

Kindle blogs are fully downloaded onto your Kindle so you can read them even when you're not wirelessly connected. And unlike RSS readers which often only provide headlines, blogs on Kindle give you full text content and images, and are updated wirelessly throughout the day. Read more

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Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School) (Kindle Edition)

Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School) (Kindle Edition)
By Laura Josephsen

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First tagged by Laura Josephsen
Customer tags: friendship, high school, coming of age, writing, young adult, family

Review & Description

"Write what you know."

Persephone "Sephie" Benson scoffs when her creative writing teacher throws that little gem out there. Maybe this advice would work for a professional skydiver or a baseball star or a ninja princess. It's not so great for a high school student who doesn't even know what to do with the rest of her life. Add in being the oldest of six girls, having Responsibilities with a capital R, and living in a town the size of a tick, and you've got a recipe for boring soup.

At least, that's what Sephie thinks until her senior year. Now, her grandfather is losing his house. One of her sisters plays a starring role in the local high school scandal. Even things with her best friend Joey aren't the same.

As Sephie deals with the changes in her life, she finds that nothing is quite what she expects—and that sometimes, the most extraordinary life can be the one that seems the most ordinary.
"Write what you know."

Persephone "Sephie" Benson scoffs when her creative writing teacher throws that little gem out there. Maybe this advice would work for a professional skydiver or a baseball star or a ninja princess. It's not so great for a high school student who doesn't even know what to do with the rest of her life. Add in being the oldest of six girls, having Responsibilities with a capital R, and living in a town the size of a tick, and you've got a recipe for boring soup.

At least, that's what Sephie thinks until her senior year. Now, her grandfather is losing his house. One of her sisters plays a starring role in the local high school scandal. Even things with her best friend Joey aren't the same.

As Sephie deals with the changes in her life, she finds that nothing is quite what she expects—and that sometimes, the most extraordinary life can be the one that seems the most ordinary.
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