Language learning: writing skills Books

Book Synopsis10th anniversary revised edition with new Introduction James Wood''s How Fiction Works is a scintillating study of the magic of fictionan analysis of its main elements and a celebration of its lasting power. Here one of the most prominent and stylish critics of our time looks into the machinery of storytelling to ask some fundamental questions: What do we mean when we say we know a fictional character? What constitutes a telling detail? When is a metaphor successful? Is Realism realistic? Why do some literary conventions become dated while others stay fresh?James Wood ranges widely, from Homer to Make Way for Ducklings, from the Bible to John le Carré, and his book is both a study of the techniques of fiction-making and an alternative history of the novel. Playful and profound, How Fiction Works will be enlightening to writers, readers, and anyone else interested in what happens on the page.

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Book SynopsisDiscover the revolutionary new Artist's Way tool, from the Queen of Change (New York Times)In her internationally bestselling book, The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron shared with her millions of readers the three main tools needed to unlock creativity. Now, in her revolutionary new book, Living the Artist's Way, Cameron finally reveals the vital fourth Artist's Way tool that she relies upon daily to find creative inspiration: writing for guidance.Over the course of six weeks, readers learn the radical new skill needed to take their creativity and their creative work to the next level: how to connect with the intuitive power within themselves and trust the answers they receive. For followers of the Artist's Way program and newcomers alike, this exciting new guidebook will teach readers how to find greater happiness, productivity, and creative inspiration.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAlthough this book is a writing guide and anthology for the short form, Hummel and Lenox include sections on key concepts that are relevant to any class in writing fiction--for example, image, voice, style. The authors address thematic and stylistic concerns of brevity in recurring chapter features such as ‘One-Sentence Workshop,’ which allow students to try out aspects of short-form technique. The opening chapter includes an in-depth history of the short form, a rare offering in such ‘flash’ textbooks … The authors include work by writers as varied as Charles Baudelaire, Terry Tempest Williams, and Ocean Vuong, and the result is a thoughtfully produced volume offering variety in theme and approach, national origin, cultural background, and time period … Summing Up: Recommended. * CHOICE *[A] comprehensive book with helpful sections on narrative voice, time and space, sentence structure, logic, humor, revision, and other integral elements of craft specifically geared toward the short creative prose form. The guide is filled with writing exercises and prompts, and includes an anthology of over fifty exemplary short-form pieces. * Poets & Writers *A complete introduction to the art and craft of extremely compressed works of imaginative literature. Aspiring writers are introduced to both traditional and innovative approaches to the short form and demonstrate how it possesses structure, logic, and coherence while simultaneously resisting expectations … While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Literary Studies and Writing/Publishing collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students and aspiring writers. * Midwest Book Review *Table of ContentsPreface 1. A Long History of the Short Form 2. Picture This 3. Voice, Character, and Narrator 4. Moving Through Time and Space 5. The Microcosmic Sentence 6. How to Leap: Ah-ha Moments and Associative Logic 7. Translucent Design 8. Beg, Borrow, and Steal 9. Finding the Funny 10. Misfit Pleasures 11. Not So Fast! Strategic Revision Conclusion: The Beautiful Lightning Anthology Author bios Genre index

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Book SynopsisKaren Sullivan is a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Queensland, AustraliaTrade Review[Using] copious real-life examples … Sullivan makes apt points about the formal properties of some good and bad mixed metaphors - how close the metaphorical elements stand to each other and how congruent their underlying conceptual metaphors are. * Times Literary Supplement *[Mixed Metaphors could] serve as a popular introduction to CMT covering a wide range of examples drawn from spoken, written and multimodal discourses, advertising, science, literature and media (i.e. press, electronic and social media). Its popular appeal is reinforced by “further reading” recommendations that are attached to seven of the nine chapters ... These aspects make the book accessible to undergraduate students and a wider audience who may not have had any academic teaching on metaphors. * Journal of Pragmatics *Informative and rich in content ... A trailblazer in providing a comprehensive introduction to mixed metaphors. * Discourse Studies *Table of ContentsDedication List of Figures 1. Perfect mix or perfect mess? 2. Conceptual Metaphor Theory 3. The main reasons metaphors mix 4. More exotic mixes 5. Metaphor or not? How ambiguity causes 'mixing' 6. Malaphors and other 'ducks out of water' 7. Why we need multiple metaphors 8. Mixing metaphors for fun and profit 9. Making the most of your metaphors Appendix. Index of metaphors How to read metaphor diagrams List of metaphors cited in the text Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPaul Vlitos is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Greenwich, UK, where he is Academic Portfolio Lead for Creative Writing and for English Literature. As well as his academic writing and the novels he has published under his own name, Paul also writes fiction (with Collette Lyons) as Ellery Lloyd. Their first novel, People Like Her (2021), was a Richard and Judy Summer Pick and a Book of the Month Club pick. Their second novel, The Club (2022), was a Reese's Book Club pick and New York Times Bestseller. Their third novel, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby (2024) was a Sunday Times Thriller of the Year. He is also the author of Eating and Identity in Postcolonial Fiction: Consuming Passions, Unpalatable Truths (2018).

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Book SynopsisSean Prentiss is Associate Professor of English at Norwich University, USA. He is author of Finding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave (2015), which won the National Outdoor Book Award for Biography/History and Advanced Creative Nonfiction (2021). He is also co-editor of The Far Edges of the Fourth Genre (2014).Joe Wilkins is Associate Professor of English at Linfield College, USA. His memoir, The Mountain and the Fathers: Growing Up on the Big Dry won the GLCA New Writers Award for non-fiction and his work has appeared in Georgia Review, Harvard Review and Slate among many other periodicals.

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Book SynopsisYOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO A CAREER IN WRITING FOR NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES. An informative and interactive guide to writing for all kinds of magazine, from golf to gossip, with plenty of practice exercises and helpful tips for getting started and getting published.Trade Review"Packed with information and good advice. Very accessible." * - Richard Keeble, Professor in Journalism, University of Lincoln *Table of Contents : 1. Life as a magazine writer : 2. Where do ideas come from? : 3. Gettings words on paper : 4. Revising and reworking : 5. Research : 6. Interviews : 7. Analysing magazines : 8. Submitting on spec : 9. House style : 10. Deadlines and discipline : 11. Selling yourself : 12. Networking : 13. Money matters : 14. Writing and the law

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