Reference / Writing Skills

Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular

by L. Rust Hills

Here is a practical guide to writing short stories that explains all the essential techniques of fiction - from character and plot to flashback and foreshadowing - in a way that is both understandable and useful...

Ace the SAT Writing Even If You Hate to Write: Shortcuts and Strategies to Score Higher Regardless of Your Skill Level

by Tamra B. Orr

From the seemingly hopeless to the almost perfect, high school students will learn how to master the timed essay in this guide to the SAT's writing portion. Based on the premise that timed writing is a skill...

Writers' & Artists' Guide to How to Write

by Harry Bingham

This book is all about writing for publication. How to plan, create and edit work that will sell. How to write a book that you'll be proud of- and which might yet launch you on a new career. Crammed with examples...

Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing

by Patricia T. O'Conner

Whether you are working on the novel that's been in the back of your mind for years or simply facing an increasing demand to write well at work or school, the fact remains: more and more of us are writing more...

Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman's Guide to Igniting the Writer Within

by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

In her fifteen years of teaching, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett has found that the biggest stumbling block for aspiring writers (especially women) is not fear of the blank page but frustration with the lack of time....

Writing to Go: Top Ten Writing Tips from the Author of Grammar to Go

by Rob Colter

It may come as a shock to texters, but job recruiters, bosses, college admissions boards, and even complaint desks do not recognize u as a pronoun, kthxbai as an acceptable closing, or stream-of-consciousness...

Write Tight

by William Brohaugh

"These days, most creative-writing courses teach self-indulgence. Write Tight counsels discipline. It is worth more than a university education. Its advice is gold." -Dean Koontz Foreword by Lawrence Block Not...

Writing Great Books for Young Adults

by Regina Brooks

From a top young adult literary agent, the only guide on how to write for young adults With an 87 percent increase in the number of titles published in the last two years, the young adult market is one of the...

Escaping Into the Open

by Elizabeth Berg

Both autobiography and primer, Escaping into the Open is an inspiring, practical handbook on the joys and challenges of the writing life. Renowned author and writing instructor Elizabeth Berg interweaves the...

Be a Brilliant Business Writer: Write Well, Write Fast, and Whip the Competition

by Jane Curry & Diana Young

Leverage the power of effective writing

Be a Brilliant Business Writer gives you tools for mastering the art of persuasive writing in every document you create, from email and client letters to reports and...

The African American Guide to Writing & Publishing Non Fiction

by Jewell Parker Rhodes

In college and graduate school, Jewell Parker Rhodes never encountered a single reading assignment or exercise that featured a person of color. Now she has made it her mission to rectify the situation, gathering...

The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction: Researching and Writing Historical Fiction

by James Alexander Thom

Once Upon a Time, it was NOW...

While a historian stands firmly planted in the present and looks back into the past, a historical novelist has a more immediate task: to set readers in the midst of bygone events...

Seven Steps on the Writer's Path: The Journey from Frustration to Fulfillment

by Nancy Pickard & Lynn Lott

The blank page, the impossible deadline, the rush of inspiration: There is no profession more maddening or more rewarding than being a writer. Yet surprisingly, all writers pass through the same sequence of...

Several Short Sentences about Writing

by Verlyn Klinkenborg

Most of what you think you know about writing is useless. It’s the harmful debris of your education—a mixture of half-truths, myths, and false assumptions that prevents you from writing well. Drawing on...

Around the Writer's Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer's Resistance

by Rosanne Bane

Discover the tricks that your brain uses to keep you from writing—and how to beat them. Do you:

• Want to write, but find it impossible to get started?
• Keep your schedules so full that you don’t have any...

How to Write What You Love and Make a Living at It

by Dennis E. Hensley

A writers’ writer shares his secrets

The author of 49 books and over 3,000 articles, Dennis Hensley shares his secrets for making it as an author. He discusses how to find a distinctive style, how to make time...

Part-Time Writer: Notes and Reflections

by Marjorie Quarton

"I can't imagine a more sensible and useful guide for the would-be writer, part-time or not" - from the Foreword by Diana Athill. Part-time Writer guides the reader through all aspects of writing - from the...

How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights

by Ariel Gore

This may come as a shock, but brilliant writing and clever wordplay do not a published author make. True, you’ll actually have to write if you want to be a writer, but ultimately literary success is about...

Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence

by Lisa Cron

This guide reveals how writers can utilize cognitive storytelling strategies to craft stories that ignite readers’ brains and captivate them through each plot element.

  Imagine knowing what the brain craves...

Fiction Writer's Workshop

by Josip Novakovich

Master the Elements of the Writing Workshop

The great paradox of the writing life is that to be a good writer, you must be both interested in the world around you and comfortable working in solitude for hours...