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Style & Grammar

READER OVER YOUR SHOULDER: A HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS OF ENGLISH PROSE

READER OVER YOUR SHOULDER: A HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS OF ENGLISH PROSE

By: Hodge, Alan
$22.95
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In late October 1939, Robert Graves wrote to Alan Hodge: "I have begun a new book, about English." Graves and Hodge had recently completed a social history of the between-wars period called The Long Week-End. Now they embarked on this new project, "a handbook for writers of English Prose," to be called The Reader Over Your Shoulder.

The world was in total upheaval. Graves had already fled Majorca three years earlier at the start of the Spanish Civil War. As they labored over their new writing project, Graves and Hodge witnessed the fall of France and the evacuation of Allied forces at Dunkirk. In early September 1940 began the bombing of London by the German Luftwaffe, a concentrated effort to destroy the resolve of the English people. Graves's and Hodge's idea was simple enough: at a time when their whole world was falling apart, the survival of English prose sentences, of writing that was clear, concise, intelligible, had become paramount if hope were going to survive the onslaught. They came up with forty-one principles for writing, the majority devoted to clarity, the remainder to grace of expression. They studied the prose of a wide range of noted authors and leaders, finding much room for improvement. Quoting grammarian and bestselling author Patricia T. O'Conner from her new introduction, "With a new war to be won, the kingdom couldn't afford careless, sloppy English. Good communication was critical."

The book they would write would turn out to be one of the most erudite, and at the same time one of the most spontaneous and inspired, ever to take on the challenge of writing well. O'Conner in her introduction describes The Reader Over Your Shoulder as nothing less than "the best book on writing ever published." The present edition restores, for the first time in three-quarters of a century, the original, 1943, text, which in subsequent printings and editions had been shortened by over 150 pages, including much of the heart of the book.

ROOTS OF THINGS

ROOTS OF THINGS

By: Kumin, Maxine
$22.95
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Throughout her career, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Maxine Kumin has been at the vanguard of discussions about feminism and sexism, the state of poetry, and our place in the natural world. The Roots of Things gathers into one volume her best essays on the issues that have been closest to her throughout her storied career.

Divided into sections on "Taking Root," "Poets and Poetry," and "Country Living," these pieces reveal Kumin honing her views within a variety of forms, including speeches, critical essays, and introductions of other writers' work. Whether she is recollecting scenes from her childhood, ruminating on the ups and downs of what she calls "pobiz" (for "poetry business"), describing the battles she's fought on behalf of women, or illuminating the lives of animals, Kumin offers insight that can only be born of long and closely observed experience.

RULES FOR THE DANCE: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse

RULES FOR THE DANCE: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse

By: Oliver, Mary
$13.95
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For both readers and writers of poetry, here is a concise and engaging introduction to sound, rhyme, meter, and scansion - and why they matter. "The dance, " in the case of this brief and luminous book, refers to the interwoven pleasures of sound and sense to be found in some of the most celebrated and beautiful poems in the English language, from Shakespeare to Edna St. Vincent Millay to Robert Frost. With a poet's ear and a poet's grace of expression, Mary Oliver helps us understand what makes a metrical poem work - and enables readers, as only she can, to "enter the thudding deeps and the rippling shallows of sound-pleasure and rhythm-pleasure."
SCIENTIST’S GUIDE TO WRITING: HOW TO WRITE MORE EASILY AND EFFECTIVELY THROUGHOUT YOUR SCIENTIFIC CAREER

SCIENTIST’S GUIDE TO WRITING: HOW TO WRITE MORE EASILY AND EFFECTIVELY THROUGHOUT YOUR SCIENTIFIC CAREER

By: Heard, Stephen B
$21.95
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A concise and accessible primer on the scientific writer's craft

The ability to write clearly is critical to any scientific career. The Scientist's Guide to Writing provides practical advice to help scientists become more effective writers so that their ideas have the greatest possible impact.

Drawing on his own experience as a scientist, graduate adviser, and editor, Stephen Heard emphasizes that the goal of all scientific writing should be absolute clarity; that good writing takes deliberate practice; and that what many scientists need are not long lists of prescriptive rules but rather direct engagement with their behaviors and attitudes when they write. He combines advice on such topics as how to generate and maintain writing momentum with practical tips on structuring a scientific paper, revising a first draft, handling citations, responding to peer reviews, managing coauthorships, and more.

In an accessible, informal tone, The Scientist's Guide to Writing explains essential techniques that students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scientists need to write more clearly, efficiently, and easily.

  • Emphasizes writing as a process, not just a product
  • Encourages habits that improve motivation and productivity
  • Explains the structure of the scientific paper and the function of each part
  • Provides detailed guidance on submission, review, revision, and publication
  • Addresses issues related to coauthorship, English as a second language, and more
  • SCRIPT & SCRIBBLE: THE RISE AND FALL OF HANDWRITING

    SCRIPT & SCRIBBLE: THE RISE AND FALL OF HANDWRITING

    By: Florey, Kitty Burns
    $16.95
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    "A witty and readable (and fetchingly illustrated and glossed) excursion through the history of handwriting." --The Wall Street Journal

    Let a self-confessed "penmanship nut" take you on a tour of the strange and beautiful world of handwriting.

    Since her Catholic school days learning the Palmer Method, Kitty Burns Florey has been in love with handwriting, and can't imagine a world where schools forego handwriting drills in favor of teaching something called keyboarding.

    In this "winsome mix of memoir and call to arms" (Chicago Tribune), Florey weaves together the evolution of writing implements and scripts, pen-collecting societies, the golden age of American penmanship, and the growth in popularity of handwriting analysis, and asks the question: Is writing by hand really no longer necessary in today's busy world?

    "Charmingly composed and handsomely presented," Script & Scribble traces the history of penmanship to the importance of writing by hand in an increasingly digital age (The Boston Globe).

    SHADY CHARACTERS: THE SECRET LIFE OF PUNCTUATION, SYMBOLS, AND OTHER TYPOGRAPHICAL MARKS

    SHADY CHARACTERS: THE SECRET LIFE OF PUNCTUATION, SYMBOLS, AND OTHER TYPOGRAPHICAL MARKS

    By: Houston, Keith
    $16.95
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    A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.

    Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (+)--which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible--or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the Internet, Keith Houston draws on myriad sources to chart the life and times of these enigmatic squiggles, both exotic (¶) and everyday (&).

    From the Library of Alexandria to the halls of Bell Labs, figures as diverse as Charlemagne, Vladimir Nabokov, and George W. Bush cross paths with marks as obscure as the interrobang (?) and as divisive as the dash (--). Ancient Roman graffiti, Venetian trading shorthand, Cold War double agents, and Madison Avenue round out an ever more diverse set of episodes, characters, and artifacts.

    Richly illustrated, ranging across time, typographies, and countries, Shady Characters will delight and entertain all who cherish the unpredictable and surprising in the writing life.

    SOME NECESSARY ANGELS

    SOME NECESSARY ANGELS

    By: Parini, Jay
    $15.00
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    Distinguished poet and novelist Jay Parini presents some of his best essays--both classic and unpublished works--on topics ranging from baseball to Frost and Emerson to the culture of creative writing. For aspiring writers, Some Necessary Angels is an illuminating glimpse into the workshop of a distinguished novelist and critic. For readers who share Parini's love of language, it is an invigorating expression of faith.
    STORY AND ITS WRITER

    STORY AND ITS WRITER

    By: Charters, Ann
    $59.95
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    Ann Charters has an acute sense of which stories work most effectively in the classroom, and she knows that writers, not editors, have the most interesting and useful things to say about the making and the meaning of fiction. Her anthology, The Story and Its Writer, is the most comprehensive, diverse -- and the best-selling -- introduction to fiction available, notable for its student appeal as well as its quality and range. To complement the stories, Charters includes her lasting innovation: an array of the
    writers' own commentaries on the craft and traditions of fiction. For in-depth, illustrated studies of particular writers, her "Casebooks" provide unparalleled opportunities for discussion and writing. For a shorter, more affordable option, the compact edition offers all the editorial features of the full edition with about half the stories and commentaries.
    STORY OF WRITING

    STORY OF WRITING

    By: Robinson, Andrew
    $19.95
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    This book addresses the fascinating subject of writing, how it developed and the different systems employed by different cultures. Including cuneiform, Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphs, early alphabets, runes, Linear B, the scripts of China and Japan, and more besides, Andrew Robinson explores the virtues of these writing systems and their decipherment, or not in some cases. Accompanied by many illustrations of writing on walls, tablets, objects, stones, monuments, papyri, and so on, this book holds a wealth of information not usually found in one publication.
    STORYCRAFT: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITING NARRATIVE NONFICTION

    STORYCRAFT: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITING NARRATIVE NONFICTION

    By: Hart, Jack
    $15.00
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    From the work of the New Journalists in the 1960s, to the New Yorker essays of John McPhee, Susan Orlean, Atul Gawande, and a host of others, to blockbuster book-length narratives such as Mary Roach's Stiff or Erik Larson's Devil in the White City, narrative nonfiction has come into its own. Yet writers looking for guidance on reporting and writing true stories have had few places to turn for advice. Now in Storycraft, Jack Hart, a former managing editor of the Oregonian who guided several Pulitzer Prize-winning narratives to publication, delivers what will certainly become the definitive guide to the methods and mechanics of crafting narrative nonfiction.

    Hart covers what writers in this genre need to know, from understanding story theory and structure, to mastering point of view and such basic elements as scene, action, and character, to drafting, revising, and editing work for publication. Revealing the stories behind the stories, Hart brings readers into the process of developing nonfiction narratives by sharing tips, anecdotes, and recommendations he forged during his decades-long career in journalism. From there, he expands the discussion to other well-known writers to show the broad range of texts, styles, genres, and media to which his advice applies. With examples that draw from magazine essays, book-length nonfiction narratives, documentaries, and radio programs, Storycraft will be an indispensable resource for years to come.

    STUDENT'S GUIDE TO WRITING COLLEGE PAPERS 4TH EDITION

    STUDENT'S GUIDE TO WRITING COLLEGE PAPERS 4TH EDITION

    By: Turabian, Kate L
    $15.00
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    High school students, two-year college students, and university students all need to know how to write a well-reasoned, coherent research paper--and for decades Kate Turabian's Student's Guide to Writing College Papers has helped them to develop this critical skill. In the new fourth edition of Turabian's popular guide, the team behind Chicago's widely respected The Craft of Research has reconceived and renewed this classic for today's generation. Designed for less advanced writers than Turabian's Manual of Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition, Gregory G. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams here introduce students to the art of defining a topic, doing high-quality research with limited resources, and writing an engaging and solid college paper.

    The Student's Guide is organized into three sections that lead students through the process of developing and revising a paper. Part 1, "Writing Your Paper," guides students through the research process with discussions of choosing and developing a topic, validating sources, planning arguments, writing drafts, avoiding plagiarism, and presenting evidence in tables and figures. Part 2, "Citing Sources," begins with a succinct introduction to why citation is important and includes sections on the three major styles students might encounter in their work--Chicago, MLA, and APA--all with full coverage of electronic source citation. Part 3, "Style," covers all matters of style important to writers of college papers, from punctuation to spelling to presenting titles, names, and numbers.

    With the authority and clarity long associated with the name Turabian, the fourth edition of Student's Guide to Writing College Papers is both a solid introduction to the research process and a convenient handbook to the best practices of writing college papers. Classroom tested and filled with relevant examples and tips, this is a reference that students, and their teachers, will turn to again and again.

    SUPERIOR PERSONS FIELD GDE DECEIT-

    SUPERIOR PERSONS FIELD GDE DECEIT-

    By: Bowler, Peter
    $16.95
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    This amusing volume cuts through the thickets of popular jargon, casting daylight on such phrases as 'interrogate with prejudice' (that is, torture), 'unforeseen geological event' (a mining disaster) and 'critical power excursion' (a meltdown at a nuclear power plant).
    THUNDER & LIGHTNING

    THUNDER & LIGHTNING

    By: Goldberg, Natalie
    $15.00
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    Goldberg's books have inspired thousands to begin a writing practice to release their wild minds, and now she shows how to direct that raw energy into stories, essays, poems, novels, and memoirs. This sequel to "Writing Down the Bones" and "Wild Mind" is for anyone who's ever dreamed of converting that initial flash of inspiration--the thunder and lightning--into finished work.
    TO THE POINT: A DICTIONARY OF CONCISE WRITING

    TO THE POINT: A DICTIONARY OF CONCISE WRITING

    By: Fiske, Robert Hartwell
    $21.95
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    Who doesn't hate wading through wordy paragraphs? Unfortunately, many writers don't realize when they are padding their sentences and obscuring their meaning. Enter To the Point, the essential guide to writing succinctly. Featuring hundreds of new entries, this freshly updated edition is complete with:

    - A guide to the basics of writing concisely, including how to reduce the number of words in a phrase, substitute a single word for a phrase, and delete extraneous words and phrases.

    - The "Dictionary of Concise Writing," which gives concise alternatives to thousands of wordy phrases. Language expert Robert Hartwell Fiske uses each wordy phrase in a sentence and then rewrites or deletes the phrase entirely to show how the sentence can be improved.

    - The brand new "Guide to Obfuscation: A Reverse Dictionary," which helps writers build a more pithy vocabulary.

    To the Point is the perfect reference book for anyone who wants to communicate more effectively through clear and beautiful writing.

    TOP TEN

    TOP TEN

    $14.95
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    You'll find the answer in The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books: the ultimate guide to the world's greatest books. As writers such as Norman Mailer, Annie Proulx, Stephen King, Jonathan Franzen, Claire Messud, Margaret Drabble, Michael Chabon and Peter Carey name the ten books that have meant the most to them, you'll be reminded of books you have always loved and introduced to works awaiting your discovery.

    The Top Ten includes summaries of 544 books--each of which is considered to be among the ten greatest books ever written by at least one leading writer. In addition to each writer's Top Ten List, the book features Top Ten Lists tabulated from their picks, including:

    - The Top Ten Books of All Time
    - The Top Ten Books by Living Writers
    - The Top Ten Books of the Twentieth Century
    - The Top Ten Mysteries
    - The Top Ten Comedies

    The Top Ten will help readers answer the most pressing question of all: What should I read next?

    TRUE SECRET OF WRITING: CONNECTING LIFE WITH LANGUAGE

    TRUE SECRET OF WRITING: CONNECTING LIFE WITH LANGUAGE

    By: Goldberg, Natalie
    $16.00
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    The beloved teacher and author of the million-and-a-half copy bestseller Writing Down the Bones reveals a new method of writing in "a priceless distillation of her accumulated wisdom and experience as a writer, coach, and instructor on mindfulness" (Abraham Verghese).

    Sit. Walk. Write. These are the barest bones of Natalie Goldberg's revolutionary writing and life practice, presented here in book form for the first time. The True Secret of Writing provides a whole new method of writing that Goldberg developed since the publication of her classic, Writing Down the Bones.

    The capstone to forty years of teaching, The True Secret of Writing is Gold-berg's Zen boot camp. Stories of her own search for truth and clarity as well as her students' breakthroughs and insights give moving testament to how brilliantly her unique, tough-love method works. As Goldberg says, "To write is to be empow-ered. . . . Writing is not just for someone who wants to write the great American novel." Learning "the true secret" allows you to mine the rich awareness in your mind and to ground and empower yourself in a way that leads to deep, eloquent self-expression. Goldberg's beautiful homages to the work of other great teachers and observers of mind, life, and love provide further secrets and inspiration to which you will return again and again.

    In her inimitable way, Goldberg will inspire you to pick up the pen, get writ-ing, and keep going. The True Secret of Writing helps you with your writing--and your life.

    VERBATIM

    VERBATIM

    By: McKean, Erin
    $14.00
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    From the bawdy to the sublime, the best writing on language for word lovers, grammar mavens, and armchair linguists. A brilliant, witty, and engaging compendium on the uses and abuses of the English language.

    With bestselling narratives such as The Professor and the Madman to edicts by popular grammar mavens including Pat O'Conner and Barbara Wallraff,
    it is clear readers outside of academia are becoming more and more intrigued with language. Founded by legendary lexicographer Lawrence Urdang, for thirty years Verbatim has published amusing and intriguing articles on the English language and the idea of language in general. Here, for the first time, is a collection of Verbatim's greatest hits and wondrous discoveries on concept, usage, jargon, wordplay, linguistics, blunders, malapropisms, and more.

    With contributors such as Richard Lederer, Jesse Sheidlower, and Joe Queenan, lexicography heavyweights like Frederick Cassidy and William Kunstler, Verbatim is a smart and sassy collection for anyone seeking the highly scholarly or the completely frivolous. From the uses of language in the Bible to the components of a British soccer chant, this astounding collection is sure to offer something for every language enthusiast and word lover to enjoy.

    VEX, HEX, SMASH, SMOOCH: LET VERBS POWER YOUR WRITING

    VEX, HEX, SMASH, SMOOCH: LET VERBS POWER YOUR WRITING

    By: Hale, Constance
    $16.95
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    Great sentences pivot on great verbs. In Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch, Constance Hale, best-selling author of Sin and Syntax, zeroes in on verbs that make bad writing sour and good writing sing. Each chapter in Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch features four sections: "Vex" tackles tough syntax, "Hex" debunks myths about verbs, "Smash" warns of bad writing habits, and "Smooch" showcases exemplary writing. A veteran journalist and writing teacher, Hale peppers her advice with pop-culture references and adapts her expertise for writers of every level. With examples ranging from the tangled clauses of Henry James and the piercing insight of Joan Didion to the punchy gerunds of the Coen brothers and the passive verbs of CEOs on trial, Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch offers a reenergized take on the "little despot of the sentence."

    WHY TRANSLATION MATTERS

    WHY TRANSLATION MATTERS

    By: Grossman, Edith
    $17.00
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    From the celebrated translator of Cervantes and Garciá Márquez, a testament to the power of the translator's art

    "Groundbreaking."--New York Times

    Why Translation Matters argues for the cultural importance of translation and for a more encompassing and nuanced appreciation of the translator's role. As the acclaimed translator Edith Grossman writes in her introduction, "My intention is to stimulate a new consideration of an area of literature that is too often ignored, misunderstood, or misrepresented."

    For Grossman, translation has a transcendent importance: "Translation not only plays its important traditional role as the means that allows us access to literature originally written in one of the countless languages we cannot read, but it also represents a concrete literary presence with the crucial capacity to ease and make more meaningful our relationships to those with whom we may not have had a connection before. Translation always helps us to know, to see from a different angle, to attribute new value to what once may have been unfamiliar. As nations and as individuals, we have a critical need for that kind of understanding and insight. The alternative is unthinkable."

    Throughout the four chapters of this bracing volume, Grossman's belief in the crucial significance of the translator's work, as well as her rare ability to explain the intellectual sphere that she inhabits as interpreter of the original text, inspires and provokes the reader to engage with translation in an entirely new way.

    WILD WORDS: RITUALS, ROUTINES, AND RHYTHMS FOR BRAVING THE WRITER'S PATH

    WILD WORDS: RITUALS, ROUTINES, AND RHYTHMS FOR BRAVING THE WRITER'S PATH

    By: Gulotta, Nicole
    $17.95
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    A guide for the next generation of writers--self-care rituals, creativity-generating rhythms, and personalized strategies for embracing a creative life

    Wild Words is an invitation to explore the intersection of your writing practice with everything else in your busy life. Through personal stories and practical lessons you'll learn how to enter a new relationship with your creativity, one that honors where you've been, where you're headed, and where you are today. Discover methods to support a sustainable writing practice, clarifying and nourishing routines, an understanding of your own creative history, and guidance on how to make small but powerful mind-set shifts (such as how to see a career as a partner rather than an obstacle).

    Above all, Wild Words encourages you to approach creativity through a seasonal lens and helps you untangle the messy process of embracing your circumstances, trusting your voice, and making time to put pen to paper, season after season.

    WOE IS I: THE GRAMMARPHOBE'S GUIDE TO BETTER ENGLISH IN PLAIN ENGLISH (FOURTH EDITION)

    WOE IS I: THE GRAMMARPHOBE'S GUIDE TO BETTER ENGLISH IN PLAIN ENGLISH (FOURTH EDITION)

    By: O'Conner, Patricia T
    $16.00
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    A revised and updated edition of the iconic grammar guide for the 21st century.

    In this expanded and updated edition of Woe Is I, former editor at The New York Times Book Review Patricia T. O'Conner unties the knottiest grammar tangles with the same insight and humor that have charmed and enlightened readers of previous editions for years. With fresh insights into the rights, wrongs, and maybes of English grammar and usage, O'Conner offers in Woe Is I down-to-earth explanations and plain-English solutions to the language mysteries that bedevil all of us.

    "Books about English grammar and usage are... never content with the status quo," O'Conner writes. "That's because English is not a stay-put language. It's always changing--expanding here, shrinking there, trying on new things, casting off old ones... Time doesn't stand still and neither does language."

    In this fourth edition, O'Conner explains how the usage of an array of words has evolved. For example, the once-shunned "they," "them," and "their" for an unknown somebody is now acceptable. And the battle between "who" and "whom" has just about been won, O'Conner says (hint: It wasn't by "whom"). Then there's the use of "taller than me" in simple comparisons, instead of the ramrod-stiff "taller than I." "May" and "might," "use to" and "used to," abbreviations that use periods and those that don't, and the evolving definition of "unique" are all explained here by O'Conner. The result is an engaging, up-to-date and jargon-free guide to every reader's questions about grammar, style, and usage for the 21st century.

    WORDCRAFT: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CLEAR, POWERFUL WRITING

    WORDCRAFT: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CLEAR, POWERFUL WRITING

    By: Hart, Jack
    $18.00
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    Legendary writing coach Jack Hart spent twenty-six years at the Oregonian and has taught students and professionals of all stripes, including bloggers, podcasters, and more than one Pulitzer Prize winner. Good writing, he says, has the same basic attributes regardless of genre or medium. Wordcraft shares Hart's techniques for achieving those attributes in one of the most broadly useful writing books ever written.

    Originally published in 2006 as A Writer's Coach, the book has been updated to address the needs of writers well beyond print journalists. Hart breaks the writing process into a series of manageable steps, from idea to polishing. Filled with real-world examples, both good and bad, Wordcraft shows how to bring such characteristics as force, brevity, clarity, rhythm, and color to any kind of writing.

    Wordcraft now functions as a set with the second edition of Hart's book Storycraft, on the art of storytelling, also available from Chicago.

    WRITE NO MATTER WHAT: ADVICE FOR ACADEMICS

    WRITE NO MATTER WHAT: ADVICE FOR ACADEMICS

    By: Jensen, Joli
    $15.00
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    With growing academic responsibilities, family commitments, and inboxes, scholars are struggling to fulfill their writing goals. A finished book--or even steady journal articles--may seem like an impossible dream. But, as Joli Jensen proves, it really is possible to write happily and productively in academe.

    Jensen begins by busting the myth that universities are supportive writing environments. She points out that academia, an arena dedicated to scholarship, offers pressures that actually prevent scholarly writing. She shows how to acknowledge these less-than-ideal conditions, and how to keep these circumstances from draining writing time and energy. Jensen introduces tools and techniques that encourage frequent, low-stress writing. She points out common ways writers stall and offers workarounds that maintain productivity. Her focus is not on content, but on how to overcome whatever stands in the way of academic writing.

    Write No Matter What draws on popular and scholarly insights into the writing process and stems from Jensen's experience designing and directing a faculty writing program. With more than three decades as an academic writer, Jensen knows what really helps and hinders the scholarly writing process for scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

    Cut down the academic sword of Damocles, Jensen advises. Learn how to write often and effectively, without pressure or shame. With her encouragement, writers of all levels will find ways to create the writing support they need and deserve.

    WRITER WITHIN: A COMPLETE AND ENJOYABLE GUIDE TO WRITING FROM EVERYDAY LIFE

    WRITER WITHIN: A COMPLETE AND ENJOYABLE GUIDE TO WRITING FROM EVERYDAY LIFE

    By: Wolf, Robert
    $12.00
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    The Writer Within is a concise guide that offers writing techniques from Robert Wolf's Free River Press workshops. The Writer Within grew out of Wolf's 24 years of teaching writing to people at all levels in community workshops. Rooted in the oral tradition, Wolf's methods include storytelling, visualization, spontaneous prose composition, and sketching. Useful for both the individual and groups as well as for beginning or practiced writers, his concrete techniques are flexible enough to be applied towards any form.
    WRITER'S DIET: A GUIDE TO FIT PROSE

    WRITER'S DIET: A GUIDE TO FIT PROSE

    By: Sword, Helen
    $15.00
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    Do your sentences sag? Could your paragraphs use a pick-me-up? If so, The Writer's Diet is for you! It's a short, sharp introduction to great writing that will help you energize your prose and boost your verbal fitness.

    Helen Sword dispenses with excessive explanations and overwrought analysis. Instead, she offers an easy-to-follow set of writing principles: use active verbs whenever possible; favor concrete language over vague abstractions; avoid long strings of prepositional phrases; employ adjectives and adverbs only when they contribute something new to the meaning of a sentence; and reduce your dependence on four pernicious "waste words" it, this, that, and there.

    Sword then shows the rules in action through examples from William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Martin Luther King Jr., John McPhee, A. S. Byatt, Richard Dawkins, Alison Gopnik, and many more. A writing fitness test encourages you to assess your own writing and get immediate advice on addressing problem areas. While The Writer's Diet is as sleek and concise as the writing ideals contained within, this slim volume packs a powerful punch.

    With Sword's coaching writers of all levels can strengthen and tone their sentences with the stroke of a pen or the click of a mouse. As with any fitness routine, adhering to the rules requires energy and vigilance. The results, however, will speak for themselves.

    WRITER'S LIFE

    WRITER'S LIFE

    $13.00
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    PAUL AUSTER ; ¸; CHARLOTTE BRONTE ; ¸; WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS ; ¸; NOEL COWARD ; ¸; GUSTAVE FLAUBERT ; ¸; ANNE FRANK ; ¸; FRANZ KAFKA
    Ambition. Fame. Sex. Envy. Gossip. Money. Death. They re all here, in this dazzling book of quotations--many of them previously unpublished--from the diaries, journals, and notebooks of the world s greatest writers. Arranged chronologically, from the fervent declarations of youth to the serene reflections of old age, The Writer's Life spans twenty-three countries and four centuries to observe the entire spectrum of the human condition, with particular attention to the joys and agonies of literary endeavor. Eloquent, candid, brimming with passion, insight and wit, the result is an invaluable resource for any writer--or for anyone seeking expert instruction in the art of being human.
    On inspiration: "I am going to write because I cannot help it."
    WRITER'S PRACTICE: BUILDING CONFIDENCE IN YOUR NONFICTION WRITING

    WRITER'S PRACTICE: BUILDING CONFIDENCE IN YOUR NONFICTION WRITING

    By: Warner, John
    $16.00
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    "Unique and thorough, Warner's handbook could turn any determined reader into a regular Malcolm Gladwell." --Booklist

    For anyone aiming to improve their skill as a writer, a revolutionary new approach to establishing robust writing practices inside and outside the classroom, from the author of Why They Can't Write

    After a decade of teaching writing using the same methods he'd experienced as a student many years before, writer, editor, and educator John Warner realized he could do better. Drawing on his classroom experience and the most persuasive research in contemporary composition studies, he devised an innovative new framework: a step-by-step method that moves the student through a series of writing problems, an organic, bottom-up writing process that exposes and acculturates them to the ways writers work in the world.

    The time is right for this new and groundbreaking approach. The most popular books on composition take a formalistic view, utilizing "templates" in order to mimic the sorts of rhetorical moves academics make. While this is a valuable element of a writing education, there is room for something that speaks more broadly. The Writer's Practice invites students and novice writers into an intellectually engaging, active learning process that prepares them for a wider range of academic and real-world writing and allows them to become invested and engaged in their own work.

    WRITING ABROAD: A GUIDE FOR TRAVELERS

    WRITING ABROAD: A GUIDE FOR TRAVELERS

    By: Mulcahy, Joanne B
    $22.50
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    "Tell me all about your trip!" It's a request that follows travelers as they head out into the world, and one of the first things they hear when they return. When we leave our homes to explore the wider world, we feel compelled to capture the experiences and bring the story home. But for those who don't think of themselves as writers, putting experiences into words can be more stressful than inspirational.
    Writing Abroad is meant for travelers of all backgrounds and writing levels: a student embarking on overseas study; a retiree realizing a dream of seeing China; a Peace Corps worker in Kenya. All can benefit from documenting their adventures, whether on paper or online. Through practical advice and adaptable exercises, this guide will help travelers hone their observational skills, conduct research and interviews, choose an appropriate literary form, and incorporate photos and videos into their writing.
    Writing about travel is more than just safeguarding memories--it can transform experiences and tease out new realizations. With Writing Abroad, travelers will be able to deepen their understanding of other cultures and write about that new awareness in clear and vivid prose.
    WRITING DOWN THE BONES: FREEING THE WRITER WITHIN

    WRITING DOWN THE BONES: FREEING THE WRITER WITHIN

    By: Goldberg, Natalie
    $14.95
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    The all-time best-selling writer's handbook turns thirty.

    With insight, humor, and practicality, Natalie Goldberg inspires writers and would-be writers to take the leap into writing skillfully and creatively. She offers suggestions, encouragement, and solid advice on many aspects of the writer's craft: on writing from "first thoughts" (keep your hand moving, don't cross out, just get it on paper), on listening (writing is ninety percent listening; the deeper you listen, the better you write), on using verbs (verbs provide the energy of the sentence), on overcoming doubts (doubt is torture; don't listen to it)--even on choosing a restaurant in which to write. Goldberg sees writing as a practice that helps writers comprehend the value of their lives. The advice in her book, provided in short, easy-to-read chapters with titles that reflect the author's witty approach ("Writing Is Not a McDonald's Hamburger," "Man Eats Car," "Be an Animal"), will inspire anyone who writes--or who longs to.

    WRITING FICTION, TENTH EDITION: A GUIDE TO NARRATIVE CRAFT

    WRITING FICTION, TENTH EDITION: A GUIDE TO NARRATIVE CRAFT

    By: Stuckey-French, Ned
    $22.50
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    More than 250,000 copies sold!

    A creative writer's shelf should hold at least three essential books: a dictionary, a style guide, and Writing Fiction. Janet Burroway's best-selling classic is the most widely used creative writing text in America, and for more than three decades it has helped hundreds of thousands of students learn the craft. Now in its tenth edition, Writing Fiction is more accessible than ever for writers of all levels--inside or outside the classroom.

    This new edition continues to provide advice that is practical, comprehensive, and flexible. Burroway's tone is personal and nonprescriptive, welcoming learning writers into the community of practiced storytellers. Moving from freewriting to final revision, the book addresses "showing not telling," characterization, dialogue, atmosphere, plot, imagery, and point of view. It includes new topics and writing prompts, and each chapter now ends with a list of recommended readings that exemplify the craft elements discussed, allowing for further study. And the examples and quotations throughout the book feature a wide and diverse range of today's best and best-known creators of both novels and short stories.

    This book is a master class in creative writing that also calls on us to renew our love of storytelling and celebrate the skill of writing well. There is a very good chance that one of your favorite authors learned the craft with Writing Fiction. And who knows what future favorite will get her start reading this edition?