English Storytelling

Telling stories is as old as language itself. Before humans learned how to write, the only way to communicate was through telling stories. In today's world, most of us regard ourselves as bad storytellers. What happened? Telling great stories is a skilled art. Almost anyone can become a first-class storyteller, and you can learn the secrets.

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes The Great Bicycle Race Mystery, The Mystery of the Wild Ponies, and The Mystery in the Computer Game.

In this spellbinding blend of memoir and insight, best-selling author Chuck Palahniuk shares stories and generous advice on what makes writing powerful and what makes for powerful writing. With advice grounded in years of careful study and a keenly observed life, Palahniuk combines practical advice and concrete examples from beloved classics, his own books, and a "kitchen-table MFA" culled from an evolving circle of beloved authors and artists, with anecdotes, postcards from the road, and much more.

The hardest yet most essential element of writing great fiction is character—specifically, creating a central hero who is relatable, compelling, and worth the audience's precious time. In this entertaining and practical guide, popular blogger, writing coach and screenwriter Matt Bird breaks down what makes characters embraceable and unforgettable, and presents insider tips and tricks for writers of all levels and genres.

Boldly honest, wryly funny, and utterly open-hearted, Uneducated is one diploma-less journalist’s map of our growing educational divide and, ultimately, a challenge: in our credential-obsessed world, what is the true value of a college degree? For Christopher Zara, this is the professional minefield he has had to navigate since the day he was kicked out of his New Jersey high school for behavioral problems and never allowed back.

Storytelling is an essential business skill. We use stories in a variety of ways to attract customers, partners, investors, and build our team. Your audience needs to understand why you do what you do, and your powerful storytelling skills must emotionally hook them. A pie chart can’t communicate emotionally the way stories do. This book will teach you how to put your listeners in a “Mind Movie” so that they see it, taste it, smell it, touch it, and most of all, feel it—so that your leadership becomes magnetic, memorable, and impactful to drive the results you seek.

Following up his perennially best-selling writers' guide Story and his inspiring exploration of the art of verbal action in Dialogue, the most sought-after expert in the storytelling brings his insights to the creation of compelling characters and the design of their casts. Character explores the design of a character universe: The dimensionality, complexity and arcing of a protagonist, the invention of orbiting major characters, all encircled by a cast of service and supporting roles.

You don't have to be a hunter or camper to enjoy this collection of hilarious stories by a writer who is often compared to Mark Twain and Garrison Keillor. In fact, the charm of Patrick F. McManus' work is that it provides plenty of reasons for staying indoors, surrounded by friendly appliances. You'll laugh aloud as McManus and his friends, including Rancid and Crazy Eddie, venture into the great outdoors to face formidable foes.

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes The Mystery of the Stolen Boxcar, The Mystery in the Cave, and The Mystery on the Train.

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes The Summer Camp Mystery, The Copycat Mystery, and The Haunted Clock Tower Mystery.

America's most hilarious sportsman returns with this collection of insights about youth, the great outdoors, and the philosophy of fileting fish. When best-selling author Patrick McManus looks at a subject, you're sure to come away with an outrageously new perspective.

When it comes to insult comics, Bianca Del Rio is in a class by herself. Fierce, funny, and fabulous - a would-be love child sired by John Waters and birthed by Joan Rivers - Bianca sandblasted her name in the annals of pop culture on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Thanks to her snarky frankness, impeccable comedic timing, and politically incorrect humor, she became the show’s breakout star, winning its sixth season. In Blame It on Bianca Del Rio, Bianca shares her opinions loudly and proudly, offering raucous, hilarious, no-holds-barred commentary on annoyances, big and small.

Whether he was introducing the latest iPad or delivering a keynote presentation, Steve Jobs electrified audiences with his incomparable style and showmanship. He didn’t just convey information in his presentations; he told a story, painted a picture, and shared a vision. He gave his audience a transformative experience that was unique, inspiring, and unforgettable. Now you can do it too, by learning the specific techniques that made Jobs the most captivating communicator on the world stage.

Discover successful strategies for building stronger business relationships, transforming your career and delighting your customers through the power of relatable stories.

Theme park designer Margaret Kerrison shares tips and tricks for writers on teams tasked with bringing a narrative to life. How do you take an idea from inspiration to manifestation? How do you move from telling a story to creating a world? In this book, the first of its kind written specifically for writers, Kerrison lays out the craft of immersive storytelling, using case studies to show what works and highlighting the essential role of the writer on a creative team. Ready to take the kernel of an idea and turn it into a full-fledged experience? This book gives you the blueprint.

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes The Gymnastics Mystery, The Poison Frog Mystery, and The Mystery of the Empty Safe.

This bundle includes The Mystery of the Pirate's Map, The Ghost Town Mystery, and The Mystery in the Mall.

Algorithms. Artificial intelligence. Big data. No matter what your industry, you can't escape the influence of technology in every facet of your business. But in spite of their incredible potential, these and similar technologies are forcing us to face a vital question: are we in danger of gaining the world but losing our souls?

Craig Ferguson has defied the odds his entire life. He has failed when he should have succeeded and succeeded when he should have failed. The fact that he is neither dead nor in a locked facility (at the time of printing) is something of a miracle in itself. In Craig’s candid and revealing memoir, listeners will get a look into the mind and recollections of the unique and twisted Scottish American who became a national hero for pioneering the world’s first TV robot skeleton sidekick and reviving two dudes in a horse suit dancing as a form of entertainment.

An unnamed narrator abandons his unfinished thesis and returns to northern Alberta in search of what eludes him: the shape of the novel he yearns to write, an autobiography of his rural hometown, the answers to existential questions about family, love, and happiness.