Research Writing

Flash fiction is changing the way we tell stories. Carving away the excess, eliminating all but the most essential, flash fiction is putting the story through a literary dehydrator, leaving the meat without the fat. And it only looks easy. Enter Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction. In this, her treatise on the form, veteran writer Nancy Stohlman takes us on a flash fiction journey: from creating, sculpting, revising, and collecting stories to best practices for writers in any genre.

The craft of writing offers countless potential problems: The story is too long; the story's too short; revising presents a huge hurdle; writer's block is rearing its ugly head. In Help! For Writers, Roy Peter Clark presents an "owner's manual" for writers, outlining the seven steps of the writing process, and addressing the 21 most urgent problems that writers face. In his trademark engaging and entertaining style, Clark offers 10 short solutions to each problem.

This easy-listen audiobook will teach you all the essentials of copywriting, from understanding products, audiences, and benefits to closing the sale. It’s packed with real-life examples that will show you exactly how the ideas work in the real world. Plus there's a whole chapter of handy tips on writing ads, websites, broadcast media, direct mail, social media, and print.

Do you want to connect with readers and listeners on a deeper level? Do you want your books to stand out in a sea of content by being authentic and personal in your writing whatever the genre? Are you interested in creative self-development? If yes, Writing the Shadow is for you. This is a book of my heart and it contains many personal stories—but this book is really about helping you reach readers and listeners with your words—and move to the next level in your writing.

Good Prose is an inspiring book about writing - about the creation of good prose - and the record of a warm and productive literary friendship. The story begins in 1973, in the offices of the Atlantic Monthly, in Boston, where a young freelance writer named Tracy Kidder came looking for an assignment. Richard Todd was the editor who encouraged him, and from that article grew a lifelong association. Before long, Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine, the first book the two worked on together, had won the Pulitzer Prize.

Whether you have an agent rallying for your rights, you speak for yourself, or you have already entered into a contract, it’s wise to understand how the terms impact your writing path. Conquer Contracts outlines the standard terms. Legal jargon is explained with clear words. Examples of how the language can create unexpected outcomes for both the publisher and the author are included. Conquer Contracts lays out the methods for authors to make money and shares ideas on how to protect rights.

We are in the midst of one of the greatest status revolutions ever, and it's a brave new world indeed. Who better to guide us through it than Michael Lewis, whose subversive, trenchant humor is the perfect match to his subject matter. Here is an audiobook as fresh as tomorrow's headlines, and as entertaining as its best selling predecessors.

In a series of blog posts, Smith chronicled his process toward ghost writing a 70,000-word novel for a traditional publisher in just 10 days. He wrote about his progress, his feelings about the writing, and how he approached and overcame obstacles. This book takes readers on a journey that demonstrates that writing fast, and writing well, comes from motivation and practice.

Success in life is more than having goals and skills. You need connections. And to get connections, you need to reach out - fearlessly, strategically, and every day of the work week. For many, this is a daunting and confusing task. Reach Out shows listeners how to use social media and simple digital tools to begin building and expanding the number of people they know. Author Molly Beck explains how to: establish and strengthen your digital presence; develop career goals that reaching out can help you obtain; and much more!

Where do writers learn their best moves? They use a technique that Roy Peter Clark calls X-ray reading, a form of reading that lets you penetrate beyond the surface of a text to see how meaning is actually being made. In The Art of X-Ray Reading, Clark invites you to don your X-ray reading glasses and join him on a guided tour through some of the most exquisite and masterful literary works of all time, from The Great Gatsby to Lolita to The Bluest Eye and many more.

In this essay, Orwell describes his personal journey to becoming a writer and offers some important motives for writing. Moving from his experience of writing his first completed poems to trying his hand at short stories, to finding fame as a fully fledged writer, Orwell discusses the importance of writing, his continuous technique and sets out some important motives for becoming a writer yourself.

For nearly two centuries, the authorship of William Shakespeare's plays has been challenged by writers and artists as diverse as Sigmund Freud, Mark Twain, Henry James, Helen Keller, Orson Welles, Malcolm X, and Sir Derek Jacobi. How could a young man from rural Warwickshire, lacking a university education, write some of the greatest works in the English language?

Best-selling author Pat Conroy acknowledges the books that have shaped him and celebrates the profound effect reading has had on his life. Pat Conroy, the beloved American storyteller, is a voracious reader. Starting as a childhood passion that bloomed into a life-long companion, reading has been Conroy’s portal to the world, both to the farthest corners of the globe and to the deepest chambers of the human soul. His interests range widely, from Milton to Tolkien, Philip Roth to Thucydides, encompassing poetry, history, philosophy, and any mesmerizing tale of his native South.

In Amazon Keywords for Books, Dale shows you how to use keywords to sell more books. It’s not difficult to increase the discoverability of your book. But you’ll need a deeper understanding of keywords if you want to sell more books.

International Emmy nominated writer Mark Boutros offers a guide to creating characters who are engaging, emotionally driven, and memorable. With experience writing comedy, drama, and novels, Mark shares a mixture of theory, exercises, and pitfalls, getting you thinking about the questions you should always have in your mind during character creation. This is an invaluable tool for beginner and experienced writers.

Ask a scientist about Hollywood, and you'll probably get eye rolls. But ask someone in Hollywood about science, and they'll see dollar signs: Moviemakers know that science can be the source of great stories, with all the drama and action that blockbusters require. That's a huge mistake, says Randy Olson: Hollywood has a lot to teach scientists about how to tell a story - and, ultimately, how to do science better. With Houston, We Have a Narrative, he lays out a stunningly simple method for turning the dull into the dramatic.

For the first time ever in print, Zoe York breaks down how she plans a series - something she has done 10 times over. Romance Your Brand is an adaptation of an intensive four-week course, now available to authors everywhere.

Since its first issue on October 10, 1896, The New York Times Book Review has brought the world of ideas to the reading public. It is the publication where authors have been made, and where readers first encountered the classics that have enriched their lives. Now the editors have curated the Book Review’s dynamic 125-year history, which is essentially the story of modern American letters. Brimming with remarkable reportage, this book collects interesting reviews, never-before-heard anecdotes about famous writers, and spicy letter exchanges.

Why do some writers and creators become known for a term, a phrase, or even an entire category, while others (talented as they might be) fade away? Because the most memorable writers and creators become known for a niche they own. And, more importantly, they invented new language to help them show the world how and why they are different.

Edith Wharton made her claim in the literary world as the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Literature. She is famous for her works of fiction, which include The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, and Ethan Frome. Breaking from this tradition, The Writing of Fiction sets itself apart as a distinctive work of nonfiction, in which Wharton pulls back the curtain to reveal the theories behind a great story. Consider it Wharton’s personal invitation to discover your own potential and jump-start your creative process.