Research Writing

We all know how to tell stories just like we all know our native language, having heard both since we were born. People, however, who study their native language discover there's much they misunderstood or simply didn't know. The same is true of story when we look at it more carefully. With topics that include the theory of story as model, the fractal key to narrative complexity, and the art of the long form, this volume will show you the essence of stories and storytelling.

Every writer knows that as rewarding as the creative process is, it can often be a bumpy road. Have hope and keep at it! Designed to kick-start creativity, this audio handbook from the executive director of National Novel Writing Month gathers a wide range of insights and advice for writers at any stage of their career. From tips about how to finally start that story, to helpful ideas about what to do when the words just aren't quite coming out right, Pep Talks for Writers provides motivation, encouragement, and helpful exercises for writers of all stripes.

The acclaimed author of Sins of My Father shares the secrets of writing a new, transformative kind of memoir. Into being is an essential guide to writing radical and empowering memoir. Drawing on her experience as a memoirist and a teacher of creative writing, Lily Dunn presents the ground-breaking idea that the craft of memoir itself can offer a form of transformation.

Struggling to find inspiration or battling writer’s block? Whether you’re an aspiring author, a seasoned storyteller, or someone just looking to reconnect with the joy of writing, this book is your ultimate guide to unlocking your creative potential. With 101 unique exercises, you’ll dive into character creation, sensory details, dialogue, and even explore new genres like mystery, fantasy, or romance.

Before he became a novelist, Michael Connelly was a crime reporter, covering the detectives who worked the homicide beat in Florida and Los Angeles. In vivid, hard-hitting articles, Connelly leads the reader past the yellow police tape as he follows the investigators, the victims, their families and friends, and, of course, the killers, to tell the real stories of murder and its aftermath.

Conflict is essential to story - regardless of genre. The friction between what a character wants and the lengths they will go to reach that goal is what pulls readers through your book. Great conflict is what leaves readers cheering (or crying) at the end of a story. Using humour and her deep knowledge of human behaviour, counsellor and award-winning author Eileen Cook will guide you through the causes of conflict, the differences between internal and external conflict, and show you how conflict resolution techniques can be turned upside down to ramp up the tension in your book.

From his best-selling series, The Art of World Building, author Randy Ellefson provides more than 3000 World Building Prompts to inspire creators for everything they might want to invent.

In this widely acclaimed memoir ("Riveting, moving...a wonderful book" The New York Times Book Review), Katharine Graham tells her story—one that is extraordinary both for the events it encompasses and for the courage, candor, and dignity of its telling.

In Losing the News, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex S. Jones offers a probing look at the epochal changes sweeping the media, changes which are eroding the core news that has been the essential food supply of our democracy. Losing the News depicts an unsettling situation in which the American birthright of fact-based, reported news is in danger. But it is also a call to arms to fight to keep the core of news intact.

The Power of Memoir is a pioneering how-to book that provides a new step-by-step program to use memoir writing as a therapeutic process. By going through these steps, you'll learn how to choose the significant milestones and turning points that make up a coherent story leading to a life-changing epiphany.

Burke takes authors step by step through the process of identifying their unique personal brands, defining their audiences, clarifying their aspirations and goals, and setting priorities. Once that foundation is established, she walks them through the process of developing a personalized, sustainable, long-term online marketing plan. She offers advice on designing a successful website, building a mailing list of superfans, blogging, creating an engagement strategy for social media, and more.

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.

The $100K Book Strategy is a step-by step guide that will teach you how you can create a six-figure self-publishing business by crafting teachable content into a book format that you can publish with the world. It’s no secret our world has changed dramatically over the last few years, as people worldwide struggle to adapt to our changing environment. Whether it’s to eat healthier, learn to crochet, make money, build confidence, learn to garden, lose weight, or create an online business, people are hungrier than ever to improve their lives.

For everyone who's ever wanted to write a memoir but is having trouble starting, finishing, or is stuck somewhere in between. Here's the place to get the answers to your questions (and to the questions you didn't know to ask) in one concise volume.

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.

Tell a New Story offers an easy-to-follow, five-step approach using the STORY acronym to help uncover your patterns and transform the way you think and talk about yourself. Rowan weaves a tapestry of powerful emotions through personal storytelling. She expounds on struggles that teach lessons on how to dissolve the habits that hold you back from living your dream life. Rowan will help you recognize the patterns that are keeping you stuck in the same old story, and instead, guide you to rewrite a new and empowering version of yourself that you love.

Are you sick of starting the process of writing a novel, but feeling you never get anywhere with it? According to the New York Times, 81 percent of Americans feel they have a book in them. The percentage who actually take action and then finish their book, though, is extremely low. Don’t be one of those people. In The Ultimate Guide to Novel Writing for Beginners (partnered with the workbook we’ve also created), you will discover the secrets to writing an exciting book, one that you can be proud of, and more importantly, your readers want!

J. K. Rowling's magical tale, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, has captivated millions of readers for decades, transporting them into a world where a young boy discovers he is not only a wizard but also the key to a larger, hidden world of magic. As Harry navigates the challenges of his new life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he uncovers secrets about his past and faces the ultimate test of courage and friendship. For writers, Rowling's work stands as an aspirational model of world-building and character development.

The relationship between those who wield power and those whose job it is to tell us what they are doing has always been fraught with tension. Politicians now expect to be on camera and facing aggressive questions from the moment they open their front door to the moment they return home at night. Everything they say and do is instantly broadcast and dissected on 24-hour news channels, blogs, and Twitter. It was not always this way. Live from Downing Street takes us on an absorbing journey through the hard-fought battles for the right to tell the public about the decisions taken on their behalf.

Throughout his 25-year journalistic career, David Carr was noted for his sharp and fearless observations, his uncanny sense of fairness and justice, and his remarkable compassion and wit. His writing was informed both by his own hardships as an addict, and his intense love of the journalist's craft. His range - from media politics to national politics, from rock-n-roll celebrities to the unknown civil servants who make our daily lives function - was broad and often timeless.