Research Writing

Compelling characters are what keeps readers turning pages and buying books—from fantasies to mysteries to the great literary novel. But how to do you create characters that feel three-dimensional and real on the page? Counsellor and author Eileen Cook shares common psychological techniques to help you build your characters and take your story to the next level. This book covers understanding your character's backstory and how it impacts their choices in your book by doing a structured counselling interview, personality structure, and the Stages of Change.

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.

David Morrell, best-selling author of First Blood, The Brotherhood of the Rose and The Fifth Profession, distills four decades of writing and publishing experience into this single masterwork of advice and instruction for fiction writers looking to make it big in the publishing world. With advice proven to create successful novels,

In February 1943, a group of journalists - including a young wire service correspondent named Walter Cronkite and cub reporter Andy Rooney - clamored to fly along on a bombing raid over Nazi Germany. Seven of the 64 bombers that attacked a U-boat base that day never made it back to England. A fellow survivor, Homer Bigart of the New York Herald Tribune, asked Cronkite if he’d thought through a lede. "I think I’m going to say," mused Cronkite, “that I’ve just returned from an assignment to hell."

Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.

From Pickwick to Scrooge, Copperfield to Twist, how did Dickens find the perfect names for his characters? What was Dickens' favourite way of killing his characters? When is a Dickens character most likely to see a ghost? Why is Dickens’ trickery only fully realised when his novels are read aloud? In 13 entertaining and wonderfully insightful essays, John Mullan explores the literary machinations of Dickens’ eccentric genius, from his delight in clichés to his rendering of smells and his outrageous use of coincidences.

A book for any Canadian who has wanted to self-publish. Get an overview of publishing a book, and answers to some Canadian-specific questions. What is withholding? How do I stop it? What's an ISBN and will I need to mortgage my house to buy one? Should I use Canadian spellings in my book? What publishing platforms are out there? If you’re a Canadian who has always wanted to write and self-publish, this book will give you a great overview of the industry, answer some of the most common questions people have, and get your career off on the right foot.

In How to Write Romantasy, Moreci takes you from your first kernel of inspiration through the resolution of your novel, ensuring you hit all the key elements along the way. Chapters are organized around specific plot points, necessary skills, and common questions, covering topics such as building a fantasy framework, creating compelling characters, learning the art of the tease, and bringing home the happily ever after. Each chapter is followed by a summary that you can use for quick reference.

Coffee has never been better, or more interesting, than it is today. Where coffee comes from, how it was harvested, the roasting process and the water used to make the brew are just a few of the factors that influence the taste of what we drink. Champion barista and coffee expert James Hoffmann examines these key factors, looking at varieties of coffee, the influence of terroir, how it is harvested and processed, the roasting methods used, through to the way in which the beans are brewed.

Are you looking for a side hustle to bring you an online income? "Passive income" is a word that gets thrown around often nowadays. The truth is that no income is truly passive, but with that said, Publishing books on Amazon & Audible is by far the closest thing to truly passive income today in the online business world. This course takes you from A-Z on KDP for high-content publishing, from showing you to outsource the content of your book to running your ads and maintaining them well, all will be covered.

The President of the United States regularly lies to the public and accuses anyone who criticises him of being fake. Politicians openly rubbish the views of 'so called experts', dissemble and mislead. So how do we hold those in power accountable? Fox News, Breitbart Media and the Murdoch papers peddle views not news, pushing politically motivated agendas. So, where can we look for reliable, verifiable sources of news and information? What does it mean for democracy? And what will the future hold?

Like real life, the writing life is filled with contradictions and perplexities. The world of commercial publishing is counter-intuitive, and writers dive in weighed down by misconceptions, delusions, and unrealistic expectations. Perhaps because most of us write in some form every day, we believe we can - and should - write a book. We also assume writing is the hard part, and once our manuscript is finished publishers will line up for the privilege of delivering it to the world. This is why many people who say they want to write really mean they want to have written.

Nonfiction Alchemy will show you how to write, publish, and market your book—without resorting to AI writing tools, wasting time and resources pursuing traditional publishing (only to be ignored or rejected), or attending nausea-inducing signing tables at your local bookstore.

This is the book that guides you on your journey to becoming a successful self-help author. It gives you everything you need to write, publish, and promote a book that does justice to your ideas and expertise.

Whether you simply want to jot down family folklore to share with future generations or wish to try your hand at writing a best-selling novel, Just Write! provides gentle yet realistic guidance for those who want to write their first book. With her humorous—yet realistic—explanations of the writing process, Lauren Bingham is here to help you make your first book become a reality. You’ll receive the encouragement you’ve been craving, as well as the empathy a new writer needs.

In The Content Fuel Framework, trained journalist and award-winning content marketer Melanie Deziel shows you how to maximize your creativity by systematizing it. No more writer's block. No more asking, "what should I post"? How can you fill all those web pages, social feeds, blogs, and newsletters, every single day? The Content Fuel Framework will challenge you - and enable you - to tell stories in entirely new ways. It's an adaptable and evergreen guide you'll come back to again and again.

Aspects of the Novel is compiled from a series of lectures delivered in 1927 by E. M. Forster at Trinity College, Cambridge, in which he discussed the English language novel. By using examples from classic texts, he explores the seven universal aspects of the novel: story, characters, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern, and rhythm.

When New York Times reporter Michael Finkel meets accused killer Christian Longo - who has taken on Finkel's identity - his investigation morphs into an unforgettable game of cat and mouse. True Story weaves a spellbinding tale of murder, love, deceit, and redemption, following Finkel's relentless pursuit of the shocking truth.

To write a successful book, you need to find and work with an editor who shares your passion for your work and your message and who will help you make your book sing. And sing a smash hit. A blockbuster of a message, clearly and carefully constructed so readers love you and your work and leave you five-star Amazon reviews only because they don’t have more stars to give.

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.