Yules's bookshelf: writing-how-to en-US Wed, 16 Apr 2025 11:58:43 -0700 60 Yules's bookshelf: writing-how-to 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them—A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide]]> 2360064
In How Not to Write a Novel, authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman distill their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing, and reviewing fiction to bring you real advice from the other side of the query letter. Rather than telling you how or what to write, they identify the 200 most common mistakes unconsciously made by writers and teach you to recognize, avoid, and amend them. With hilarious "mis-examples" to demonstrate each manuscript-mangling error, they'll help you troubleshoot your beginnings and endings, bad guys, love interests, style, jokes, perspective, voice, and more. As funny as it is useful, this essential how-NOT-to guide will help you get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstore.]]> 255 Howard Mittelmark 0061357952 Yules 3 writing-how-to 4.04 2008 How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them—A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide
author: Howard Mittelmark
name: Yules
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: writing-how-to
review:
A helpful guide to common fiction writing mistakes. As a first-time novelist, I certainly felt myself called out, and will be course-correcting as a result. It's also a pleasurable, funny read. However, I do wish the authors had taken their own advice about not repeating the same point. For instance, how many times do I need to hear that it's a mistake to let backstory overwhelm present action? (the answer is: once.) These 200 mistakes could have easily been 150.
]]> <![CDATA[Scene & Structure (Elements of Fiction Writing)]]> 190209
And the reader is hooked. But whether or not readers will stay on for the entire wild ride will depend on how well the writer structures the story, scene by scene.

This book is your game plan for success. Using dozens of examples from his own work - including "Dropshot," "Tiebreaker" and other popular novels - Jack M. Bickham will guide you in building a sturdy framework for your novel, whatever its form or length. You'll learn how to:
-"worry" your readers into following your story to the end
-prolong your main character's struggle while moving the story ahead
-juggle cause and effect to serve your story action
As you work on crafting compelling scenes that move the reader, moment by moment, toward the story's resolution, you'll see why believable fiction must make more sense than real life.
Every scene should end in disastersome scenes should be condensed, and others built big.
Whatever your story, this book can help you arrive at a happy ending in the company of satisfied readers.]]> 176 Jack M. Bickham 0898799066 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.09 1993 Scene & Structure (Elements of Fiction Writing)
author: Jack M. Bickham
name: Yules
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life]]> 53487237 A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.

In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?� He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity.

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.]]> 403 George Saunders 1984856049 Yules 4
The full list of stories:
Chekhov In the Cart
Turgenev The Singers
Chekhov The Darling
Tolstoy Master and Man
Gogol The Nose
Chekhov Gooseberries
Tolstoy Alyosha the Pot

Saunders� dissections of the text are geared towards creative writing students, and I found his guidance particularly useful on the topics of pattern (immediately applying it to my own writing) and causality (which I’ve yet to fully master � my instinct is towards the epiphanic, but that’s something only writers of Chekhov’s caliber can pull off).

“there are two things that separate writers who go on to publish from those who don’t. First, a willingness to revise. Second, the extent to which the writer has learned to make causality. Making causality doesn’t seem sexy or particularly literary. It’s a workmanlike thing, to make A cause B [...] But it’s the hardest thing to learn. It doesn’t come naturally, not to most of us. But that’s really all a story is: a series of things that happen in sequence, in which we can discern a pattern of causality. For most of us, the problem is not in making things happen (“A dog barked�, “The house exploded�, “Darren kicked the tire of his car� are all easy enough to type) but in making one thing seem to cause the next. This is important, because causation is what creates the appearance of meaning.�]]> 4.55 2021 A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
author: George Saunders
name: Yules
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves: essays-criticism, writing-how-to, slavs, 19th-c, teaching-kiddos
review:
This book includes stories in translation by four nineteenth-century Russian authors � Gogol, Turgenev, Chekhov, and Tolstoy � along with Saunders� commentary. I found his interpretations interesting, despite vehemently disagreeing with some of them (which disagreement Saunders good-naturedly encourages). His critical style is far removed from the academic (despite teaching the course for 20 years, he has not bothered to learn Russian!), which is to say, he is not over-serious or intimidating. Instead, he speaks in a generally friendly, inviting, funny and slightly immature voice.

The full list of stories:
Chekhov In the Cart
Turgenev The Singers
Chekhov The Darling
Tolstoy Master and Man
Gogol The Nose
Chekhov Gooseberries
Tolstoy Alyosha the Pot

Saunders� dissections of the text are geared towards creative writing students, and I found his guidance particularly useful on the topics of pattern (immediately applying it to my own writing) and causality (which I’ve yet to fully master � my instinct is towards the epiphanic, but that’s something only writers of Chekhov’s caliber can pull off).

“there are two things that separate writers who go on to publish from those who don’t. First, a willingness to revise. Second, the extent to which the writer has learned to make causality. Making causality doesn’t seem sexy or particularly literary. It’s a workmanlike thing, to make A cause B [...] But it’s the hardest thing to learn. It doesn’t come naturally, not to most of us. But that’s really all a story is: a series of things that happen in sequence, in which we can discern a pattern of causality. For most of us, the problem is not in making things happen (“A dog barked�, “The house exploded�, “Darren kicked the tire of his car� are all easy enough to type) but in making one thing seem to cause the next. This is important, because causation is what creates the appearance of meaning.�
]]> Save the Cat! Writes a Novel 32805475
Whether you’re writing your first novel or your seventeenth, Save the Cat! breaks down plot in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step method so you can write stories that resonate! This book can help you with any of the following:

Outlining a new novel
Revising an existing novel
Breaking out of the dreaded “writer’s block�
Fixing a “broken� novel
Reviewing a completed novel
Fleshing out/test driving a new idea to see if it “has legs�
Implementing feedback from agents and/or editors
Helping give constructive feedback to other writers

But above all else, SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL will help you better understand the fundamentals and mechanics of plot, character transformation, and what makes a story work!]]> 320 Jessica Brody Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.49 2018 Save the Cat! Writes a Novel
author: Jessica Brody
name: Yules
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master]]> 12088345
Celebrated writing teacher and author Martha Alderson has devised a plotting system that's as innovative as it is easy to implement. With her foolproof blueprint, you'll learn to devise a successful storyline for any genre. She shows how to:

Use the power of the Universal Story
Create plot lines and subplots that work together
Effectively use a scene tracker for maximum impact
Insert energetic markers at the right points in your story
Show character transformation at the book's climax

This is the ultimate guide for you to write page-turners that sell!]]> 256 Martha Alderson 1440525889 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.02 2011 The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
author: Martha Alderson
name: Yules
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Plotting Your Novel Workbook (Foundations of Fiction, #2)]]> 31228129 A Hands-On Workbook for Plotting Your Novel!
Award-winning author Janice Hardy guided writers through the often challenging process of planning a novel with her book, Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure. At reader request, she created this workbook as a companion guide. Its larger workbook format is perfect for writers who enjoy brainstorming on paper and developing their novels in an organized and guided format.
No more searching for ideas jotted down on bits of paper No more losing notes just when you need them most Keep all your thoughts in one, easy-to-use workbook The Plotting Your Novel Workbook contains more than 100 exercises for the novel-planning process. Plus Bonus Questions! The Plotting Your Novel Workbook offers writers additional exercise questions not found in Plotting Your Novel. Work through the exercises of ten workshops that build upon each other to flesh out your idea as much or as little as you need to start writing. Find exercises on:
Creating Characters Choosing Point of View Determining the Conflict Finding Your Process Developing Your Plot Start writing your novel today! The Plotting Your Novel Workbook was created to be used with Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure. It contains only the exercises and assignments.]]> 140 Janice Hardy 0991536428 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.30 Plotting Your Novel Workbook (Foundations of Fiction, #2)
author: Janice Hardy
name: Yules
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Plot with Character Workbook: How to Plot Your Novel and Achieve Character Arc in 40 Scenes]]> 24880648 Plot with Character offers in-depth and specific guidance toward creating a workable plot. Learning how to plot the pivotal and connecting scenes of your story shouldn't be painful. Some books offer plenty of jargon and misdirection--and even good books sometimes don't quite ground theory into practice. What you need is a step-by-step plot plan designed to get you from Chapter One to The End. This book can help you achieve just that, delivering a no-frills explanation that gets to the meat of the matter, where you really need to be. In the thickening plot. This guide comes with a ready-to-be-filled-in set of worksheets that gets you writing now. And that's what you want. Write now.

Grab a pen and let's get plotting!

]]> 76 Katherine King 1507701691 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.60 2015 Plot with Character Workbook: How to Plot Your Novel and Achieve Character Arc in 40 Scenes
author: Katherine King
name: Yules
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Plot Thickens: 21 Ways to Plot Your Novel]]> 29472936
Don’t waste your life thinking about writing a book when you can do it!
Are you ready to start writing a book?

You’re at the right place.

The Plot Thickens offers you myriad methods of plotting. Whether you are a published veteran or a writing novice, we present alternate methods of finding the best path to express and deliver the stuff pinging around in your head.

After reading “The Plot Thickens� you will know:

� How to write more efficiently whether you’re a plotter or a pantser
� How to take the headache out of starting your novel
� How to avoid sagging middles and lackluster endings
� How to use your character’s Goal, Motivation and Conflict to drive the story
� The secret of scene and sequel
� How to use the Hero’s Journey to plot your novel
� How our 19-1/2 step plotting worksheet can take you from page 1 to “the end�
� Plus 14+ ways to help you plot your novel

Are you ready to start writing your novel?

If you have no idea of how to take the first step, if you can’t decide if writing is a dream come true or a nightmare (hint: sometimes it’s both), this book can help you decide which method works for you.

Scroll to the top of the page and click the ‘buy� button NOW and get one step closer to writing your book.
]]> 110 Cheryl Sterling Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 3.38 The Plot Thickens: 21 Ways to Plot Your Novel
author: Cheryl Sterling
name: Yules
average rating: 3.38
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Plot Perfect: How to Build Unforgettable Stories Scene by Scene]]> 21432299
Think of your favorite story--the one that kept you turning pages late into the night, the one with a plot so compelling, so multilayered, so perfect that you couldn't put it down. How can you make your own plots--in your novels, short stories, memoirs, or screenplays--just as irresistible?

Plot Perfect provides the answer. This one-of-a-kind plotting primer reveals the secrets of creating a story structure that works--no matter what your genre. It gives you the strategies you need to build a scene-by-scene blueprint that will help elevate your fiction and earn the attention of agents and editors.

Inside, literary agent, editor, and author Paula Munier shows you how

•Devise powerful plots and subplots and weave them together seamlessly
•Organize your scenes for the greatest impact
•Develop captivating protagonists, worthy antagonists, and engaging secondary characters
•Use dialogue, setting, tone, and voice to enhance your plot
•Layer, refine, and polish your storyline
•Define your story in terms of its theme
Filled with writing exercises, plotting templates, and expert advice, Plot Perfect helps you dive into the intricacies of plot--and write a compelling story that readers won't be able to resist.]]> 288 Paula Munier 1599638142 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.26 2014 Plot Perfect: How to Build Unforgettable Stories Scene by Scene
author: Paula Munier
name: Yules
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mastering Plot Twists: How to Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure to Captivate Your Readers]]> 36800275 New York Times best-selling author and former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan

Unlock the secrets to superior plot twists!

The key to keeping people on the edge of their seat--from memoirs to thrillers and stage plays to screenplays--is filling your stories with unexpected twists and turns. By integrating Plot Twists, Plot Reversals, and Moments of Heightened Danger (TRDs) at crucial points, you can captivate your readers with I-can't-wait-to-see-what-happens-next intrigue. The quicker pace and focused action that comes from strategically placed twists form the core of the nuanced, multifaceted books that sell--and that help you find a devoted readership.

In Mastering Plot Twists, Agatha Award-winning author, Jane K. Cleland goes beyond telling writers what to do; she shows you how to do it. Within these pages, you'll find:
A proven, five-step process for using TRDs, with detailed examples from best-selling books
A deep dive into plotting, structure, pacing, subplots, and more to help you develop surprising yet inevitable twists.
"Jane's Plotting Roadmap" and worksheets--essential tools for planning your plot
Building on the award-winning instruction provided in Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot, Cleland's newest guide will help you create effective and credible twists, creating the kind of stories that will keep your readers up long into the night.

..".A master class in crafting plots that twist and turn..." Hallie Ephron, New York Times best-selling author of You'll Never Know, Dear]]> 240 Jane K. Cleland 144035233X Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 3.90 2018 Mastering Plot Twists: How to Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure to Captivate Your Readers
author: Jane K. Cleland
name: Yules
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots]]> 11454870 A classic how-to manual, William Wallace Cook’s Plotto is one writer’s personal method, painstakingly diagrammed for the benefit of others. The theory itself may be simple — "Purpose opposed by Obstacle yields Conflict" — but Cook takes his "Plottoist" through hundreds of situations and scenarios, guiding the reader’s hand as a dizzying array of purposes and obstacles come to a head. Cook’s method is broken down into three stages: First, the master plot. This four-page chart distills the most basic plot points into a three-line sentence. Next, the conflict situation. Each master plot leads the reader to a list of circumstances, distributed among 20 different conflict groups (these range from “Love’s Beginning� to “Personal Limitations� to “Transgression�). There are over 2,000 unique conflict situations in the book, and each is cross-referenced with designs for how the situation might have started, or where it might go. Finally, there are character combinations — Cook offers an extensive index of protagonists, each cross-referenced with various supporting players — themselves tied to various conflict situations, for what appears to be an inexhaustible reservoir of suggestions and inspiration.

]]> 438 William Wallace Cook 1935639188 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 3.75 1928 Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots
author: William Wallace Cook
name: Yules
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1928
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Paris Review Interviews, II: Wisdom from the World's Literary Masters (The Paris Review Interviews, 2)]]> 596060 The Paris Review was founded in 1953, it has given us invaluable conversations with the greatest writers of our age, vivid self-portraits that are themselves works of finely crafted literature. From William Faulkner's determination that a great novel takes ninety-nine percent talent . . . ninety-nine percent discipline . . . ninety-nine percent work, to Gabriel García Márquez's observation that in the first paragraph, you solve most of the problems with your book, The Paris Review has elicited revelatory and revealing thoughts from our most accomplished novelists, poets, and playwrights. With an introduction by Orhan Pamuk, this volume brings together another rich, varied crop of literary voices, including Toni Morrison, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Graham Greene, James Baldwin, Stephen King, Philip Larkin, Eudora Welty, and more. A colossal literary event, as Gary Shteyngart put it, The Paris Review Interviews, II, is an indispensable treasury of wisdom from the world's literary masters.]]> 528 The Paris Review 0312363141 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.39 2006 The Paris Review Interviews, II: Wisdom from the World's Literary Masters (The Paris Review Interviews, 2)
author: The Paris Review
name: Yules
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> Letters to a Young Poet 46199
A hugely influential collection for writers and artists of all kinds, Rilke's profound and lyrical letters to a young friend advise on writing, love, sex, suffering and the nature of advice itself.]]> 80 Rainer Maria Rilke 0486422453 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.32 1929 Letters to a Young Poet
author: Rainer Maria Rilke
name: Yules
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1929
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/23
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer]]> 41812861
Organized into four sections, "Nuts and Bolts," "Special Effects," "Blueprints for Stories," and "Useful Habits," Writing Tools is infused with more than 200 examples from journalism and literature. This new edition includes five brand new, never-before-shared tools.

Accessible, entertaining, inspiring, and above all, useful for every type of writer, from high school student to novelist, Writing Tools is essential reading.]]> 295 Roy Peter Clark Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.31 2006 Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
author: Roy Peter Clark
name: Yules
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/02
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Write Anything: A Complete Guide]]> 18910521 A practical guide to everything you’ll ever need to write—at work, at school, and in your personal life.

With more than two hundred how-to entries and easy-to-use models organized into three comprehensive sections on work, school, and personal life, How to Write Anything covers a wide range of topics that make it an essential guide for the whole family. You want your boss to fund a special project. How can you write a persuasive email that will win his approval? It's time to apply to college. How can you write an essay that will stand out? The mother of one of your co-workers has died. What's the best way to express your condolences?

Grounded in a common-sense approach, friendly and supportive, How to Write Anything is Internet-savvy, with advice throughout about choosing the most appropriate medium for your message: e-mail or pen and paper. At once a how-to, a reference book, and a pioneering guide for writing in a changing world, this is the only writing resource you'll ever need.]]> 608 Laura Brown 0393241238 Yules 0 4.07 2014 How to Write Anything: A Complete Guide
author: Laura Brown
name: Yules
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/12
shelves: to-read, essays-criticism, writing-how-to
review:

]]> Exercises in Style 319790 Exercises in Style is quite simple: a man gets into an argument with another passenger on a bus. However, this anecdote is told ninety-nine more times, each in a radically different style, as a sonnet, an opera, in slang, and with many more permutations. This virtuoso set of variations is a linguistic rust-remover, and a guide to literary forms.]]> 204 Raymond Queneau 0811207897 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.09 1947 Exercises in Style
author: Raymond Queneau
name: Yules
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1947
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/09/19
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within]]> 44905 336 Natalie Goldberg 1590303164 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.21 1986 Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
author: Natalie Goldberg
name: Yules
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/09
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative]]> 41735103 The Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading

As Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: "For centuries there's been one path through fiction we're most likely to travel―one we're actually told to follow―and that's the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides...But something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculo-sexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Why not draw on them, too?"

W. G. Sebald's Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc―or, in nature, wave. Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her "museum of specimens" include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison.

Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let's leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike.

Runtime: 5. 84 hours]]> 272 Jane Alison 1948226138 Yules 0 4.08 2019 Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative
author: Jane Alison
name: Yules
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/01
shelves: to-read, essays-criticism, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts]]> 58640362
From lauded writer and teacher Matt Bell, Refuse to Be Done is encouraging and intensely practical, focusing always on specific rewriting tasks, techniques, and activities for every stage of the process. You won’t find bromides here about the “the writing Muse.� Instead, Bell breaks down the writing process in three sections. In the first, Bell shares a bounty of tactics, all meant to push you through the initial conception and get words on the page. The second focuses on reworking the narrative through outlining, modeling, and rewriting. The third and final section offers a layered approach to polishing through a checklist of operations, breaking the daunting project of final revisions into many small, achievable tasks.

Whether you are a first time novelist or a veteran writer, you will find an abundance of strategies here to help motivate you and shake up your revision process, allowing you to approach your work, day after day and month after month, with fresh eyes and sharp new tools.]]> 156 Matt Bell 1641293411 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.43 2022 Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts
author: Matt Bell
name: Yules
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/21
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
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]]> <![CDATA[Vivid and Continuous: Essays and Exercises for Writing Fiction]]> 16128791 188 John McNally 1609381564 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.30 2013 Vivid and Continuous: Essays and Exercises for Writing Fiction
author: John McNally
name: Yules
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/08
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
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]]> My Mistake: A Memoir 17196516 A wry, witty, often tender memoir by a former New Yorker editor, magazine writer, and book publisher who offers great tales of a life in words

Daniel Menaker started as a fact checker at The New Yorker in 1969. With luck, hard work, and the support of William Maxwell, he was eventually promoted to editor. Never beloved by William Shawn, he was advised early on to find a position elsewhere; he stayed for another twenty-four years.

Now Menaker brings us a new view of life in that wonderfully strange place and beyond, throughout his more than forty years working to celebrate language and good writing.

He tells us his own story, too—with irrepressible style and honesty—of a life spent persevering through often difficult, nearly always difficult-to-read, situations. Haunted by a self-doubt sharpened by his role in his brother’s unexpected death, he offers wry, hilarious observations on publishing, child-rearing, parent-losing, and the writing life. But as time goes by, we witness something far beyond the incidental: a moving, thoughtful meditation on years well lived, well read, and well spent. Full of mistakes, perhaps. But full of effort, full of accomplishment, full of life.]]> 258 Daniel Menaker 054779424X Yules 0 3.58 2013 My Mistake: A Memoir
author: Daniel Menaker
name: Yules
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/24
shelves: to-read, memoir, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft]]> 10569 (back cover)]]> 320 Stephen King 0743455967 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.33 2000 On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
author: Stephen King
name: Yules
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/27
shelves: to-read, writing-how-to
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface]]> 28915986
While writers might disagree over showing versus telling or plotting versus pantsing, none would argue If you want to write strong fiction, you must make your readers feel. The reader's experience must be an emotional journey of its own, one as involving as your characters' struggles, discoveries, and triumphs are for you.

That's where The Emotional Craft of Fiction comes in. Veteran literary agent and expert fiction instructor Donald Maass shows you how to use story to provoke a visceral and emotional experience in readers. Topics covered

•emotional modes of writing
•beyond showing versus telling
•your story's emotional world
•moral stakes
•connecting the inner and outer journeys
•plot as emotional opportunities
•invoking higher emotions, symbols, and emotional language
•cascading change
•story as emotional mirror
•positive spirit and magnanimous writing
•the hidden current that makes stories move
Readers can simply read a novel...or they can experience it. The Emotional Craft of Fiction shows you how to make that happen.]]> 224 Donald Maass 1440348375 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.24 2016 The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface
author: Donald Maass
name: Yules
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2016
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]]> <![CDATA[Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process]]> 18194765 208 John McPhee Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.05 2013 Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process
author: John McPhee
name: Yules
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2013
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]]> The Art of X-Ray Reading 25604557
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. Along the way, he shows you how to mine these masterpieces for invaluable writing strategies that you can add to your arsenal and apply in your own writing. Once you've experienced X-ray reading, your writing will never be the same again.]]> 288 Roy Peter Clark 0316282170 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.01 2016 The Art of X-Ray Reading
author: Roy Peter Clark
name: Yules
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[First You Write a Sentence.: The Elements of Reading, Writing � and Life]]> 38470061 Any writer should read it' Bee Wilson

'Thoughtful, engaging, and lively ... when you've read it, you realise you've changed your attitude to writing (and reading)' John Simpson, formerly Chief Editor of the OED and author of The Word Detective

The sentence is the common ground where every writer walks. A poet writes in sentences, but so does the unsung author who came up with Items trapped in doors cause delays. A good sentence can be written (and read) by anyone if we simply give it the gift of our time, and it is as close as most of us will get to making something truly beautiful.

Enter acclaimed author Professor Joe Moran. Using minimal technical terms, First You Write a Sentence is his unpedantic but authoritative explanation of how the most ordinary words can be turned into verbal constellations of extraordinary grace. Using sources ranging from the Bible and Shakespeare to George Orwell and Maggie Nelson, and scientific studies of what can best fire the reader's mind, he shows how we can all write in a way that is clear, compelling and alive.

Whether dealing with finding the ideal word, building a sentence or constructing a paragraph, First You Write a Sentence informs by light example: much richer than a style guide, it can be read not just for instruction but for pleasure and delight. And along the way it shows how good writing can help us notice the world, make ourselves known to others and live more meaningful lives. It's an elegant gem in praise of the English sentence.

'Moran is a past master at producing fine, accessible non-fiction' Helen Davies, Sunday Times

'Joe Moran has a genius for turning the prosaic poetic' Peter Hennessy]]> 256 Joe Moran 0241978491 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.08 2018 First You Write a Sentence.: The Elements of Reading, Writing … and Life
author: Joe Moran
name: Yules
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2018
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]]> <![CDATA[Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping]]> 56304501 A groundbreaking resource for fiction writers, teachers, and students, this manifesto and practical guide challenges current models of craft and the writing workshop by showing how they fail marginalized writers, and how cultural expectations inform storytelling.

The traditional writing workshop was established with white male writers in mind; what we call craft is informed by their cultural values. In this bold and original examination of elements of writing--including plot, character, conflict, structure, and believability--and aspects of workshop--including the silenced writer and the imagined reader-- Matthew Salesses asks questions to invigorate these familiar concepts. He upends Western notions of how a story must progress. How can we rethink craft, and the teaching of it, to better reach writers with diverse backgrounds? How can we invite diverse storytelling traditions into literary spaces?

Drawing from examples including One Thousand and One Nights , Curious George, Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea , and the Asian American classic No-No Boy , Salesses asks us to reimagine craft and the workshop. In the pages of exercises included here, teachers will find suggestions for building syllabi, grading, and introducing new methods to the classroom; students will find revision and editing guidance, as well as a new lens for reading their work. Salesses shows that we need to interrogate the lack of diversity at the core of published how we teach and write it. After all, as he reminds us, "When we write fiction, we write the world."]]> 256 Matthew Salesses 1948226812 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.39 2021 Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping
author: Matthew Salesses
name: Yules
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2021
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]]> <![CDATA[The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression]]> 13708820 Did you know there's a SECOND EDITION of The Emotion Thesaurus that has been expanded to 130 entries & 2x the teaching content? Just click on the author's name to find it!

The Emotion Thesaurus, First Edition (for collectors)

One of the biggest problem areas for writers is conveying emotion to the reader in a unique, compelling way. When showing our characters� feelings, we often grab onto the first idea that comes to mind, and our characters end up smiling, shrugging, nodding, and frowning far too much.

Need some inspiration to get you beyond the basics? Inside The Emotion Thesaurus, you’ll find:

� 75 emotion entries that list body language, thoughts, and visceral responses for each
� A breakdown of the biggest emotion-related writing problems and how to overcome them
� Body language and action cues that address both acute and suppressed forms of emotion
� Suggestions for each emotion that cover a range of intensity, from mild to extreme
� 75 description tips on emotion, dialogue, characters, and setting

Editors, authors and teachers agree that The Emotion Thesaurus, in its easy-to-navigate list format, is a convenient and helpful brainstorming resource for any writing project. Discover the tool that will inspire you to create stronger, fresher character expressions and engage readers from your first page to your last.]]> 174 Angela Ackerman Yules 3 writing-how-to 4.47 2012 The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression
author: Angela Ackerman
name: Yules
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2012
rating: 3
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]]> Emotion Amplifiers 23906987 80 Angela Ackerman Yules 2 writing-how-to 4.39 Emotion Amplifiers
author: Angela Ackerman
name: Yules
average rating: 4.39
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rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)]]> 27833542
It’s every novelist’s greatest pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite.

The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think).

In Story Genius Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.]]> 288 Lisa Cron 1607748908 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.16 2016 Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)
author: Lisa Cron
name: Yules
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
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]]> <![CDATA[Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew]]> 68024 173 Ursula K. Le Guin 0933377460 Yules 0 writing-how-to 4.20 1998 Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Yules
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/01/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them]]> 39934 New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters to discover why their work has endured. Written with passion, humor, and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire readers to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart - to take pleasure in the long and magnificent sentences of Philip Roth and the breathtaking paragraphs of Isaac Babel; she is deeply moved by the brilliant characterization in George Eliot's Middlemarch. She looks to John Le Carré for a lesson in how to advance plot through dialogue and to Flannery O'Connor for the cunning use of the telling detail. And, most important, Prose cautions readers to slow down and pay attention to words, the raw material out of which all literature is crafted.]]> 302 Francine Prose 0060777052 Yules 0 3.76 2006 Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
author: Francine Prose
name: Yules
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2006
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]]> Bird by Bird 12543 A newer edition of this title can be found here.

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. [It] was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said. 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

With this basic instruction always in mind, Anne Lamott returns to offer us a new gift: a step-by-step guide on how to write and on how to manage the writer's life. From "Getting Started,' with "Short Assignments," through "Shitty First Drafts," "Character," "Plot," "Dialogue." all the way from "False Starts" to "How Do You Know When You're Done?" Lamott encourages, instructs, and inspires. She discusses "Writers Block," "Writing Groups," and "Publication." Bracingly honest, she is also one of the funniest people alive.

If you have ever wondered what it takes to be a writer, what it means to be a writer, what the contents of your school lunches said about what your parents were really like, this book is for you. From faith, love, and grace to pain, jealousy, and fear, Lamott insists that you keep your eyes open, and then shows you how to survive. And always, from the life of the artist she turns to the art of life.

]]> 238 Anne Lamott Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.24 1994 Bird by Bird
author: Anne Lamott
name: Yules
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1994
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]]> <![CDATA[Several Short Sentences About Writing]]> 13155290 you write.

Several Short Sentences About Writing is a book of first steps and experiments. They will revolutionize the way you think and perceive, and they will change forever the sense of your own authority as a writer. This is a book full of learning, but it’s also a book full of unlearning—a way to recover the vivid, rhythmic, poetic sense of language you once possessed.

An indispensable and unique book that will give you a clear understanding of how to think about what you do when you write and how to improve the quality of your writing.]]> 224 Verlyn Klinkenborg 0307266346 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.13 2012 Several Short Sentences About Writing
author: Verlyn Klinkenborg
name: Yules
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing]]> 39874447
In this second edition of his popular guidebook, Paul Silvia offers fresh advice to help you overcome barriers to writing and use your time more productively. After addressing some common excuses and bad habits, he provides practical strategies to motivate students, professors, researchers, and other academics to become better and more prolific writers. Silvia draws from his own experience in psychology to explain how to write, submit, and revise academic work, from journal articles to books, all without sacrificing evenings, weekends, and vacations. The tips and strategies in this second edition have been updated to apply to academic writing in most disciplines. Also new to this edition is a chapter on writing grant and fellowship proposals.]]> 145 Paul J. Silvia 1433829738 Yules 3 writing-how-to 4.11 2007 How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing
author: Paul J. Silvia
name: Yules
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2007
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/01/27
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One]]> 9561867 How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works.

]]> 165 Stanley Fish 0061840548 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 3.43 2011 How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One
author: Stanley Fish
name: Yules
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2011
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]]> <![CDATA[The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase]]> 17415726 The idiosyncratic, erudite and brilliantly funny new book from Mark Forsyth, bestselling author of The Etymologicon and The Horologicon.

In an age unhealthily obsessed with substance, this is a book on the importance of pure style.

From classic poetry to pop lyrics and from the King James Bible to advertising slogans, Mark Forsyth explains the secrets that make a phrase - such as ‘Tiger, tiger, burning bright� or ‘To be or not to be� - memorable.

In his inimitably entertaining and witty style he takes apart famous lines and shows how you too can write like Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde. Whether you’re aiming for literary immortality or just an unforgettable one-liner, The Elements of Eloquence proves that you don't need to have anything to say - you simply need to say it well.]]> 205 Mark Forsyth 1848316216 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.35 2013 The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase
author: Mark Forsyth
name: Yules
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2013
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]]> <![CDATA[On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction]]> 53343 On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sold, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.]]> 321 William Zinsser 0060891548 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.23 1976 On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
author: William Zinsser
name: Yules
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1976
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]]> <![CDATA[Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style]]> 60029 Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style,Virginia Tufte shows how standard sentence patterns and forms contribute to meaning and art in more than a thousand wonderful sentences from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The book has special interest for aspiring writers, students of literature and language, and anyone who finds joy in reading and writing.

". . . Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style, generally recognized as the best study of sentence style." Brooks Landon, University of Iowa, in Building Useful Sentences, page 122.]]> 308 Virginia Tufte 0961392185 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.08 2006 Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style
author: Virginia Tufte
name: Yules
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2006
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]]> <![CDATA[It Was The Best Of Sentences, It Was The Worst Of Sentences: A Writer's Guide To Crafting Killer Sentences]]> 40717966 In this wickedly humorous manual, language columnist June Casagrande uses grammar and syntax to show exactly what makes some sentences great--and other sentences suck.
With chapters on "Conjunctions That Kill" and "Words Gone Wild," this lighthearted guide is perfect for anyone who's dead serious about writing, from aspiring novelists to nonfiction writers, conscientious students to cheeky literati. So roll up your sleeves and prepare to craft one bold, effective sentence after another. Your readers will thank you.

"From the Trade Paperback edition."

]]> 226 June Casagrande Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.21 2010 It Was The Best Of Sentences, It Was The Worst Of Sentences: A Writer's Guide To Crafting Killer Sentences
author: June Casagrande
name: Yules
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2010
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]]> <![CDATA[The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear]]> 765773 The Courage to Write is an invaluable book and essential reading for anyone who wishes to learn how to write well.



Katherine Anne Porter called courage the first essential for a writer. I have to talk myself into bravery with every sentence, agreed Cynthia Ozick, sometimes every syllable. E. B. White said he admired anyone who has the guts to write anything at all.An author who has taught writing for more than thirty years,

In The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes, an author who has taught writing for more than thirty years, assures us that anxiety is felt by writers at every level, especially when they dare to do their best. He describes the sequence of courage points through which all writers must pass, from the challenge of identifying a worthwhile project to the mixture of pride and panic they feel when examining a newly published book or article.

Keyes also offers specifics on how to root out dread of public performance and of the judgment of family and friends, make the best use of writers' workshops and conferences, and handle criticism of works in progress. Throughout, he includes the comments of many accomplished writers -- Pat Conroy, Amy Tan, Rita Dove, Isabel Allende, and others -- on how they transcended their own fears to produce great works.]]> 240 Ralph Keyes 0805074678 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.01 1995 The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear
author: Ralph Keyes
name: Yules
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1995
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]]> <![CDATA[Building Great Sentences: How to Write the Kinds of Sentences You Love to Read]]> 16171217 Building Great Sentences celebrates the sheer joy of language—and will forever change the way you read and write.

Great writing begins with the sentence. Whether it’s two words (“Jesus wept.�) or William Faulkner’s 1,287-word sentence in Absalom! Absalom!, sentences have the power to captivate, entertain, motivate, educate, and, most importantly, delight. Yet, the sentence-oriented approach to writing is too often overlooked in favor of bland economy. Building Great Sentences teaches you to write better sentences by luxuriating in the pleasures of language.

Award-winning Professor Brooks Landon draws on examples from masters of long, elegant sentences—including Don DeLillo, Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, and Samuel Johnson—to reveal the mechanics of how language works on thoughts and emotions, providing the tools to write powerful, more effective sentences.]]> 288 Brooks Landon 0452298601 Yules 0 to-read, writing-how-to 4.00 2013 Building Great Sentences: How to Write the Kinds of Sentences You Love to Read
author: Brooks Landon
name: Yules
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
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date added: 2019/11/05
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]]>