The Artist’s Way
With the basic principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan lead you through a comprehensive 12-week program to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions and other inhibiting forces, replacing them with artistic confidence and productivity.


Writer’s Market
Updated Yearly. The 2008 edition takes Writer's Market to a new level of excellence with high profile author interviews and five new market sections. Still packed with all the information writers rely on year after year including the keys to successful query letters, advice on how much to charge, articles from successful writers, as well as listings for book publishers, magazines, literary agents and more!


Facts in a Flash
With this one-of-a-kind reference, information expert Ellen Metter takes the frustration out of research projects with her own mix of humor, data and savvy research techniques. From libraries, newspapers and the Internet to scholars, experts and directories, Metter shows readers how to access hundreds of viable resources for virtually every subject. Each easy chapter focuses on a different area, including government, current events, culture, law, business, history, and more.


Building Believable Characters
There are many building blocks for writers when it comes to crafting the foundation for stories. Creating characters is one of the most crucial elements writers must develop. Without characters there is no story. This book helps writers create unforgettable characters. Professional tips and a huge thesaurus of human traits helps writers create unforgettable characters. Six novelists reveal their approaches to characterization and a fill-in-the-blanks questionnaire probes characters' backgrounds, beliefs and desires.


Word Painting
Let Rebecca McClanahan guide you through an inspiring examination of description in it's many forms. With her thoughtful instruction and engaging exercises, you'll learn to develop your senses and powers of observation to uncover the rich, evocative words that accurately portray your min's images. McClanahan includes dozens of description passages written by master poets and authors to illuminate the process. She also teachers you how to weave your writing together using description as unifying thread.


American Heritage Dictionary
The latest edition of the American Heritage Dictionary is out, and that's hot news--not just for the resolute followers of lexicographical minutiae, but for the general reading and writing public as well. Why? Because the American Heritage is a long-standing favorite family dictionary (never underestimate the value of pictures) and one of the prime dictionary references for magazines, newspapers, and dot.com content providers. For scads of writers and editors across the U.S., it sets the standard on matters of style and lexicographical authority. In its favor, the fourth edition is as current a dictionary as you can get.


Roget's Thesaurus
Dr. Peter Mark Roget's first edition in 1852 was the development of a brand–new principle: the arrangement of words and phrases according to their meanings. Dr. Roget's system brings together in one place all the terms associated with a single thought or concept. Roget's International Thesaurus® is the most efficient word finder and a cutting–edge aid in stimulating thought, organizing ideas, and writing and speaking more effectively.


Ten Novel Writing Secrets
Lary Crews was a broadcast journalist for 15 years, was editor of two weekly newspapers and one regional magazine, and has taught 205 workshops & seminars at writers clubs, conferences and libraries. In addition to his books, Lary has written 405 published magazine articles, and more than 500 published magazine columns. In this highly informative and entertaining book, Lary presents ten "behind the scenes" secrets that can lead writers to publication while motivating them to get it done right.


Creating Character Emotions
In this unique book, Ann hood will help you find fresh, creative images, words and gestures to evoke feelings in your fiction. In 36 "mini-lessons," Ann sheds new light on love, hate, fear, grief, guilt, hope, jealousy and other major emotions. Each lesson offers instruction on rendering that particular sentiment; "good" and "bad" examples illustrating how writers have succeeded and where others have gone wrong; and imaginative exercises for putting the feeling into words.


Writing Dialogue
Whether you're writing an argument, a love scene, a powwow among sixth graders or scientists in a lab, this book demonstrates how to write dialogue that sounds authentic and original. You'll learn ways to find ideas for dialogue by tuning in to what you hear every day. You'll learn to use gestures instead of speech, to inset silences that are as effective as outbursts, to add shifts in tone, and other techniques for making conversations more compelling.


Writer's Legal Companion
For most writers, negotiating the legal maze of publishing is as challenging as getting their words in print. This comprehensive guide offers writers solid advice on all aspects of publishing law. Candid and readable, it cover everything from copyrights and taxes to libel laws, subsidiary rights, and the obscure clauses in publishers contracts.


Elements of Style
“Buy it, study it, enjoy it. It's as timeless as a book can be in our age of volubility.” ~ The New York Times Composition teachers throughout the English-speaking world have been pushing this book on their students since it was first published in 1957. Co-author White later revised it, and it remains the most compact and lucid handbook we have for matters of basic principles of composition, grammar, word usage and misuse, and writing style. The most indispensable writing resource! "No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent litle volume." - The Boston Globe


Writing Down the Bones
Wherein we discover that many of the "rules" for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose control and don't think. Natalie Goldberg brings a touch of both Zen and well... eroticism to her writing practice, the latter in exercises and anecdotes designed to ease you into your body, your whole spirit, while you create, the former in being where you are, working with what you have, and writing from the moment. It is a good book for the aspiring writer as well as the seasoned writer.


The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier
Most people think that good grammar leads to good writing. But the truth is that while good writing may be technically correct, it’s also strong, concise, and specific. This guide identifies the seven writing weaknesses that editors everywhere must fix again and again; in fact, almost all of an editor’s corrections on any piece of writing will come from the material covered in this book’s lessons.



Grammar Desk Reference
Engaging but not flip, thorough but not overwhelming, Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference is the perfect addition to anyone's desk. This guide provides: Comprehensive grammar instruction - readers won't need any other guide-Real-world examples and errors from well-known magazines and newspapers, making the advice even more relevant -A user-friendly package with a concealed wire binding, a colored tab system, and sidebars for easy reference.


Descriptive Word Finder
Whether they’re working on a full-length novel or short magazine article, writers can make their work fresher and more evocative with Roget’s "Perfect Word" Thesaurus. It’s the essential guide for choosing accurate, specific words--the key to any piece of good writing. Users can flip through this reference topic-by-topic to find just the right word or phrase. It’s ideal for fiction and poetry writers, as well as teachers, journalists, students and copywriters. Anyone who needs to describe something will find the help they need in this valuable desk reference.

Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul
Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul anthologizes 80 stories of heart warming writerly success. These are feel-good stories about unforgettable relatives, encouraging teachers, serendipitous encounters, memorable experiences, positive outlooks, and, yes, seemingly unbearable adversity. But even the most tragic stories here are written to inspire. Consuming the whole tureen's worth at once might be a bit much, but a spoonful here and there will help any struggling writer remember that they are part of a whole community of struggling writers.


38 Most Common Mistakes Fiction Writers Make
Fictional life, according to Jack Bickham, is better than real life. You don't get struck by lightning. You are not subject to random acts of cruelty. Events proceed logically. On the other hand, Bickham says, "In fiction, the best times for the writer--and reader--are when the story's main character is in the worst trouble." Not good if you're a fictional character. The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes is as engaging as Bickham wants your fiction to be. It is sharp, focused, funny, and pointed. And it is demanding.


The Art of Creative Non Fiction
A complete guide to the art and craft of creative nonfiction—from one of its pioneer practitioners. The challenge of creative nonfiction is to write the truth in a style that is as accurate and informative as reportage, yet as personal, provocative, and dramatic as fiction. In this one-of-a-kind guide, award-winning author, essayist, teacher, and editor Lee Gutkind gives you concise, pointed advice on every aspect of writing and selling your work. Appendices include a sample book proposal and readings.


The ABC’s of Fiction
Open this book to any page and you'll find something to charge your fiction .... Focused lessons on crafting dynamic beginnings and endings, building tension, writing effective dialogue - even naming characters and moving them from one room to another; insight on personal and professional aspects of the writing life - such as journal-keeping, dealing with rejection, building self-discipline; imaginative exercises to help you find your way into a character, get unstuck, look at your fiction in a new, more objective way.


Some Writers Deserve To Starve
While commitment and craft can take writers to the top, most will fail without the insider savvy needed to navigate the publishing industry. Not just another happily-ever-after writing book, this guide provides: 31 cold, hard truths about the realities of getting published. Boot camp and charm school all in one, this book will toughen up writers so they can survive and thrive in the publishing world.