The Guardian's 2008 'How to Write' supplements were a huge success with wordsmiths of all stripes. Covering fiction, poetry, comedy, screenwriting, biography and journalism, they offered invaluable advice and bags of encouragement from a range of leading professionals, including Catherine Tate on writing memorable comedy characters, Robert Harris on penning bestelling fiction and Michael Rosen on constructing stories that will appeal to young people. This boo...

For each of the 101 topics, a question from that topic is provided along with a model answer to that question. The questions are typical of those asked in part 3 of the IELTS speaking module and the model answers are suitable responses, though candidates are advised to modify the model answers and add to them as appropriate.

From Alan Bennett's Baffled at a Bookcase, to Lucy Mangan's Library Rules, famous writers tell us all about how libraries are used and why they're important. Tom Holland writes about libraries in the ancient world, while Seth Godin describes what a library will look like in the future. Lionel Shriver thinks books are the best investment, Hardeep Singh Kohli makes a confession and Julie Myerson remembers how her career began beside the shelves. Using memoir, history, polemic and some short ...

Foreword by Frances HardingeThe annual, bestselling guide to all aspects of the media and how to write and illustrate for children and young adults. Acknowledged by the media industries and authors as the essential guide to how to get published.The 70+ articles are updated and added to each year. Together they provide invaluable guidance on subjects such as series fiction, writing historical or funny books, preparing an illustration portfolio, managing your...

For Who the Bell Tolls is a book that explains the grammar that people really need to know, such as the fact that an apostrophe is the difference between a company that knows its s*** and a company that knows it's s***, or the importance of capital letters to avoid ambiguity in such sentences as 'I helped my Uncle Jack off his horse.'David Marsh's lifelong mission has been to create order out of chaos. For four decades, he has worked for newspapers, from the Sun t...

From an acclaimed linguist, " part travelogue, part memoir, and part meditation on the intellectual and emotional underpinnings of language. . . . Priceless." ( Booklist)In this discursive jaunt through the groves and thickets of the English language, David Crystal creates an entertaining narrative account of his encounters with the language and its speakers. Woven from personal reflections, historical allusions, and observations of travel...

A journey of discovery through the ins and outs of reproduction in the animal kingdom**'**Written with Bill Bryson–like wit' Booklist**'**A writer who blends professional expertise in zoology with charm, wit, and a cockeyed sense of humor. What better guide through nature's red-light district could one ask for?' Natural History Magazine1,000 million years ago, a sexual revolution occurred on Earth....

We read for all sorts of reasons: pleasure, education, escapism, intellectual stimulation. The act of reading is a private, personal one that we love to share with our friends and families. Reading and books form a world rich in detail, memory and emotion.In On Reading, Robert McCrum draws together his Observer columns to reflect on what reading brings us, how to best go about it and how what we read is shifting and changing as new technologies open up new ways of telling stories.A fascinatin...

Write to Publish is the ideal guide for anyone who wants to see their articles in print. Whether you want to make a living as a freelance journalist, edit a newsletter, or contribute occasional articles to a small publication, it gives you all the information you need to get started.Vin Maskell and Gina Perry have compiled a complete overview to the process of writing an article-from the initial idea, to research, writing, editing, and finding a publisher.Write to Publish f...

A book to put the Midlands back on the map.Everyone knows what they think of the North and South of England – the clichés abound. But what about that big, anonymous stretch of land in between: the Midlands? Despite being home to around a third of the English population, it’s a region that seems to have neither purpose nor identity. In this humorous exploration, the author – a Midlander exiled in London – sets off on a tour of the country’s belly in order to piece together his Midla...

But what does your furniture point at?' asks the character Joey in the sitcom Friends on hearing an acquaintance has no TV. It's a good question: since its beginnings during WW2, television has assumed a central role in our houses and our lives, just as satellite dishes and aerials have become features of urban skylines. Television (or 'the idiot's lantern', depending on your feelings about it) has created controversy, brought coronations and World Cups into living rooms, allowed ...

A manifesto for clear writing and an indictment of the damage done to the English language by the use of jargonJohn Rentoul examines how poor writing and a reliance on jargon have damaged our ability to communicate with each other and makes the case for the use of clear English. He addresses the verbification of nouns, the use of waffle to pad out a simple statement, and the importing of business jargon into everyday situations. Unashamedly polemical in ton...