Grand themes and complex plots are just the beginning of a great piece of fiction. Mastering the nuts and bolts of grammar and prose mechanics is also an essential part of becoming a literary artist. This indispensable guide, created just for writers of fiction, will show you how to take your writing to the next level by exploring the finer points of language. Funny, readable, and wise, this book explores the tools of the fiction writer’s trade, from verb tenses to pronouns to commas and b...

East Breed’s Pennsylvania, is the sort of blue-collar town that simmers with barely concealed prejudices. One Friday night, in the parking lot of a chain restaurant, a brutal fight breaks out between the privileged boys from St. Brendan's and a group of kids from the local high school. Casey Fielder, the restaurant's manager, watches the melee but does nothing to stop it. When the fight ends, Colin Chase, a handsome, cocky St. Brendan’s student, is severely brain-damaged. Haunting and hear...

A New York Times bestseller—"Part ode, part how-to guide to the art of the well-constructed sentence" (NPR).Some appreciate fine art; others appreciate fine wines. Stanley Fish appreciates fine sentences. The New York Times columnist and world-class professor has long been an aficionado of language. Like a seasoned sportscaster, Fish marvels at the adeptness of finely crafted sentences and breaks them down into digestible morsels, giving readers an...

A fully revised and updated edition with writing prompts and challenges in every chapterToday’s writers need more spunk than Strunk: whether it's the Great American e-mail, Madison Avenue advertising, or Grammy Award-winning rap lyrics, memorable writing must jump off the page. Copy veteran Constance Hale is on a mission to make creative communication, both the lyrical and the unlawful, an option for everyone.With its crisp, witty tone, Sin and Synt...

Without grammar, you can't say much; but without vocabulary, you can't say anything! This book, for students of English as a Second or Foreign Language, will teach you 50 ways to learn, practice, and remember vocabulary in English. By applying these methods, you will improve your ability to understand and express yourself in English.Categories covered include Finding and Learning New Words; Flashcards; Practicing and Remembering Vocabulary; and Vocabulary Games.You do not n...

Many textbooks do a fine job of presenting grammar to students. However, some students or classes need more practice after they've finished the exercises in their textbook. This guide provides imaginative and enjoyable games, drills, and activities to practice different grammatical structures such as verb tenses, articles, phrasal verbs, pronouns, relative clauses, modals, word forms, syntax, and more.This book is divided into three categories:a) Reading-writing exercises

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.Great writing isn’t born, it’s built—sentence by sentence. But too many writers—and writing guides—overlook this most important unit. The result? Manuscripts that will never be published and writing careers that will never begin.With chapters on “Conjunctions That Kill” and “Words Gone Wild,” t...

The newest edition of Jan Venolia’s best-selling guide, Write Right! is an essential resource for writers with 500,000+ copies sold since publication.**In this age of electronic correspondence and self-produced documents, we need a useful and reliable writing guide more than ever. Write Right! covers the essentials of good writing in a concise and easy-to-follow format. The new edition of this classic handbook takes you through the entire writing process,...

From the celebrated Ursula K. Le Guin, "a writer of enormous intelligence and wit, a master storyteller" (Boston Globe), the revised and updated edition of her classic guide to the essentials of a writer's craft.Completely revised and rewritten to address modern challenges and opportunities, this essential creative writing handbook is a short, deceptively simple guide to the craft of writing.Le Guin lays out ten chapters that address the most funda...

Having an addiction can follow the path of a great relationship that goes sour: there’s the first blush of romance, the seduction (“you know you want to”), and the downward spiral into either obsession or breaking free.Jill Talbot is no stranger to addiction. Part autobiography, part exposé, Loaded: Women and Addiction weaves Talbot's own battles with addiction with various addiction stories of other women. The result is a captivating, honest look at the allure of addictio...

"Very much a manual for the 21st century . . . a welcome addition to the bookshelf of anyone who cares about language-and is willing to argue about it." — New York Times Book ReviewEarly in the history of English, the words "grammar" and "glamour" meant the same thing: the power to charm. Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical ...

EVERYTHING YOU NEED to write the TOEFL essay with confidence. And the essay, also known as the Test of Written English, is the hardest part of the test-one that keeps many test takers from succeeding. Ace the TOEFL Essay (TWE) gives you simple and clear instruction on what you need to know to score well and provides real essay samples that you can relate to. You'll get the lowdown on what you need to score high in an easy-to-understand format, with everything from lessons on punctuation to...