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...

From New York Times bestselling author Susan Issacs, a “deliciously wicked” (Publishers Weekly) story of three cousins and a fortune.Imagine King Lear as a comedy…At seventy-nine, Gloria Garrison must plan for the future of Glory, Inc., the beauty-makeover business that she has grown from zilch into an eleven-million-dollar-per-year bonanza. Gloria’s never been big on family, but she’s forced to contemplate her three grandkids as ...

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...

This new collection holds the best 101 stories from Chicken Soup for the Soul's library on the special bond between mothers and daughters, and the magical, mysterious similarities between them.How often have you seen a teenage girl pretend to be perturbed, but secretly smile, when she is told that she acts or looks just like her mother? Fathers, brothers, and friends shake their head in wonder as girls “turn into their mothers.” This book contains the 101 best stor...

IF YOU'RE TIRED OF REJECTION, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.Whether you are a novice writer or a veteran who has already had your work published, rejection is often a frustrating reality. Literary agents and editors receive and reject hundreds of manuscripts each month. While it's the job of these publishing professionals to be discriminating, it's the job of the writer to produce a manuscript that immediately stands out among the vast competition. And those outstanding...