This volume explores a dimension of authorship not given its due in the critical discourse to this point—authorship contested. Much of the existing critical literature begins with a text and the proposition that the text has an author. The debates move from here to questions about who the author is, whether or not the author’s identity is even relevant, and what relationship she or he does and does not have to the text. The authors contributing to this collection, however, ask about circum...

We Find Ourselves in Other People’s Stories: On Narrative Collapse and a Lifetime Search for Story is a collection of five essays that dissolves the boundary between personal writing and academic writing, a longstanding binary construct in the discipline of composition and writing studies, in order to examine the rhetorical effects of narrative collapse on the stories we tell about ourselves and others. Taken together, the essays theorize the relationships between language and vio...

When Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign as governor of New York in August 2021, a commentator on CNN remarked that he had "not gotten his own memo" on sexual harassment that he had signed into law two years earlier. Misogyny in English Departments theorizes the results of a qualitative empirical study of the ways women in U.S. college and university English departments experience misogyny, and the effects that misogyny has on their personal and professional lives. It seems that we ...

Elizabeth George is one of the most successful writers of crime fiction in the world. All her novels have appeared on bestseller lists in the UK, USA and Australia and several of them have been adapted for television by the BBC as the Inspector Lynley Mysteries. She has also written a collection of short stories and edited two crime anthologies. Now she shares this wealth of experience with would-be novelists and with crime fiction fans. Drawing extensively on her own work, and that of oth...

W. Somerset Maugham famously said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." From the standpoint that every novel is unique, Maugham had a point. But, are there fundamentals inherent in writing long-form fiction? Yes. Are these basics properly termed "rules"? Might be a stretch, but, considering literary license is in play, it’s probably ok. Are there just three? Not hardly. However, a clear elucidation of the "rules" and how to use them is j...

"Reminiscent of Stephen King's fiction handbook On Writing. . . . An accessible indispensable nonfiction guidebook from an authority who knows his subject." — Kirkus ReviewsWhether you're writing a rags-to-riches tell-all memoir or literary journalism, telling true stories well is hard work. In You Can't Make This Stuff Up, Lee Gutkind, "the godfather behind creative non-fiction ( ...

The bestselling author of Take Off Your Pants!, the popular outlining guide for writers, is back with another how-to manual for those seeking to start a career in historical fiction.There’s no doubt that historical fiction is popular with readers. In fact, the genre is expanding all the time, gaining market share and influencing other media at a rapid pace. But the HF market has some peculiar quirks that can challenge any writer.In Making It in Historical Ficti...

Who doesn't dream of writing a novel while holding on to a day job? Robert J. Ray and coauthor Bret Norris can help readers do just that, with this proven practical and accessible step-by-step guide to completing a novel in just a year's worth of weekends. The Weekend Novelist shows writers of all levels how to divide their writing time into weekend work sessions, and how to handle character, scene, and plot. This new, revised version is f...

Words skillfully guides you, step by step, through your entire writing project. Written in a conversational style, Words explains how to shape, focus, organize, and polish your nonfiction writing. It coaches you through the process of discovering what you want to say, how you want to say it, and how you convey your ideas with precision, clarity, and confidence. Words is for born writers, aspiring writers, and for people who have writing thrust upon them. If you are a student, Words provide...

Do you want to write but can’t seem to get started? Are you struggling to finish your novel or frustrated by your slow progress? Perhaps you are starting to worry that you aren’t cut out for the writing life…Let bestselling novelist and host of the popular Worried Writer podcast, Sarah Painter, show you how to skip past negativity, free-up writing time, cope with self-doubt, and beat procrastination.Along with mega successful authors such as C.L.Taylor, Mar...

Want to take your writing to the next level? Discover the “secrets” of story structure other authors are overlooking!If you’ve read all the books on story structure and concluded there has to be more to it than just three acts and a couple of plot points, then you’re absolutely right! It’s time to notch up your writing education from “basic” to “black belt.” Internationally published author K.M. Weiland shares five “secret” techniques of advanced story structure.

For the twice-published novelist, reading an article about herself in the National Enquirer—under the headline "Here's One for the Books: Cleaning Lady Is an Acclaimed Author"—was more than a shock. It was an inspiration.In A Broom of One's Own, Nancy Peacock, whose first novel was selected by the New York Times as a Notable Book of the Year, explores with warmth, wit, and candor what it means to be a writer. An encouragement to all hard-working artists, ...