A veteran writing teacher shares techniques and exercises to help anyone who struggles with written communication create effective and engaging content. In almost any career, you must know how to write—even if it’s not part of your job description. But if you are a reluctant writer, producing even the simplest memo may be a struggle. Write Better Right Now is the springboard to get you ahead in any job, passion project, or situation that requires writing skills. No matter what you are called upon to do—blog posts, speeches, web content, press releases, or more—this step-by-step manual gives you the solid techniques you need to get the task done. Write Better Right Now works because it is: —Short: It takes a concise approach, from first thoughts to final edits, and its mix-and-match structure means you only have to read the sections you need. —Practical: It is loaded with summations, short cuts, tips, cheat sheets, and hands-on exercises. —Solution-driven: Knowing where you’ve gone wrong is half the battle. Write Better Right Now offers you the tools to identify your own problem patterns and choose the quickest and most appropriate fixes. You can improve your writing today. With straightforward guidance, Write Better Right Now is the quick read for productive people who need to create clear and crisp communication—right now.

From the author of the award-winning Moth Smoke comes a perspective on love, prejudice, and the war on terror that has never been seen in North American literature. At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with a suspicious, and possibly armed, American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful meeting. . . Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by Underwood Samson, an elite firm that specializes in the “valuation” of companies ripe for acquisition. He thrives on the energy of New York and the intensity of his work, and his infatuation with regal Erica promises entrée into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore. For a time, it seems as though nothing will stand in the way of Changez’s meteoric rise to personal and professional success. But in the wake of September 11, he finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and perhaps even love. Elegant and compelling, Mohsin Hamid’s second novel is a devastating exploration of our divided and yet ultimately indivisible world. “Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard: I am a lover of America. I noticed that you were looking for something; more than looking, in fact you seemed to be on a mission, and since I am both a native of this city and a speaker of your language, I thought I might offer you my services as a bridge.” —from The Reluctant Fundamentalist

In The Quickwrite Handbook, master teacher Linda Rief shares 100 compelling mentor texts and shows how to use each one as a powerful tool for sparking successful writing. Each mentor text includes “Try this” suggestions for inviting students to get started. You’ll also find “Interludes” woven throughout: examples of quickwrites that students crafted into more fully developed pieces. -- Provided by publisher.

"In Lisa Cleaveland's classroom, writing workshop is a time every day when her students make books. Katie Wood Ray guides you through the first days in Lisa's classroom, offering ideas, information, strategies, and tips to show you step by step how you can launch a writing workshop with beginning writers."--book cover

How to encourage students to face their fears and master the essential traits of good writing.