Transform your writing! If you're ready to empower your writing but are unsure of where to start, let Keys to Great Writing Revised and Expanded show you the way. Award-winning author and veteran writing coach Stephen Wilbers provides invaluable instruction on every aspect of the craft, from word choice and sentence structure to organization and revision. In this edition, you'll find: • Self-assessments to strengthen your sentences and paragraphs, evaluate your goals, and approach your writing with confidence. • Practical and easy-to-understand techniques for utilizing economy, precision, action, music, and personality. • Helpful tips and techniques for the writing process, including advice on prewriting, drafting, revising, and proofreading. • Exercises, checklists, and more to refine your writing skills. For more than a decade, Keys to Great Writing has helped writers of all experience levels infuse their work with clarity, grace, and style. With the revised and expanded edition at your fingertips, you'll have the tools to invigorate your prose and develop a unique and effective voice.

Make Every Word Memorable! To be remembered for your words, you need to write with skill and style. Whether you're crafting a novel, composing an e-mail, or creating a technical report, Mastering the Craft of Writing presents 52 practical techniques to improve your prose. Spend a week with each technique, or use this book as a go-to reference. Either way, you'll have the tools to enliven your writing and delight your readers. • Write with economy: Eliminate wordiness, use strong verbs to drive your sentences, and don't trust modifiers. • Write with emphasis: Use punctuation for effect, structure sentences and paragraphs for coherency and flow, and employ repetition to make your point. • Write with distinction: Use your imagination to create the unexpected, add a light-hearted touch to your writing, and go beyond clarity to eloquence and grace. With exercises, entertaining asides, and a wealth of useful information, Mastering the Craft of Writing is an invaluable resource for any writer. Once you master these techniques, you'll want to use them in everything you write.

Transform your writing! If you're ready to empower your writing but are unsure of where to start, let Keys to Great Writing Revised and Expanded show you the way. Award-winning author and veteran writing coach Stephen Wilbers provides invaluable instruction on every aspect of the craft, from word choice and sentence structure to organization and revision. In this edition, you'll find: • Self-assessments to strengthen your sentences and paragraphs, evaluate your goals, and approach your writing with confidence. • Practical and easy-to-understand techniques for utilizing economy, precision, action, music, and personality. • Helpful tips and techniques for the writing process, including advice on prewriting, drafting, revising, and proofreading. • Exercises, checklists, and more to refine your writing skills. For more than a decade, Keys to Great Writing has helped writers of all experience levels infuse their work with clarity, grace, and style. With the revised and expanded edition at your fingertips, you'll have the tools to invigorate your prose and develop a unique and effective voice.

Acclaim for Structuring Your Novel "I have long wished for a book like this. Structuring Your Novel is so much more than a writing craft book-it's a recipe to help writers structure a deep, meaningful journey for their hero that will captivate readers from beginning to end."-Angela Ackerman, Author of The Emotion Thesaurus "There is absolute gold in this book-and I am grateful that the author has a real talent for distilling some of the somewhat clunky information found elsewhere, into really simple-to-understand and easy-to-follow techniques."-Robert Scanlon "This book shows a writer how to structure their novel from beginning to end in a no-nonsense manner. It's fast and easy reading, and MAKES SENSE "-Carrie C. Spencer About the Book Is Structure the Hidden Foundation of All Successful Stories? Why do some stories work and others don't? The answer is structure. In this IPPY and NIEA-Award winning guide from the author of the bestselling Outlining Your Novel, you will learn the universal underpinnings that guarantee powerful plot and character arcs. An understanding of proper story and scene structure will show you how to perfectly time your story's major events and will provide you with an unerring standard against which to evaluate your novel's pacing and progression. Structuring Your Novel will show you: How to determine the best techniques for empowering your unique and personal vision for your story. How to identify common structural weaknesses and flip them around into stunning strengths. How to eliminate saggy middles by discovering your "centerpiece." Why you should NEVER include conflict in every scene. How to discover the questions you don't want readers asking about your plot-and then how to get them to ask the right questions. Story structure has enabled countless bestselling and classic authors. Now it's your turn More Praise for Structuring Your Novel "K.M. Weiland delivers another exceptional resource for writers-offering practical guidance on everything from crafting a book's hook to its resolution."-Elizabeth Spann Craig, Author of the Myrtle Clover Mysteries "Structuring Your Novel will give you the blueprint for making your story more powerful. I'm taking this one with me to my desert island "-Jennifer Ibarra "After finishing the book, I reviewed my own writing and was easily able to see where the story wasn't working, understand why it wasn't, and figure out what I needed to do to fix it."-Abby Geiger More storytelling assistance from K.M. Weiland: Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success-Can outlining help you write a better story?

Provides advice from experienced authors on the process of writing and explains how to get into the state of flow easily.

Your Expert Guide to Writing and Publishing a Novel In this revised and expanded edition of Your First Novel, novelist Laura Whitcomb, seasoned literary agent Ann Rittenberg, and her knowledgeable assistant, Camille Goldin, team up to provide you with the essential skills needed to craft the best novel you can--and the savvy business know-how to get it published. Complete with updated references, analysis of new best-selling novels, and the same detailed instruction, Whitcomb will show you how to: • Practice the craft of writing, using both your right- and left-brain • Develop a flexible card system for organizing and outlining plot • Create dynamic characters that readers love--and love to hate • Study classic novels and story structure to adapt with your ideas Featuring two new chapters on choosing your path as an author and understanding the world of self-publishing, Rittenberg and Goldin dive into the business side of publishing, including: • What agents can--and should--do for your future • Who you should target as an agent for your burgeoning career • How the mysterious auction for novels actually goes down • Why you should learn to work with your agent through thick and thin Guiding your first novel from early words to a spot on the bookshelf can be an exciting and terrifying journey, but you're not alone. Alongside the advice of industry veterans, Your First Novel Revised and Expanded also includes plenty of firsthand accounts from published authors on their journeys, including Dennis Lehane, C.J. Box, Kathleen McCleary, David Kazzie, and more.

This concise composition handbook offers innovative design features that make it the most accessible tabbed handbook available: moveable KeyTabs that allow students to personalize the book, a menu-driven Key to the Book, and color-coded divider tabs to help students find information quickly. Complete coverage of grammar and the writing, research, and documentation processes are complemented by helpful multilingual/ESL material, Writing Across the Curriculum elements, and The 5Cs of Style. In recent years, technology has touched every aspect of writing and research and the Third Edition of Keys for Writers keeps pace with students' changing needs. This thorough revision now offers a full-color design; substantial new material on evaluating sources and the use of technology for research and writing; expanded coverage of writing online and document design; the most up-to-date MLA, APA, CMS, CBE, and CGOS guidelines; integrated ESL resources; and an expanded section on argument. New! A new Part 5, Technology: For Communication, Document Design, and Work, presents the latest information on writing for online readers, e-mail discussion lists, and chatrooms. Ample illustrations--including a sample student web site and an online scannable resume--and easy-to-understand explanations address web site and document design as well as work-related documents. New! The new full-color design highlights important information and clearly depicts web graphics, charts, and other visuals. New! Completely up-to-date documentation coverage features the latest MLA and APA styles, as updated on their respective web sites, the Columbia Guide to Online Style, many new student examples, and a new student paper. Two rows of color-coded divider tabs aid students in finding information quickly. Red tabs (Parts 1-5) cover whole paper issues: the writing process, research and documentation, online and business writing, and document design. Gold tabs (Parts 6-10) cover sentence-level issues such as usage, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics. Color-coded Key to the Book, an initial menu page, aligns the table of contents with the divider tabs to help students flip directly to the part they need. Its colors correspond to those of the divider tabs. Unique moveable KeyTabs serve as bookmarks, extended margins, or note cards, and enable students to customize the book for quick access to the information they decide they need most. Key Points boxes present concise summaries and checklists to highlight vital information and encourage the development of editing and critical-thinking skills. New! Updated and expanded information includes a new section on evaluating sources, a new source list for 24 disciplines, compiled in consultation with 19 college librarians, and a thoroughly revised section on the process of writing a research paper. New! The expanded Writing an Argument section includes a sample student argument paper on telemarketing. Students learn to formulate an argument, support it with evidence, and address opposing views. New! Content changes and additions include integrated ESL coverage throughout, and increased emphasis on style, critical thinking, and writing across the curriculum.