
One has to look no further than the audiences hungry for the narratives served up by Downton Abbey or Wolf Hall to know that the lure of the past is as seductive as ever. But incorporating historical events and figures into a shapely narrative is no simple task. The acclaimed novelist Christopher Bram examines how writers as disparate as Gabriel Garc a M rquez, David McCullough, Toni Morrison, Leo Tolstoy, and many others have employed history in their work.
Unique among the "Art Of" series, The Art of History engages with both fiction and narrative nonfiction to reveal varied strategies of incorporating and dramatizing historical detail. Bram challenges popular notions about historical narratives as he examines both successful and flawed passages to illustrate how authors from different genres treat subjects that loom large in American history, such as slavery and the Civil War. And he delves deep into the reasons why War and Peace endures as a classic of historical fiction. Bram's keen insight and close reading of a wide array of authors make The Art of History an essential volume for any lover of historical narrative.

- Sample script formats, page-by-page outlines, scene-by-scene outlines and short pitches that show you exactly how to create these important components of the writing process
- Diagrams and pages from published comics to illustrate key concepts
- Tips on professional development, networking and navigating the comics industry
These pages include all the tools you need to write great comics, but where do you begin? Begin with yourself. You have to know--not believe--know: You can do this, and this guide will help. Now, begin with Chapter 1...

This is a book to be relished one awakening at a time. Each story is a reminder that no matter how hard the situation or desolate you may feel, spring will come again, breaking through a cold winter, bringing early yellow forsythia flowers. And the Great Spring of enlightenment--that sudden rush of acceptance, pain cracking open, obstructions shattering--will also burst forth.

Writers of memoir and narrative nonfiction are experiencing difficult days with the discovery that some well-known works in the genre contain exaggerations--or are partially fabricated. But what are the parameters of creative nonfiction? Keep It Real begins by defining creative nonfiction. Then it explores the flexibility of the form--the liberties and the boundaries that allow writers to be as truthful, factual, and artful as possible. A succinct but rich compendium of ideas, terms, and techniques, Keep It Real clarifies the ins and outs of writing creative nonfiction. Starting with acknowledgment of sources, running through fact-checking, metaphor, and navel gazing, and responsibilities to their subjects, this book provides all the information you need to write with verve while remaining true to your story.

In this distinctive guide to the craft of writing, author Laraine Herring shows us how to tune into our bodies and connect with our emotions so that our writing becomes an expression of our full beings, rather than just an intellectual exercise. With warmth and wisdom, Herring offers a path to discovering deep writing--prose that is unique, expressive, and profoundly authentic. Lessons and imaginative exercises show you how to: stay with your writing when your mind or body starts to pull you away; explore the five senses in your writing; and approach your writing without judgment.
Writing Begins with the Breath will open up a whole world of creativity for people who may not have considered themselves writers before, while also providing keen insights into the craft for seasoned writers.
- beyond showing versus telling
- your story's emotional world
- moral stakes
- connecting the inner and outer journeys
- plot as emotional opportunities
- invoking higher emotions, symbols, and emotional language
- cascading change
- story as emotional mirror
- positive spirit and magnanimous writing
- the hidden current that makes stories move
Readers can simply read a novel...or they can experience it. The Emotional Craft of Fiction shows you how to make that happen.

In this accessible and distilled craft guide, acclaimed poet Tony Hoagland approaches poetry through the frame of poetic voice, that mysterious connective element that binds the speaker and reader together. In short, essayistic chapters and an appendix of thirty stimulating exercises, The Art of Voice explores the myriad ways to create a distinctive poetic voice, including vernacular, authoritative statement, speech register, tone-shifting, and using secondary voices. "Rich with lively examples" (New York Times Book Review), The Art of Voice provides a compelling introduction to contemporary poetry and an invaluable guide for any practicing writer.

This book in the series applies Eastern philosophies to writing exercises. By tapping into the true flow of their creativity, writers can discover and develop their talents. The author uses the connection between teaching, writing and the tenets of the tao to help writers hone their craft from a new perspective.


The sensory details that infuse our everyday experience--the smell of a favorite dish cooking, the texture of a well-worn coat, hearing a song that reminds you of a person or a time in your life--can be used to add richness and spark to what we write. Whether you are a professional writer (or want to be one) or someone who enjoys just writing for your own personal fulfillment, Writing from the Senses will show you how to tap into an endless source of engaging material, using your senses as prompts. The exercises will stimulate you to develop stories, imagery, and details that will allow readers to see, taste, hear, smell, and feel that they're in the scene.
Writing from the Senses
-Provides 60 prompts and creative writing exercises organized by sense;
-Presents engaging narratives, personal essays, and instruction to entertain and inform readers and illustrate the effectiveness of each exercise;
-Helps writers recognize the sensory prompts that surround them daily and use them to trigger their individual stories; and
-Shows how freewrites from the prompts in this book can result in publishable pieces.