Footnotes have not had it easy. Their dominance of eighteenth- and nineteenth- century literature and scholarship was both hard-won -- following many years of struggle -- and doomed, as it led to belittlement in the twentieth century. In The Devil's Details, Chuck Zerby playfully explores footnotes' long and illustrious history and makes a clarion call to save them from the new world of the Internet and hypertext.
In a story that boasts a marvelous plot and a rogues' gallery of players, Zerby examines traditional footnotes and their less-buttoned-down incarnations, as when used by pornographers. Yes, The Devil's Details is full of surprises: Zerby hunts down the first bona fide fully functioning footnote; unearths a multivolume history of Northumberland County, England, that uses one volume for a single footnote; and uncovers a murder plot. He even explains why footnotes are like blind dates.
Carefully researched and highly opinionated, The Devil's Details affirms that delight in reading can come from unexpected places

Steven Frank has a new approach to writing: fun first, rules to follow, success for all. In The Pen Commandments, his offbeat and entertaining guide, he's given us a book that all writers can turn to for help and a good laugh.

A highly original and intelligent investigation of the novel from celebrated writer and "gentle genius" E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster's renowned guide to writing sparkles with wit and insight for contemporary writers and readers. With lively language and excerpts from well-known classics, Forster takes on the seven elements vital to a novel: story, people, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern, and rhythm. He not only defines and explains such terms as "round" versus "flat" characters (and why both are needed for an effective novel), but also provides examples of writing from such literary greats as Dickens and Austen. Forster's original commentary illuminates and entertains without lapsing into complicated, scholarly rhetoric, coming together in a key volume on writing that avoids chronology and what he calls "pseudoscholarship."

Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here at last is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the techniques of the editing trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories.

In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited.

Playful and practical, this is the style book you can't wait to use, a guide that addresses classic questions of English usage with wit and the blackest of humor. Black-and-white illustrations throughout.

Can writing truly be taught? Can people train themselves to -write like a writer, ' or, more importantly, -think like a writer'? These frequently asked questions are the subject of this collection of exercises designed to teach the basic craft of writing fiction. aEach of the nearly 75 exercises in What If? teaches a skill or concept that will help students with the technical fundamentals of writing fiction. The award-winning authors (including a 1989 New York Times Notable Book of the Year for Professor Bernays' Romeo) deal with such topics as discovering where to start and end a story; learning when to use dialogue and when to use indirect discourse; creating and naming vivid characters; transforming real events into fiction; and finding language that both sings and communicates precisely.

From the author of On Writing Well comes a book on how to write clearly aboutany subject--and how to use writing as a means of learning.

A practical guide for how to make your writing come alive, by the bestselling author of A Writer's Notebook and the ALA Notable Book Fig Pudding.

What is "live writing"? It's the kind of writing that has a current running through it--energy, electricity, juice. This book is a young writer's toolbox for bringing writing to life. But instead of awls and hammers, this toolbox contains words, imagination, a love of books, a sense of story, and ideas for how to make the writing live and breathe.

Perfect for classrooms, Live Writing is full of practical wisdom for young writers, from bestselling writer Ralph Fletcher. Aspiring writers will devour these tips for how to make their words jump off the page

This classic guide, from the renowned novelist and professor, has helped transform generations of aspiring writers into masterful writers--and will continue to do so for many years to come.