Looks at the history of punctuation and the rules governing the use of apostrophes, commas, dashes, hyphens, colons, and semicolons.

What If? is the first handbook for writers based on the idea that specific exercises are one of the most useful and provocative methods for mastering the art of writing fiction. With more than twenty-five years of experience teaching creative writing between them, Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter offer more than seventy-five exercises for both beginners and more experienced writers. These exercises are designed to develop and refine two basic skills: writing like a writer and, just as important, thinking like a writer. They deal with such topics as discovering where to start and end a story; learning when to use dialogue and when to use indirect discourse; transforming real events into fiction; and finding language that both sings and communicates precisely. What If? will be an essential addition to every writer's library, a welcome and much-used companion, a book that gracefully borrows a whisper from the muse.

In this perfect companion for anyone beguiled by memoirs or embarking on writing one, nine distinguished authors -- Russell Baker, Jill Ker Conway, Annie Dillard, Ian Frazier, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alfred Kazin, Frank McCourt, Toni Morrison, and Eileen Simpson -- reflect on the writing process.

Reading versions of important lectures given in the 1950s demonstrate Nabokov's critical talents and reveal his judgments on the works and achievement of Austen, Dickens, Flaubert, Joyce, Kafka, Proust, and Stevenson

A step-by-step guide to writing and managing the writer's life covers each portion of a written project, addresses such concerns as writer's block and getting published, and offers awareness and survival tips

A collection of essays on life as a writer urges aspirants to the craft to take chances, learn self-acceptance, and make a daily commitment to writing

Focuses on the skills and techniques necessary for good writing, with excerpts from established writers and samples of young people's work as examples.

Provides practical coaching on writing long or short autobiographical narratives, including a history of autobiography and examples from such writers as Maya Angelou, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Russell Baker

A holistic step-by-step guide to creating an effective non-fiction book proposal offers exercises designed to help a writer track one's progress, prepare an outline, and organize marketing and publicity agendas that will attract an agent or editor. Original. 10,000 first printing.

Bringing together practical methods from both history and composition, Writing History provides a wealth of tips and advice to help students research and write essays for history classes. The book covers all aspects of writing about history, including finding topics and researching them, interpreting source materials, drawing inferences from sources, and constructing arguments. It concludes with three chapters that discuss writing effective sentences, using precise wording, and revising. Using numerous examples from the works of cultural, political, and social historians, Writing History serves as an ideal supplement to history courses that require students to conduct research. The second edition includes expanded sections on plagiarism, interviewing, and topic selection, as well as new sections on searching and using the Internet.