Just Write It! is a writing skills book with a difference. It teaches students to unblock their preconceptions and negative thoughts about writing. This helps them to achieve the marks that they are capable of and to realize their full potential. Authored by a professional writer and writing coach, this book uses a proven method and set of techniques that unlock creativity and teach students to fully articulate their thoughts and tackle any written task. Quizzes, exercises and checklists allow students to assess their current writing behaviour and track their improvement. Students are first introduced to general skills and techniques before learning how to apply these skills to the most common types of writing they are likely to face. This unique book covers topics including: Developing a positive attitude to writing Using objects to kick-start creativity Generating ideas and turning them into arguments Applying your new knowledge to essays, dissertations, reports and articles Writing your way to your dream job "The biggest stumbling block for some students is their writing skills, yet the ability to articulate yourself in writing is vital for success. Just Write It! is a reader-friendly, step by step book, which demystifies academic writing and breaks the process down into bite-sized chunks. It gives great practical advice in simple stages, which guide the reader to developing their writing skills." Vanessa Heaslip, Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing, Bournemouth University, UK "This is a well-designed book to support undergraduates through their university journey. It is user-friendly with its clear, easy to follow structure. This book is a great support mechanism to help undergraduates to achieve. I highly recommend this text - it is an essential resource for undergraduates!" Emma Jackson, University of Worcester, UK

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An essential volume for generations of writers young and old. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this modern classic will continue to spark creative minds for years to come. Anne Lamott is "a warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer’s world and its treacherous swamps" (Los Angeles Times). “Superb writing advice…. Hilarious, helpful, and provocative.” —The New York Times Book Review For a quarter century, more than a million readers—scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities—have been inspired by Anne Lamott’s hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anne’s father—also a writer—in the iconic passage that gives the book its title: “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”

An indispensable and distinctive book that will help anyone who wants to write, write better, or have a clearer understanding of what it means for them to be writing, from widely admired writer and teacher Verlyn Klinkenborg. Klinkenborg believes that most of our received wisdom about how writing works is not only wrong but an obstacle to our ability to write. In Several Short Sentences About Writing, he sets out to help us unlearn that “wisdom”—about genius, about creativity, about writer’s block, topic sentences, and outline—and understand that writing is just as much about thinking, noticing, and learning what it means to be involved in the act of writing. There is no gospel, no orthodoxy, no dogma in this book. Instead it is a gathering of starting points in a journey toward lively, lucid, satisfying self-expression.

After writing more than one hundred books, it still amazes me that I have been lucky enough to spend most of my life doing what I truly love: writing. What makes a writer? The desire to tell a story, a love of language, an eye for detail, practice, practice, practice. How well should you know your characters? Do you need to outline before you write? How important is length? Now Walter Dean Myers, the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and New York Times bestselling and award-winning author, walks you through the writing process. Includes: Examples from his writing and reading experiences Walter's six-box and four-box outlines for writing fiction and nonfiction Excerpted pages from Walter's own notebooks An afterword by Ross Workman, Walter's teen coauthor of kick Writing tips from both Walter and Ross Anyone can be a writer, with a little help from Walter Dean Myers!

A structured approach to creative writing, Just Write guides students through the writing process from initial idea to final edited and published narrative. Models are provided and students are encouraged to be creative.

This is a basic, short guide that helps students make the transition to writing at college or university as simple as possible, providing them with the basic skills they need to write in an effective academic style. The authors draw on their own work to demystify the academic writing process that many students, in all disciplines, find daunting. By understanding exactly what obstacles students face when approaching writing at university they offer proven advice that is simple, uncomplicated and easily achievable. Clear and accessible, this book gives students step-by-step advice to overcome the main hurdles. It covers: overcoming apprehension – then making sure you know exactly what you are supposed to do planning reading – managing your time and keeping your focus, helping you get the material that needs to be in your work getting organised – you are ready to write the first draft, take a break and finally come back and edit it. Jargon-free, the book helps students at all levels of higher education to write clearly and persuasively, expressing both opinions and findings.

Set in Big Sky Country, a triumphant collection of stories written with a comic genius in the vein of Twain and Gogol—from from the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts, “one of America's best short-story writers of the last 50 years" (The Boston Globe) These stories attest to the generous compass of Thomas McGuane's fellow feeling, as well as to his unique way with words. In this collection, filled with grace and humor, the ties of family make for uncomfortable binds: A devoted son is horrified to discover his mother's antics before she slipped into dementia, and a father's outdoor skills are no match for a change in the weather. But complications arise equally in the absence of blood, as when lifelong friends on a fishing trip finally confront their deep dislike for each other. Or when a gifted traveling cattle breeder succumbs to the lure of a stranger's offer of easy money. McGuane is as witty and large-hearted as we have ever known him, and Crow Fair is a jubilant, thunderous confirmation of his status as a modern master.

This beautiful gift is for writers at any stage, whether you're just starting out or know exactly what you want to write. It's a full writing course, packed with information, support, advice, ideas and tools to help you focus your writing and share it with the world. It includes a 6-month subscription to Writing Magazine and a beautiful notebook in which to record your thoughts and ideas on the go, or as you listen to the accompanying MP3 CD.Full of inspiring, creativity-boosting suggestions, you'll not only learn how to write with confidence but also discover how the publishing industry works, who does what, and how decisions are made. Discover the tips, tricks and insider secrets that will help you fine-tune your creative writing - and launch your publishing career.Includes: Chris Sykes' Complete Creative Writing Course- the 368pp book Complete Creative Writing Course - the audio accompaniment to the Complete Creative Writing Course book.The Insider's Guide to Publishing - full of tips and insights (Features the key content from Teach Yourself's Get Your Book Published and Get Started in Self-Publishing)Deluxe notebook for when inspiration strikes6-month subscription to Writing MagazineABOUT THE SERIESTheTeach Yourself Creative Writing series helps aspiring authors tell their stories. Covering a range of genres from science fiction and romantic novels to illustrated children's books and comedy, this series is packed with advice, exercises, and tips for unlocking creativity and improving your writing. And because we know how daunting the blank page can be, we set up the Just Write online community, at tyjustwrite.com, for budding authors and successful writers to connect and share.

A powerful National Book Award Finalist from the acclaimed, bestselling author of Monster. "This novel is like photorealism; it paints a vivid and genuine portrait of life that will have a palpable effect on its readers." (School Library Journal starred review) With Harlem as its backdrop, Autobiography of My Dead Brother follows the diverging paths of best friends Rise and Jesse. When Rise becomes engulfed in gang activity and starts dealing drugs, Jesse, a budding artist, tries to make sense of the complexities of friendship, loyalty, and loss in a neighborhood plagued by drive-by shootings, vicious gangs, and an indifferent juvenile justice system. The innovative first-person storytelling, along with cartoons and photos, pulls in readers and makes Autobiography of My Dead Brother a strong and thought-provoking choice for sharing in a classroom or at home. "Though the story is starkly realistic, there is always hope in the gifts of Jesse the artist and C. J. the musician, of schools and churches and of caring parents." (Kirkus) "Touching and impactful, Autobiography cannot fail to intrigue, and hopefully influence youngsters with its poignant statement of two roads taken." (Judges' Citation, National Book Award)

Have you been meaning to write a book all your life? Do you have a story in your head that won't go away? Well, isn't it about time you did something about that? Written by professional writer, blogger, and televison critic Brandon Scott, this book will not only teach you how to write a book, but also what it really takes to be a writer. Presented in short, actionable instructions and easy-to-read refrences, it'll take you through the steps to not only write one book, but to always be able to write a book. It may not be your fault that you've still not completed your book. There's simply mindset, routines, and learnable skills you've been missing. So, let's change all that. Let's make you an author.