The latest book in the Straightforward Guide to Creative Writing series updates and builds upon the previous edition by introducing new techniques and practical workshops. The reader is given a firm grounding in the art of creative writing. This guide is the perfect book for all those who wish to develop their skills in this area, whether through a course of study or as a hobby. The book provides the essential knowledge needed to approach this increasingly marketable area.

The perfect book for those who wish to concentrate on writing features and reviews for newspapers and other media. Adopting a methodical step-by-step approach, this new edition of A Straightforward Guide to Freelance Writing updates and builds on topics covered in the previous edition. The reader is given a firm grounding in the craft of writing and the book contains all the basic information needed to develop a career as a freelance writer.

Submit, Publish, Repeat is the definitive guide to publishing your creative writing in literary journals. It helps writers of all levels navigate the often confusing world of literary journals.In this book, you'll learn how to find the right literary journals to submit to, maximize your chances of publication, and build momentum in your writing career.Publishing in literary journals is one of the best ways to find the attention of major publishers. Many, many books deals had their origins in publication by literary journals.A literary journal is a magazine that specializes in publishing works of literary merit. Some focus on a particular genre, like science fiction or crime writing, and others publish poetry, short stories, or flash fiction. Most are open to work of all kinds. Many are open to visual art, as well.If you want to publish poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, or any type of creative writing in literary journals, this book is for you. It gives you an easy-to-follow formula for publishing your work.

Explore Your Motivations. Replenish Your Creativity. Define Your Vision for Success. To become a more creative, confident, and productive writer, you need to focus your attention, visualize your desires, set clearly defined goals, and take action toward your dreams. Let Creative Visualization for Writers be your guide on this journey of self-discovery. You'll learn how to: • Evaluate your beliefs and shed self-defeating behaviors. • Determine your destination by visualizing your ideas and goals. • Develop an Author Attitude that will help you write, achieve, earn, and produce more. • Discover new ways to foster your creativity and productivity. • Affirm that you have what it takes to succeed. Featuring more than 100 exercises and prompts to spark new writing ideas and give you a creative boost, as well as coloring pages to encourage relaxation, Creative Visualization for Writers helps you transform your dreams into reality and find joy in the creative process.

In her entertaining and edifying New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and tricks of the masters to discover why their work has endured. Written with passion, humour and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire readers to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart – to take pleasure in the long and magnificent sentences of Philip Roth and the breathtaking paragraphs of Isaac Babel; to look to John le Carré for a lesson in how to advance plot through dialogue and to Flannery O’ Connor for the cunning use of the telling detail; to be inspired by Emily Brontë ’ s structural nuance and Charles Dickens’ s deceptively simple narrative techniques. Most importantly, Prose cautions readers to slow down and pay attention to words, the raw material out of which all literature is crafted, and reminds us that good writing comes out of good reading.

The second edition of A Straightforward Guide to Writing Romantic Fiction is intended to give the reader a firm grounding in the art of writing romantic fiction. The reader is given an insight into the art of creative writing and the book contains all the basic information needed to develop a successful career. A Straightforward Guide to Writing Romantic Fiction provides all the knowledge needed to approach this increasingly marketable area with confidence.

A Straightforward Guide to Getting the Best out of Your Retirement is a companion volume to Straightforward's Planning for Retirement. This book concentrates specifically on housing, health and leisure opportunities following retirement. It is very important to ensure that, once retired, the correct housing - whether a house or higher care accommodation - is available. It is equally important to ensure that health care is catered for and the costs are recognised. Leisure opportunities are also covered along with travel and the benefits open to retired people.

The most widely used and respected book on writing fiction, Writing Fiction guides the writer from first inspiration to final revision. Supported by an abundance exercises, this guide/anthology explores and integrates the elements of fiction while offering practical techniques and concrete examples. A focus on the writing process in its entirety provides a comprehensive guide to writing fiction, approaching distinct elements in separate chapters while building on what has been covered earlier. Topics include free-writing to revision, plot, style, characterization, dialogue, atmosphere, imagery, and point of view. An anthology of diverse and contemporary short stories followed by suggestions for discussion and writing exercises, illustrates concepts while offering variety in pacing and exposure to this increasingly popular form. The book also discusses key issues including writing workshops, using autobiography as a basis for fiction, using action in stories, using dialogue, and maintaining point of view. The sixth edition also features more short short stories than any previous edition and includes quotation boxes that offer advice and inspirational words from established writers on a wide range of topics--such as writing from experience, story structure, openings and endings, and revision. For those interested in developing their creative writing skills.

The perfect book for those who wish to develop their poetry and performance skills. The reader is given a firm grounding in the art of performance poetry and the book contains all the basic information needed to develop both writing and performance skills. The material is wide-ranging and adopts a contemporary and novel approach to the art and craft of writing and presenting poetry.