Techniques of the Selling Writer

Author: Dwight V. Swain
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806186674
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Book Description
Techniques of the Selling Writer provides solid instruction for people who want to write and sell fiction, not just to talk and study about it. It gives the background, insights, and specific procedures needed by all beginning writers. Here one can learn how to group words into copy that moves, movement into scenes, and scenes into stories; how to develop characters, how to revise and polish, and finally, how to sell the product. No one can teach talent, but the practical skills of the professional writer's craft can certainly be taught. The correct and imaginative use of these kills can shorten any beginner's apprenticeship by years. This is the book for writers who want to turn rejection slips into cashable checks.

Secrets of the World's Bestselling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner

Author: Francis L. Fugate
Publisher: Graymalkin Media
ISBN: 1631680099
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Book Description
All the hard-earned storytelling skills of Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Petty Mason and still the world’s biggest-selling writer, are revealed in this informative, entertaining, and instructive book. The authors clearly present and analyze all the elements of narrative-character, plot, conflict, and resolution-as Gardner used them. Numerous extraordinary charts, diagrams , and outlines makes his hard-earned technical skills available to the reader in practical and useful forms. This book is ideal for Gardner collectors and fans, and equally for students of writing at all levels-would be writers, neophytes, and even published authors-for it offers one of the most practical and professional courses ever in storytelling technique.

GMC: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict

Author: Debra Dixon
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
ISBN: 1611943183
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Book Description
"This book belongs on every fiction writer's bookshelf. Anyone who has ever had a story to tell and is dying to get it down on paper will find guidance and inspiration in GMC. The presentation is clear, immediate, and relevant to all writers--from novices to seasoned professionals. Experienced author Debra Dixon has done a magnificent job of demystifying the toughest aspect of fiction writing: that of a giving a story shape, form and urgency." -- Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling and RITA® Award winning author of over 40 novels and novellas "One of the best in her craft." -- Toronto Star "Goal, Motivation & Conflict is one of my all time favorites." -- Jane Porter (Flirting With Forty), award winning and bestselling author with 10 million books in print, in twenty languages and 25 countries Goal, motivation, and conflict are the foundation of everything that happens in the story world. Using charts, examples, and movies, the author breaks these key elements down into understandable components and walks the reader through the process of laying this foundation in his or her own work. Learn what causes sagging middles and how to fix them, which goals are important, which aren't and why, how to get your characters to do what they need for your plot in a believable manner, and how to use conflict to create a good story. GMC can be used not only in plotting, but in character development, sharpening scenes, pitching ideas to an editor, and evaluating whether an idea will work. Be confident your ideas will work before you write 200 pages. Plan a road map to keep your story on track. Discover why your scenes aren't working and what to do about it. Create characters that editors and readers will care about.

Creating Characters

Author: Dwight V. Swain
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806183837
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
A jargon-free manual on the basics of developing interesting fictional characters Vibrant, believable characters help drive a fictional story. Along with a clever plot, well-drawn characters make us want to continue reading a novel or finish watching a movie. In Creating Characters, Dwight V. Swain shows how writers can invent interesting characters and improve them so that they move a story along. “The core of character,” he says in chapter 1, “lies in each individual story person’s ability to care about something; to feel implicitly or explicitly, that something is important.” Building on that foundation—the capacity to care—Swain takes the would-be writer step-by-step through the fundamentals of finding and developing “characters who turn you on.” This basic but thought-provoking how-to is a valuable tool for both the novice and the seasoned writer.

The First Five Pages

Author: Noah Lukeman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199575282
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Book Description
Language, literature and biography.

Get to the Point!

Author: Joel Schwartzberg
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 1523094125
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 129

Book Description
In this indispensable guide for anyone who must communicate in speech or writing, Schwartzberg shows that most of us fail to convince because we don't have a point-a concrete contention that we can argue, defend, illustrate, and prove. He lays out, step-by-step, how to develop one. In Joel's Schwartzberg's ten-plus years as a strategic communications trainer, the biggest obstacle he's come across-one that connects directly to nervousness, stammering, rambling, and epic fail-is that most speakers and writers don't have a point. They typically have just a title, a theme, a topic, an idea, an assertion, a catchphrase, or even something much less. A point is something more. It's a contention you can propose, argue, defend, illustrate, and prove. A point offers a position of potential value. Global warming is real is not a point. Scientific evidence shows that global warming is a real, human-generated problem that will have a devastating environmental and financial impact is a point. When we have a point, our influence snaps into place. We communicate belief, conviction, and urgency. This book shows you how to identify your point, leverage it, stick to it, and sell it and how to train others to identify and successfully make their own points.

Writing Novels that Sell

Author: Jack M. Bickham
Publisher: Touchstone
ISBN: 9780671683931
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description

Elements of Fiction Writing - Scene & Structure

Author: Jack Bickham
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1599637979
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
Craft your fiction with scene-by-scene flow, logic and readability. An imprisoned man receives an unexpected caller, after which "everything changed..." And the reader is hooked. But whether or not readers will stay on for the entire wild ride will depend on how well the writer structures the story, scene by scene. This book is your game plan for success. Using dozens of examples from his own work - including Dropshot,Tiebreaker and other popular novels - Jack M. Bickham will guide you in building a sturdy framework for your novel, whatever its form or length. You'll learn how to: • "worry" your readers into following your story to the end • prolong your main character's struggle while moving the story ahead • juggle cause and effect to serve your story action As you work on crafting compelling scenes that move the reader, moment by moment, toward the story's resolution, you'll see why... • believable fiction must make more sense than real life • every scene should end in disaster • some scenes should be condensed, and others built big Whatever your story, this book can help you arrive at a happy ending in the company of satisfied readers.

Writing and Selling Your Novel

Author: Jack M. Bickham
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780898797886
Category : Creative writing
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Writing and Selling Your Novel is a revision and an expansion, a new edition, but with the same mission: to help you write publishable fiction. In Bickham's book, marketing is twined into the writing. In yours, it will be, too. Follow this proven advice and you can make your work perform on the only two levels that count - as can't-put-it-down storytelling and as can't-turn-it-down manuscript. Here you'll find a mixture of fiction-writing fact and philosophy that will help you bring a professional's approach to your work; use stimulus and response believably, effectively; create excitement and evoke emotion with scene and sequel; build fascinating complexities into your characters; revise, to turn a rough draft into a polished novel; and all with salability in mind.

How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method

Author: Randy Ingermanson
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781500574055
Category : Creative writing
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Snowflake Method-ten battle-tested steps that jump-start your creativity and help you quickly map out your story.