Metropolitan Library System

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.”...

Writing a book is fun and easy-yes, FUN AND EASY-but it may not always feel that way. How do you find the time to write? How do you keep momentum? How do you deal with the horror of showing anyone a single sentence of your work-in-progress? The answers remain fun and easy, and author Elizabeth Sims will take your hand, dispel your worries, and show you how it's done in this stress-free guide to accomplishing your dream of writing your book. In You've...

Everyone has a story to tell, and Van Cleave provides you with the tools you need to share your life story with the world. You'll get advice on how to explore your memories, map out your story, perfect your plot, and so much more.

Ideal for teachers who have been searching for a way to inspire students with a love for writing-and reading-contemporary poetry. It is a book about shaping your memories and passions, your pleasures, obsessions, dreams, secrets, and sorrows into the poems you have always wanted to write. If you long to create poetry that is magical and moving, this is the book you've been looking for. Here are chapters on the language and music of poetry, the art...

"What do you think of my fiction book writing?" the aspiring novelist extorted. "Darn," the editor hectored, in turn. "I can not publish your novel! It is full of what we in the business call 'really awful writing.'" "But how shall I absolve this dilemma? I have already read every tome available on how to write well and get published!" The writer tossed his head about, wildly. "It might help," opined the blonde editor, helpfully, "to ponder how...

Dorothea Brande's Becoming a Writer remains evergreen decades after it was first, written. Brande believed passionately that although people have varying amounts of talent, anyone can write. She also insists that writing can be both, taught and learned. This is Dorothea Brande's legacy to all those who have ever wanted to express their ideas in written form. A sound, practical, inspirational and charming approach to writing, it fulfills on finding...

Why do so many people talk about writing a book but never get the job done? Why do so many start books they never finish? And why is the final product often so much less than what editors and agents want? Because writing is a process, and no steps can be omitted without impacting the quality of the work. As bestselling author William Bernhardt explains, editing begins before you start writing and doesn't end until the book is in print (if then). This...

Nikesh Shukla, author, writing mentor and bestselling editor of The Good Immigrant , knows better than most the power that every unique voice has to create change. Whether it's a novel, personal essay, non-fiction work or short story or even just the formless desire to write something Your Story Matters will hone your skill and help you along the way. This book includes exercises and prompts that will develop your idea, no matter what genre you're...

"Whether it's correctly naming the parts of a horse, knowing how lords and ladies address one another, or building a realistic fantasy army, getting the details right takes fantasy writing to the next level. Featuring some of the most popular articles from Dan Koboldt's Fact in Fantasy blog as well as several never-before-seen essays, this book gives aspiring and established fantasy writers alike an essential foundation to the fascinating history...

"A widely admired writer and teacher of writing for more than 25 years, Klinkenborg gives a distillation of that experience in an indispensable and distinctive book that will help anyone who wants to write, write better, or have a clearer understanding of what it means to be writing. Klinkenborg believes that most of our received wisdom about how writing works is not only wrong but an obstacle to our ability to write. Here he sets out to help us unlearn...