The Complete Idiot S Guide To Writing Poetry

You're no idiot, of course. You've read poetry that has touched your heart, and you'd like to improve your own writing technique. But even though you have loads of inspiration, you're discovering that good instruction can be as elusive as a good metaphor. Don't let your Muse leave you! With loads of smart advice and helpful exercises, The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Writing Poetry will help you compose powerful, emotion-packed poems that you can be proud of. In this Complete Idiot's Guide®, you get: --Simple explanations of the building blocks of poetry—metaphor, imagery, symbolism, repetition, and more. --A step-by-step guide to the poetic process—from your first inspiration to your poem's last stanza. --Easy-to-follow guidelines for writing sonnets, sestinas, narrative poems, and more!

A creative writing class in a book -REVISED. Major revisions take this popular Complete Idiot's Guide to a new level, offering readers a better way to unlock their creativity from the first page. Exercises help them explore their talents and experiment with different genres and forms of writing, including short stories, narrative fiction, memoirs, magazine articles, poetry, drama, blogging, and freewriting.

You're no idiot, of course. You know how to tap out an email to your boss, scrawl a note to your sweetheart, even throw in an extra flourish when you sign a greeting card. But when it comes to really writing that excruciating process of transferring your thoughts to paper without inventing some strange new language well, let's just say you think you lack the write stuff. The written word was a great achievement in human history; don't give up on it just yet! 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Well' is the writing book you've been waiting for everything you need to know to make writing of any kind as easy as thinking or speaking. In this 'Complete Idiot's' Guide, you'll get : -Expert advice on making your writing as clear, persuasive and painless as possible, whether it's a thank-you note, a school paper, or an executive briefing. Easy-to-follow guidelines on a structure, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary and style. No-nonsense advice on figuring out the three hardest parts of any writing: the beginning, middle and end.

Get in on the action...CD included! According to the PBS television series The United States of Poetry, a "strand of new poetry began at Chicago's Green Mill Tavern in 1986 when Marc Smith found a home for the Poetry Slam." Since then, performance poetry has spread throughout the United States. Now, the father of the poetry slam presents the most comprehensive book on spoken-word poetry performances.

Narrative nonfiction, also known as creative nonfiction or literary nonfiction, is true stories told using literary techniques and creativity. Narrative nonfiction essays are often featured in magazines such as Esquire, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Harper's. Book-length narrative nonfiction works have grown in popularity since Truman Capote published In Cold Blood in 1965. Nonfiction works such as Into Thin Air, The Orchid Thief, The Perfect Storm, and Seabiscuit have smashed sales records and brought the genre into focus for the mainstream. With the rise of self-publishing and blogs comes a new generation of writers who want to tell their stories to a wider audience. The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Writing Nonfiction gives narrative nonfiction writers the instruction and tools they need to elevate their storytelling to an art form that appeals to more readers. In this book readers learn: What narrative nonfiction is. The literary building blocks of narrative nonfiction. How to research nonfiction subjects. Tricks for remembering details of events from one's own life story. How to conduct interviews for a book or article. How to find inspiration when writing nonfiction stories. Word choice and grammar help. How to overcome roadblocks such as stalled motivation and inhibitions when writing about real, living people. How to craft several types of narrative nonfiction by example. How to find markets for their work and get published. In addition, author Christina Boufis interviews successful narrative nonfiction writers in many subgenres and gets their insights on what inspires them and how they overcome their own obstacles.

The essential guide to looking at literature with your own two eyes. What students know about Shakespeare, Orwell, Dickens, and Twain is primarily what their instructors tell them. Here’s a book that teaches the students how to move on to the next level—evaluate and read critically on their own, trust their own opinions, develop original ideas, analyze characters, and find a deeper appreciation for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more. • Ideal companion for college students and accessible for the casual reader as well. • Covers fiction, poetry, narrative nonfiction, biographies and memoirs, essays and editorials, and newspapers, magazines, and journals. • Features examples from published writing. • Includes a reading list and a glossary of literary terms.

Here is the comprehensive guide to writing, publishing, and selling for the ever-expanding and always exciting children’s market—now in a new and updated third edition. • Includes new chapters on self-publishing and on "how to choose a how-to," plus revision and updates throughout • Offers practical advice on getting started--and on dealing with out-of-print books • Covers picture books, chapter books, nonfiction, middle-grade and young novels, and common formats and genres • Reveals what happens inside a children's publishing company, and provides guidance in working with an editor • Sample cover and query letters, manuscript format, glossary, and recommended resources in an extensive appendix • Plus information on agents, contracts, copyright, marketing, and more “Honest and precise… everything about writing for children there is to know.” —Jane Yolen, author