Writing With The Master

With seven unpublished novels wasting away on his hard drive, Tony Vanderwarker is astonished when John Grisham offers to take him under his wing and teach him the secrets of thriller writing. “The beginning and the end are easy,” Grisham tells him. “It’s the three hundred pages in the middle that’s the hard part.” To ensure his plot doesn’t run out of gas, Grisham puts Tony though his outline process. Tony does one, and then Grisham asks for another … and another … and another. As they work together, Grisham reveals the techniques that have helped him create compelling bestsellers for more than two decades—for instance, “You’ve got to hook your reader in the first forty pages or you’ll lose them.” After a year of constructing outlines, Grisham finally gives Tony the go-ahead to start writing. Writing with the Master immerses the reader in the creative process as Tony struggles to produce a successful thriller. It’s a roller coaster ride, sometimes hilarious, and often full of ups and downs. Grisham’s critiques and margin notes to Tony reveal his nimble imagination and plot development genius. For Grisham fans, Vanderwarker’s memoir pulls back the curtain on his writing secrets, and for aspiring writers, it’s a master class in thriller writing. In the end, Tony resolves to take Grisham’s teachings to heart and eventually decides to write what he thinks he was meant to: a book about the creative process and his incredible two years working with John Grisham.

Jensen’s Format Writing is concerned with developing expository writing skills for high school students. This type of writing exposes, puts forth, explains, reveals, or exhibits in detail about something. It has a purpose to inform, clarify, and perhaps even to persuade. Such writing may simply describe, or it may give a series of reasons. In any case, there is a fundamental point that is made. How that point is made may often determine whether the piece is accepted or rejected. Students completing this course will learn valuable skills. the secret of cutting your work in half when it comes to writing a paper.how to order your presentation for its most powerful effect on the reader.a technique for getting the essence of what you read down on paper for future reference.how to stack up your ideas so that they flow together in a natural fashion.how to move ideas from sentence to sentence by following a simple rule.all about what and how to document your sources when doing research and writing.

The long-awaited guide to writing long-form nonfiction by the legendary author and teacher Draft No. 4 is a master class on the writer’s craft. In a series of playful, expertly wrought essays, John McPhee shares insights he has gathered over his career and has refined while teaching at Princeton University, where he has nurtured some of the most esteemed writers of recent decades. McPhee offers definitive guidance in the decisions regarding arrangement, diction, and tone that shape nonfiction pieces, and he presents extracts from his work, subjecting them to wry scrutiny. In one essay, he considers the delicate art of getting sources to tell you what they might not otherwise reveal. In another, he discusses how to use flashback to place a bear encounter in a travel narrative while observing that “readers are not supposed to notice the structure. It is meant to be about as visible as someone’s bones.” The result is a vivid depiction of the writing process, from reporting to drafting to revising—and revising, and revising. Draft No. 4 is enriched by multiple diagrams and by personal anecdotes and charming reflections on the life of a writer. McPhee describes his enduring relationships with The New Yorker and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and recalls his early years at Time magazine. Throughout, Draft No. 4 is enlivened by his keen sense of writing as a way of being in the world.

The Writing Master, a work of historical fiction set in 1856 in New Haven, Connecticut, is about Charles Cooper, a penman-teacher of handwriting-who is attempting to come to terms with his tragic past, and Lily Prescott, an unconventional woman with her own troubled story. When a brutal murder takes place just outside the city, Charles becomes involved in its solution.

Your future as a writer is in your hands. Whether you are a newcomer or an accomplished professional, a novelist, story writer, or a writer of nonfiction, you will find this book a wealth of immediately useful guidance not available anywhere else. As Sol Stein, renowned editor, author, and instructor, explains, "This is not a book of theory. It is a book of useable solutions-- how to fix writing that is flawed, how to improve writing that is good, how to create interesting writing in the first place." You will find one of the great unspoken secrets of craftsmanship in Chapter 5, called "Markers: The Key to Swift Characterization." In Chapter 7, Stein reveals for he first time in print the wonderful system for creating instant conflict developed in the Playwrights Group of the Actors Studio, of which he was a founder. In "Secrets of Good Dialogue," the premier teacher of dialogue gives you the instantly useable techniques that not only make verbal exchanges exciting but that move the story forward immediately. You won't need to struggle with flashbacks or background material after you've read Chapter 14, which shows you how to bring background into the foreground. Writers of both fiction and nonfiction will relish the amphetamines for speeding up pace, and the many ways to liposuction flab, as well as how to tap originality and recognize what successful titles have in common. You'll discover literary values that enhance writing, providing depth and resonance. You'll bless the day you read Chapters 32 and 33 and discover why revising by starting at page one can be a serious mistake, and how to revise without growing cold on your manuscript. In the pages of this book, nonfiction writers will find a passport to the new revolution in journalism and a guide to using the techniques of fiction to enhance nonfiction. Fresh, useful, informative, and fun to read and reread, Stein on Writing is a book you will mark up, dog-ear, and cherish.

Do you want to take your fiction writing to the next level? LEARN FROM THE MASTERS "Adam Sexton taught me how to read like a writer--and, in a way, how to write like a reader. For without first considering the experience of reading stories--seriously, thoroughly, the way Sexton does--you can't possibly write one worth reading." --Tara McCarthy, author of Love Will Tear Us Apart Many writers believe that if they just find the right teacher or workshop, their writing will reach new heights of skill. But why not learn from the best? In his popular workshops in New York City, creative writing instructor Adam Sexton has found that the most effective way for any writer to grasp on the elements of fiction is to study the great masters. Master Class in Fiction Writing is your personal crash course in creative writing, with the world's most accomplished fiction writers as your guides. You will learn: The art of characterization from Jane Austen Style and voice from Ernest Hemingway Dialogue from Iris Murdoch Description from Vladimir Nabokov The timeless techniques of plotting in the work of Joseph Conrad The ingenious structure of James Joyce Point of view from Toni Morrison Over the course of just ten chapters you can master all the components of great short story and novel writing. These are the most important lessons any writer can learn--a truly "novel" approach to writing that will enrich, inform, and inspire.

Are you looking to find your voice, hone your writing tactics, and cultivate communication skills with impact? Using real-world cases, student vignettes, and reflective questions, Lynn leads you through the A to Zen of the writing process, building your confidence as well as developing your skills. Find out how to: Understand yourself, your audience, and your project, so you better understand your role in communicating research Choose a question and plan an appropriate design Build a foundation of ethics and background research into your writing practice Find your own writing (life)style Work with your supervisor, so you can get the best from the relationship Navigate structure, arguments, and theory, for deeper critical engagement Contextualize your research and maximize its impact. Going beyond the standard ‘how to survive’ advice, this inspiring writing guide empowers you to develop the voice, tone, and critical engagement required for you to thrive at Master’s level SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, resources and videos on study success!

Writing ‘Master Class’ is a biography of David Pownall’s play, Master Class (1983), from conception to coming of age. Threaded through the account of the inception and development of the piece are twists of authorial life-story necessary for the telling. Whereas a novel or poem can be kept a secret until it is properly finished, a play has to go out to meet the people early. On the day the script is put into the hands of actors, the soul of the thing passes out of the author's control. It can be bent, battered, warped – or improved within its being far beyond expectations. As a drama of dictatorship in art and the cleverness needed to evade its worst manifestations, Master Class has been at large for thirty years, produced in twenty countries, in some several times. What has been done to it, how it has fared, is touched upon but the main story in this book is the making of the piece. A fascinating insight into the playwright’s craft.