Your Writing Matters

This updated edition of the best-selling book Because Writing Matters reflects the most recent research and reports on the need for teaching writing, and it includes new sections on writing and English language learners, technology, and the writing process.

Drawing lessons from writers of all ages and writing across genres, a distinguished teacher and writer reveals the enduring importance of writing for our time In this new contribution to Yale University Press’s Why X Matters series, a distinguished writer and scholar tackles central questions of the discipline of writing. Drawing on his own experience with mentors such as John Updike, John Gardner, and James Baldwin, and in turn having taught such rising stars as Jesmyn Ward, Delbanco looks in particular at questions of influence and the contradictory, simultaneous impulses toward imitation and originality. Part memoir, part literary history, and part analysis, this unique text will resonate with students, writers, writing teachers, and bibliophiles.

Writing Matters Tabbed Make it your own! Writing Matters Tabbed unites research, reasoning, documentation, grammar, and style into a cohesive whole, helping students see the conventions of writing as a network of responsibilities writers have . . . . . . to other writers. Writing Matters Tabbed clarifies the responsibility writers have to one another, whether they are collaborating in online peer review or drawing on digital and print sources in a research project, to represent the ideas of other writers fairly and accurately, to give credit to those from whom they have borrowed words or ideas, and to consider and address alternative viewpoints. . . . to the audience. Writing Matters Tabbed stresses the importance of using conventions appropriate to the audience, to write clearly, and to provide readers with the information and interpretation they need to make sense of a topic. . . . to the topic. Writing Matters Tabbed emphasizes the writer’s responsibility to explore a topic thoroughly and creatively, to assess sources carefully, and to provide reliable information at a depth that does the topic justice. . . . to themselves. Writing Matters Tabbed encourages writers to take their writing seriously and to approach writing tasks as an opportunity to learn about a topic and to expand their scope as writers. Students are more likely to write well when they think of themselves as writers rather than as error makers. By explaining rules in the context of responsibility, Writing Matters Tabbed addresses composition students respectfully as mature and capable fellow participants in the research and writing process.

What you write can change someone's life. In this engaging collection of short essays for writers, Keiko O’Leary explores what it means to live life as a writer, offers encouragement and inspiration, and suggests practical techniques to cultivate your writing life. Drawing on her experience as a writer, writing group leader, and workshop instructor, Keiko writes about topics such as: MOTIVATION: “You deserve to create what’s in you to create.” CREATIVITY: “Your personal geography is a wellspring of memoir and poetry, and a source of authentic detail for fiction.” LEGACY: “Through your writing, you help people experience meaning, not only in what you write, but also in their own lives.” Whether you have years of experience or are just starting out, these essays will support you on your writing journey. EDITORIAL REVIEWS "This is a book of welcome—which means that it's a book of openings, the kind of openings that every writer needs to be inspired and connected-to the world, to themselves, to their fellow writers, to their stories ... and to all of the mysteries that touch us as creators. "'You deserve to create what's in you to create, ' writes Keiko O'Leary. Yes. This book radiates yes. It radiates awakening." — Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month "A beautifully written meditation on the writer's life. The minute I started reading this, I thought, 'Oh, I'm home!' This book speaks to the writer in me, not the published person in me. I can't speak highly enough about this book." — Julie A. Fast, Bestselling Author of Getting It Done When You're Depressed "Keiko's book inspired me to start working on a novel that I had been wanting to write." — Erin Garcia, author, educator "If you want to write but feel intimidated, or you start writing but get discouraged, or even if you already write a lot but would like some encouragement and celebration—this book is for you." — C. Borst, author of Soldiers in Grey "Keiko doesn't just love reading and writing. She is in love withreading and writing, and in love with readers and writers. Page after page, we come to realize we're not odd or alone. She believes in you and me unconditionally. "Writers like us are connected through what we read and write and create. Writing and creating are, in fact, our life-sustaining provisions. 'Claim your peers.' It will free you up to write, to heal, to memorialize, and to speak out." — Lorraine Haataia, Ph.D., founder of Prolific Writers Life "This book stirred me deeply. [It's] a book that welcomed me, non-judgmentally, back home to writing. Your Writing Matters is unconditional love. And wisdom. Keiko O'Leary's voice is an unpretentious beckoning to never give up-not on our writing, not on ourselves." — Ruth Littmann-Ashkenazi, author "Insightful and interesting." — Katy Morgan, author of the Compound Series

This book shows how teachers, can orchestrate increased nonfiction writing in every classrooms and, by so doing, raise student achievement in all subject areas. Here you'll find strategies to help you use more nonfiction writing with students, no matter the subject.

Your Life Matters! helps people of all ages honour their truth and embrace all that they have lived by teaching them to write their life stories. Author, psychotherapist, and writing coach Junie Swadron has guided men and women to write their life stories for more than twenty-five years. Her books, Re-Write Your Life and Write Where You Are, have helped thousands of writers move through fear and writer's block. In Your Life Matters! you will learn how to: Inspire others with the wisdom you've attained in your lifetime Achieve your life-long dream of writing your story Bust through your blocks to write with confidence and ease Free yourself from your painful past by writing your truth Allow the hard lessons of life to become your greatest gifts

A thoroughly updated and expanded guide to honing your public policy writing skills—and making a significant impact on the world. Winner of the George Orwell Award by the National Council of Teachers of English Professionals across a variety of disciplines need to write about public policy in a manner that inspires action and genuine change. You may have amazing ideas about how to improve the world, but if you aren't able to communicate these ideas well, they simply won't become a reality. In Public Policy Writing That Matters, communications expert David Chrisinger, who directs the Harris Writing Program at the University of Chicago and worked in the US Government Accountability Office for a decade, argues that public policy writing is most persuasive when it tells clear, concrete stories about people doing things. Combining helpful hints and cautionary tales with writing exercises and excerpts from sample policy analysis, Chrisinger teaches readers to craft concise, story-driven pieces that exceed the stylistic requirements and limitations of traditional policy writing. Aimed at helping students and professionals overcome their default impulses to merely "explain," this book reveals proven tips—tested in the real world and in the classroom—for writing sophisticated policy analysis that is also easy to understand. For anyone interested in planning, organizing, developing, writing, and revising accessible public policy, Chrisinger offers a step-by-step guide that covers everything from the most effective use of data visualization to the best ways to write a sentence, from the ideal moment for adding a compelling anecdote to advice on using facts to strengthen an argument. This second edition addresses the current political climate and touches on policy changes that have occurred since the book was originally published. A vital tool for any policy writer or analyst, Public Policy Writing That Matters is a book for everyone passionate about using writing to effect real and lasting change.