“Reading on Writing”

Aamidor, Abraham.  Real Sports Reporting. 260 p. 070.4 AAM

Reprints over twenty selections of sports writing from print media across the United States, including beat coverage, and significant issues in sports reporting. 

Adams, Caroline Joy.  The Power to Write: A Writing Workshop in a Book. 180 p.

            Seven keys to discover your writer within.

Barnett, Laurie Sue and Heather McCarron.  Get Wise! Mastering Writing Skills.  205 p. 808 BAR

            Easy-to-follow instructions and fun activities help high school students improve their writing skills and write powerful essays.

Berg, Elizabeth.  Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True. 219 p. 813.54 BER

            Elizabeth Berg discusses her experience of writing, tracing her journey from working mother to published novelist, and offers advice and exercises for others who aspire to a writing career.

Bjelland, Harley.  The Write Stuff: Learn How to Write Better Now with the Approach

which Combines Creativity and Computer Logic.  223 p. 808 BJE

            Presents an approach to writing, using organizational logic that computer programs are based on.

Bomer, Katherine. Writing a life : teaching memoir to sharpen insight, shape meaning--and

triumph over tests. p. 209  P 809 BOM

            Explains how to teach children memoir writing, providing ideas for mini-lessons, writing prompts and activities, revision, peer conferences, and teacher-student conferences and presenting a unit designed to help students utilize the knowledge and skills they learn from memoir writing when taking standarized tests.

Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books that Matter to Them.  192 p.

Bova, Ben.  Notes to a Science Fiction Writer.  173 p. 809.38 BOV

            A guide to the theory and practice of writing science fiction, with four of Ben Bova's stories included to serve as models.

Boynton, Robert S. The New New Journalism.  456 p.

Bradbury, Ray.  Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity.  152 p.         808.4 BRA

            Provides practical tips on the art of writing from a master of the craft, from finding original ideas to developing voice and style, as well as the story of Bradbury's own career as an author.

Card, Orson Scott.  How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy.  140 p. 808.3 CAR

            Defines both genres, tells how to write a successful story, and where to find markets to get published.

Clark, Roy Peter.  Free to Write: A Journalist Teaches Young Writers.  268 p. P 372.6 CLA

            Dr. Clark describes the methods he uses to teach his students how to write, and discusses how to use writing in schools, how to encourage students to write, how to help students revise their work, how to evaluate student writing, and other related topics.

Cohn, Jill Wilson.  Writing: The Personal Voice. 214 p.  808 COH

Dozois, Gardner R.  Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy.  249 p. 808.3 DOZ

Dunn, Jessica and Danielle Dunn.  A Teen’s Guide to Getting Published.  142 p. 808 DUN

            Two published former teen authors present guidance for young would-be writers, covering writing, submission preparation, copyright laws, freelance publishing, publishing pitfalls, writing camps and workshops, mentors, and how to become a magazine or newspaper columnist, a newspaper reporter or contributor, or an editor; and provide a detailed directory of print and online markets.

Elbow, Peter.  Writing with Power: Techniques for mastering the writing process. 377 p. 808 ELB

            Presents writing techniques useful for getting words on paper, for revising, for dealing with an audience, and for getting feedback.

Eskenazi, Gerald.  A Sportswriter’s Life: From the Desk of a New York Times Reporter. 

            Gerald Eskenazi looks back on his career as a sports writer for the "New York Times," which he started as a college dropout in 1959, discussing the camaraderie that used to exist between reporters and athletes, and sharing stories of his encounters with some of sports' greatest stars.

Feiertag, Joe, et. al.  Writer’s Market Companion: the essential guide to starting your project, getting it

published , and getting paid.  305 p.

            Presents information on a variety of professional writing issues, providing advice on how to sell articles, short nonfiction, nonfiction books, fiction, and scripts; and discusses writing plans, promotion, copyrights, pricing, a other related topics.

Field, Syd.  Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. 256 p. 808.23 FIE          

            A guide to film writing, explaining exactly what a screenplay is, and discussing subject, character, endings and beginnings, sequence, plot, adaptation, and other topics.

Fletcher, Ralph. Breathing In, Breathing Out: Keeping a Writer’s Notebook.  99 p. 808 FLE

            Discusses the importance of keeping a notebook for writers, looking at how writers use their journals to record selected insights, lines, images, ideas, dreams, and fragments of conversation; and considering the notebook as a source of original writing.

Fletcher, Ralph.  How to Write Your Life Story.  97 p.

            The author shares tips and ideas for writing an autobiography.

Fletcher, Ralph.  How Writers Work: Finding a Process that Works.  114 p. 808 FLE

            Focuses on the skills and techniques necessary for good writing, with excerpts from established writers and samples of young people's work as examples.

Fletcher, Ralph. Live Writing: Breathing Life into Your Words. 131 p.  808 FLE

            Presents techniques and strategies for a writer's "toolbox," designed to help produce energetic, interesting writing; covers characters, voice, audience, conflict, setting, leads, endings, and reading like a writer.

Fletcher, Ralph. Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out.  142 p. 808.1 FLE

            Showing young writers how to write poetry, how to reach within themselves for emotions, image, and music.

Fletcher, Ralph.  What a Writer Needs.  182 p. 372.62 FLE

            Provides specific, practical strategies designed to help teachers improve and challenge their students' writing skills.

Fletcher, Ralph.  A Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within.  128 p.

            Discusses the various kinds of things to keep in a writer’s notebook--seed ideas, mind pictures, lists, memories, samples of other writers' work--and why.

Freedman, Samuel G.  Letters to a Young Journalist.  184 p.  070.4 FRE

            Journalist and teacher Samuel Freedman offers young journalists advice on how they can succeed in the field, stay true to their morals, and learn more about American journalism and their impact on it.

Gere, Anne Ruggles. Writing on Demand: Best Practices and Strategies for Success. 253 p. 

            Presents a comprehensive guide for educators that provides strategies for helping students succeed on the essay portions of the SAT, ACT, and other placement exams, and offers strategies to help them develop as writers.

Goldberg, Natalie.  Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within.  171 p. 808 GOL

            A collection of essays in which the author explores methods of writing based on her experience in Zen meditation

Green, Alexis. Women Who Write Plays: interviews with American Dramatists. 543 p. 812 GRE

            Presents twenty-three interviews with American women dramatists, discussing their plays, their inspirations, and the influence of gender, ethnicity, race, and sexuality.

Harper, Elizabeth and Timothy.  Your Name in Print: A Teen’s Guide to Publishing for

Fun,Profit, and Academic Success.  176 p. 808 HAR

            Offers teens advice on how to write and publish newspaper and magazine articles, Web blogs, music and movie reviews, novels, comics, short stories, and more.

Hart, Jack.  A Writer’s Coach: an Editor’s Guide to Words that Work.   283 p.

            Jack Hart shares the wisdom he has gathered during his writing career, offering other writers advice on gathering ideas, writing theme statements and outlines, and adding variety and texture to any type of writing.

Heard, Georgia.  Writing Toward Home: Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way.  139 p.  808 HEA

            Presents stories and lessons on the topic of writing, explaining how people can find or regain their writing voices, and including exercises for overcoming obstacles.

Hogan, Walter.  The Agony and the Eggplant.  139 p. 813.54 HOG

            A study of author/illustrator Daniel Pinkwater, looking at his body of work, with a focus on his young adult fiction, and including quotations and observations from Pinkwater.

King, Stephen.  On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

            Stephen King reflects on how his writing has helped him through difficult times and describes various aspects of the art of writing.

Koehler-Pentacoff, Elizabeth.  The ABCs of Writing for Children.  320 p. 808.042 KOE

            One hundred and fourteen authors and illustrators of children's books share the process of researching, writing, and publishing books, discuss what their inspirations are, and recount the best and worst advice they ever received.

Komunyakaa, Yusef.  Blue Notes: Essays, Interviews, and Commentaries.  161 p. 808.1 KOM          Poets on poetry.

Lamott, Anne.  Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.  237 p.  808 LAM

            A step-by-step guide on how to write and how to manage the writer's life. Tells how to get started and move beyond first drafts, and discusses writer's block, writing groups, and publication.

Larsen, Michael.  How to Write a Book Proposal.  107 p.  808 LAR

Lawrence, Colton.  Big Fat Paycheck: A Young Person’s Guide to Writing for the

Movies.  269 p. 808.2 LAW

            Offers advice to young people on how to write a commercial screenplay that will get noticed by a big Hollywood movie studio, explaining how to turn good ideas into great screenplays, describing the art of rewrites, and discussing how to get the script to market.

Leder, Meg and Jack Heffron ed. The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing:

Everything You Need to Know About Creating & Selling Your Work. 452 p.

            Presents tips from nearly sixty authors and figures in the publishing business on writing a good novel and getting it in print; covers such aspects as plot, character, voice, effective story elements for different genres, and agents and marketing.

Le Guin, Ursula.  The Language of the Night.  236 p. 808.3 LEG

            A collection of essays and speeches addressing some of the fascinating issues and challenges that confront the science fiction writer and reader.

Lester, Julius.  On Writing for Children and Other People.  159 p. 921 LES

Levine, Gail Carson.  Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly. 161 p. 808.3 LEV

            Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine shares the secrets of her writing success, including how to get ideas, creating beginnings and endings, writing great dialogue, developing memorable characters, and more.

Lukeman, Noah.  The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the

Rejection Pile.  197 p.  808 LUK

Offers writers advice on how to get their work published, with expert tips on creating a strong opening hook, avoiding common mistakes, developing characters and plot, and convincing publishers to take a chance on their work.

Macauley, Robie and George Lanning.  Techniques in Fiction.  259 p.  808.3 MAC

Madden, Matt.  99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style.  207 p. 741.5 MAD

Contains one-page comics that demonstrate ninety-nine different ways in which to tell the same story, designed to demonstrate the range of opportunities available to storytellers.

Maggio, Rosalie.  How to Say It: Choice Words, Phrases, Sentences and

Paragraphs for Every Situation.  484 p.  808 MAG

Contains advice on writing effective business and social letters in fifty subject areas, with lists of words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs relevant to each topic, and sample letters that may be reproduced and modified for individualized use.

Mallon, Thomas.  Stolen Words: The Classic Book on Plagarism.  250 p. 808 MAL

            Analyzes the subject of plagiarism and how it affected the reputations of artists and authors beginning in the seventeenth century including those such as Samuel Coleridge, Victorian novelist Charles Reade, as well as cases involving publishing, academia, Hollywood, and the Internet.

McCormack, Thomas.  Afterwords: Novelists on Their Novels.  231 p. 808.3 MCC

McKee, Robert.  Story: Substance, Structure, Style , and The Principles of

Screenwriting.  419 p. 808.23 MCK

            A guide to screenwriting, identifying the components that distinguish quality stories from mediocre ones, discussing the importance of theme, setting, atmosphere, and character, and using examples drawn from a century of film writing and filmmaking to illustrate how and why scenes work.

Morley, David.  The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing.  257 p.

Morrison, Toni.  Playing in the Dark.  91 p. 810.9 MOR

            Historically racialized society's effect on American writing

Murray, Donald M.  Write to Learn.  328 p.

            Presents a comprehensive handbook designed to help students develop effective writing skills and provides writing activities and tips on revisions and editing, research, and utilizing the Internet.

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds.  How I Came to Be a Writer.  121 p.

            Details the career of one writer from stories composed in grade school through first published pieces to novels written to date.

The New New Journalism: Conversations with America’s Best NonFiction Writers on Their

Crafts.  456 p.

            Contains interviews with nineteen nonfiction writers who discuss how and why they produce their work, how they get their ideas, conduct research, and begin the writing process.        

Nolan, William F.  How to Write Horror Fiction.  123 p. 808.3 NOL

            A guide to help writers turn their ideas into horror stories.

O’Connor, Patricia T. Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain

English. 240 p.  428.2 OCO

            Provides information on how to avoid some of the most common grammar mistakes, with chapters that discuss pronouns, plurals, verbs, possessives, punctuation, cliches, and other tricky parts of the English language.

Oliver, Mary.  A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry.  122

p. 808.1 OLI

Orr, Tamra.  Extraordinary Essays.  122 p.  808.4 ORR

            Presents a practical guide to writing effective essays in accordance with educational standards, and provides a variety of ideas for middle school through high school students.

Otfinoski, Steven.  Extraordinary Short Story Writing.  121 p. 808.3 OTF

            Presents a guide to writing short stories, providing step-by-step advice for specific ways to craft different kinds of stories, including project ideas and resources to find more information.

Peck, Richard.  Love and Death at the Mall: Teaching and Writing for the Literate

Young.  161 p. 808.06 PEC

Shares insights on the issues of teaching, writing, and reading interests of adolescents.

Peck, Robert Newton. Fiction is Folks: How to Create Unforgettable Characters. 182 p.808.3

PEC

            The author employs the talents of various characters to show what characters are all about and how the right characters make your story unforgettable to your editor and readers.

Polking, Kirk. Beginning Writer’s Answer Book.  300 p.

            Provides answers to questions writers ask most, including such areas as writing for specific markets, the query letter, serial rights, submitting work to a publisher, and more.

Prose, Francine.  Reading Like a Writer: Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those

Who Want to Write Them.  273 p.  808 PRO

            Explains how writers can improve their skills by reading literature carefully and paying attention to techniques used by successful authors.

Provost, Gary.  Make Your Words Work.   294 p. 808 PRO

Rampolla, Mary Lynn.  A Pocket Guide to Writing in History.  83 p. R 808 RAM

Rico, Gabriele Lusser.  Writing the Natural Way.  278 p. 808.042 RIC

            Describes techniques designed to help people become better, more natural writers.

Ryan, Kevin.  Write Up the Corporate Ladder: Successful Writers Reveal the Techniques that

Help You Write with Ease and Get Ahead. 

Ryan, Margaret.  Extraordinary Oral Presentations.  120 p. 808.5 RYA

            Presents a practical guide to creating and giving oral presentations in order to communicate effectively with a range of audiences, and provides information on gathering and analyzing resources, posing questions, and solving problems on a topic.

Ryan, Margaret.  Extraordinary Poetry Writing.  128 p. 808.1 RYA

            Provides step-by-step help for writing poems, covering how to find ideas, write the first draft, and revise, and includes specific guidance, examples, and activities for haiku, list poems, dramatic monologues, ballads, and sonnets.

Ryan, Margaret.  How to Write a Poem.  177 p.  808.1 RYA

            Explores the steps and processes involved in writing poetry, including finding subjects, rhyme and meter, free verse, making revisions, and publication.

Ryan, Margaret.  So You Have to Give a Speech!   122 p. 808.5 RYA

            A guide to writing and delivering a speech, from choosing a topic, through research and doing a draft, to actual delivery.

Salzman, Mark.  True Notebooks.  330 p. 808 SAL

            Mark Salzman chronicles his first years teaching at Central Juvenile Hall, a lockup for Los Angeles's most violent teenage offenders, discussing what his students taught him about life.

Smiley, Jane.  Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel.  591 p.

            Writer Jane Smiley presents an examination of the novel, including an author's behind the scenes look at novel-writing, including tips on writing, and reviews of over one hundred novels, from "Don Quixote" to "Lolita."

Smiley, Jane.  Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from the NY Times.  268 p.

            Contains more than forty essays by major writers such as Saul Bellow, Alice Walker, and Elie Wiesel that previously appeared in the "Writers on Writing" series in the "New York Times."

Smith, Lucinda Irwin.  Women Who Write.  159 p. 928 SMI

            Discusses the natures and signature of authorship and uses interviews and biographical profiles to analyze the contributions of notable women writers.

Sorenson, Sharon.  How to Write Short Stories.  127 p. 808.3 SOR

            A practical handbook that explains all of the steps in writing short fiction. Includes sample short stories with critical analyses.

Sova, Dawn B.  How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines.  94 p. 808 SOV

            Provides information on every phase of newspaper and magazine writing, discussing what makes a good story, where to look for sources and background data, and how to use various journalistic techniques; and includes a review of common grammar, usage, and spelling errors.

Strunk, William and E.B. White.  Elements of Style.  808 STR

            A manual conveying the principles of plain English style.

Sullivan, George.  Journalists at Risk: Reporting America’s Wars.  128 p.  070.4 SUL

            Discusses the role of reporters during war time, including the risks they take and the censorship they face, and how their jobs have changed with each conflict since the Civil War.

Telling True Stories: a Nonfiction Writer’s Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard

University.  317 p.

Trimble, John R.   Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing. 

            A ten volume English language textbook with alphabetically arranged entries on such topics as grammar, style, punctuation, and writing and research skills.

Truss, Lynne.  Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.  209 p.

428.2 TRU

            Lynne Truss, a self-proclaimed stickler, presents a humorous look at the history of punctuation, discussing the use and misuse of commas, apostrophes, semi-colons, and other punctuation marks.

Vail, Priscilla L.  Clear & Lively Writing.  257 p. 808 VAI

            Provides games, activities, and exercises to develop listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills.

Varnum, Robin and Christina T. Gibbons.  The Language of Comics: Word and Image.  197

p.   808 VAR

            Presents a collection of ten critical essays that examines the comic genre.

Walker, Jim and Mark Shaw.  Poetry Report: Creative Ideas and Publishing Strategies for Aspiring

Poets. 204 p. 808.1

            Contains a guide to publishing poetry with advice on how to create unique themes, improve poetry skills, market poetry proposals, and choose the right publisher.

The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy.  202 p. 813.009 WAN

A collection of interviews in which thirteen fantasy writers discuss their craft, influential life experiences, literary inspirations, work routines, and beliefs.

Waugh, Hillary.  Guide to Mysteries and Mystery Writing.  182 p. 809.3 WAU

Wolf,Allan. Immersed in verse : an informative, slightly irreverent & totally

tremendous guide to living the poet's life. 112 p. 808.1 WOL

Contains a guide to writing poetry, providing advice, ideas, writing activities, and encouragement from a working poet, presenting poems by a variety of poets from the unknown to the famous, including Langston Hughes, e.e. cummings, Eve Merriam, and more.

Zinsser, William.  On Writing Well.  308 p. 808 ZIN

            Presents a twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the classic guide to writing, discussing the basic principles, methods, and forms of writing, and considering personal style.