Creative Writing

If you're aiming to win a flash fiction competition, you probably know how hard it is to write a compelling story in 500 words. The challenge of flash fiction lies not in the number of words, but the emotion and originality of the tale you can tell with these few words. Participating in competitions, with entry fees as low as $5 and prizes up to $1,000, isn't about luck; it's about skill and creativity. As a judge, I've seen over a thousand submissions, most of them perfectly polished. So choosing a winner is extremely hard, though the best often stand out on first reading and stay with you...

"Cousins has given us a compelling biography of Keats' short and tragic life." MENSA Bulletin It is difficult; To get the news from poems; Yet men die miserably every day; For lack; Of what is found there. William Carlos Williams John Keats composed the most glorious jewels in the crown of English poetry. His are the most perfect poems in English. His letters are also considered a great literary achievement where he developed his ideas and concepts on art and life. The ability to transcend self by emotionally merging with nature's beauty became an essential credo for John Keats. His ...

This is a memoir of an introverted Canadian engineer who contributed in many ways to the advancement of civil aviation during the evolution into digital avionics and flight management. Retirement opened the door to a new world of creative writing as a novelist. All in all, a full and varied life--in fact, a quiet rampage.

Michael Hogan, as a poet and educator, has been gifted with friendships of fellow writers throughout most of his life. Three of these were Nobel laureates, still others household names: Seamus Heaney, W.S. Merwin, Charles Bukowski, Marge Piercy, Naomi Shihad Nye and Ray Bradbury, among a dozen others . What is surprising is what he manages to do with such experiences in this book. Through a series of narrations centered on wide-ranging episodes with other poets, the author distills a unique kind of ars poetica, one that is tied less to a traditional memoir, than to the impression these men ...

THE ONLY WRITING PROMPT GUIDE YOU’LL EVER NEED! You’re stuck on what to write so check out some writing prompts to spur your creativity. But they don’t help you out of your writing rut…sure, there are some neat ideas but none of them actually lead to a story. That’s because writing prompts all too often miss a key element: conflict. Conflict is the heart of every story, and without it you’re just writing a journal entry. Storystarters presents more than 200 writing prompts centered on exciting and interesting conflicts for your protagonist to solve. The prompts are divided among...

The Little Book of Muses invites the reader to embark on a fantastical journey to discover the beauty of the written word. Within its pages is a collection of poetic, whimsical sayings with words entwined to serenade the logophile, invoke a storyteller’s soul, and warm the writer’s spirit. From elegant phrases, humorous expressions to thought-provoking reflections, this is a delightful book to sip tea, ponder, and dip in and out of often for a generous dose of literary inspiration. The book is also available in Spanish and Italian

Like a seasoned sportscaster, Fish marvels at the adeptness of finely crafted sentences and breaks them down into digestible morsels, giving listeners an instant play-by-play. Drawing on a wide range of great writers, from Philip Roth to Antonin Scalia to Jane Austen, How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works. It is a book that will stand the test of time.

It is fascinating - the anthology. Five short stories. The use of language is gripping. The story lines are provoking. The characters are creatively groomed. Psychological exploitation is manifested. Intellectual wrangling surfaces. It is an assortment. It is a super combo. 'The Fascinating Story Anthology' is for everybody, particularly those salivating for literary delicacies.

Ready to build a picture book? First, you’ll need the right tools. Listen to this title in the Writer’s Toolbox series and discover plenty of tips and tools to get you started. Soon you’ll be writing and showing stories like a pro!

850 Prompts perfect for novelists, poets, bloggers, and anyone who loves to create. Regardless of what genre you specialize in and/or for what age group, these prompts will spark your interest. Everyone will grab something different from them. Challenge yourself and see where these take you.

Adult humorous fiction Famous Union College is a slow moving train wreck, a place where what is what is not. Two hapless heroes. An exhibitionist secretary. Bumbling administrators. A paranoid football coach. Conniving coeds. A sex obsessed football player. Who knows what will happen next... "The characters are all interesting and well developed - and many would be great study cases for a psych major." - HAMPTON REVIEWS "It's light and humorous with a bit of a wink and a lot of wry puckish humor." - Pop Bop, Top 500 Amazon Reviewer From the author of the endearing story THE SURVIVAL OF ...

Mary Gauthier was 12 years old when she was given her Aunt Jenny’s old guitar and taught herself to play with a Mel Bay basic guitar workbook. Music offered her a window to a world where others felt the way she did. Songs became lifelines to her, and she longed to write her own, one day. Then, for a decade, while struggling with addiction, Gauthier put her dream away and her call to songwriting faded. It wasn’t until she got sober and went to an open mic with a friend did she realize that she not only still wanted to write songs, she needed to.

All fiction is character-driven, according to William Bernhardt, despite what you might have heard elsewhere. If your characters don’t interest readers, even the most exciting plots will fail. “Action is character,” Aristotle wrote, but what does that mean, and how can you use that fundamental principle to create dynamic fiction that will captivate readers? This audiobook explains the relationship between character and plot, and how the perfect melding of the two produces a mesmerizing story.

Step into a whirlwind of imagination with the third volume of Seriously Smart Shorts—a vibrant collection of wildly original tales straight from the minds of young storytellers! Packed with humour, heart, and just the right amount of mischief, this anthology features everything from time-travelling wishes and misunderstood monsters to cheeky Skittles and heroic cats. Each story was dreamed up through the creative magic of an after-school storytelling club, where ideas are as bold as the characters who fill these pages. Curated and written by T.P. Heath, an experienced author and ...

In Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing, Mignon Fogarty, the woman behind the popular Grammar Girl podcast, tackles some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. From "lay vs. lie" and "affect vs. effect" to split infinitives and run-on sentences, the Grammar Girl offers clear explanations and effective memory tricks to help listeners write (or say) it right.

Unlock the transformative power of poetry as both artistic expression and spiritual practice with this comprehensive guide to finding your authentic voice. "Rising Wings" takes you on a seven-step journey through the landscape of your emotions, memories, and observations, providing concrete techniques to transform raw experience into resonant verse. Written with lyrical wisdom and practical insight, this book combines inspirational guidance with actionable exercises designed to develop every aspect of your poetic craft—from awakening deep listening and embracing difficult emotions to ...

Every writer knows that as rewarding as the creative process is, it can often be a bumpy road. Have hope and keep at it! Designed to kick-start creativity, this audio handbook from the executive director of National Novel Writing Month gathers a wide range of insights and advice for writers at any stage of their career. From tips about how to finally start that story, to helpful ideas about what to do when the words just aren't quite coming out right, Pep Talks for Writers provides motivation, encouragement, and helpful exercises for writers of all stripes.

Natalie Goldberg has been writing for the past fifty years. But at the beginning of the pandemic, she suddenly wasn’t able to write anymore. Her imaginative wellspring had dried up, and she was forced to ask herself: what do I do when what has always worked for me doesn’t work anymore? In this beautifully written, inspiring personal account, Natalie shares her harrowing journey out of creative paralysis and back onto the page.

THE speaker shares stories about her life, relationships, friendships, disappointments, love. There are short stories, there are some poems, there are some thoughts. Trying to express dissatisfaction is sometimes easier on paper. Analyzing people and the reasons for behaviour can take years.

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 the writer's magic.