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Creative Writing
Whether you are writing a dramatic play, a whimsical farce, or just trying
to get creative, we carry an abundance of helpful books aimed specifically
to assist the developing playwright, screenwriter or poet. Books by teachers
and professionals alike, this section boasts a wide variety instructional
manuals, hands-on activity books, and inspirational guides.
 The Complete Artist's Way
Julia Cameron
Here, together for the first time in one elegant edition, are Julia Cameron's three core works, which together constitute a journey that will guide readers to discovering creative renewal. They are: The Artist's Way, Walking in This World, and Finding Water. Includes a new introduction by the author. Hardcover, 722 pp. $35.50.
 The Seven Basic Plots
Christopher Booker
This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of basic stories in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling. Softcover, 728 pp. $32.95.
 Story Structure Architect
Victoria Lynne Schmidt
Story Structure Architect is your comprehensive reference to the classic recurring story structures used by every great author throughout the ages. You'll find master models for characters, plots, and complication motifs, along with guidelines for combining them to create unique short stories, novels, scripts, or plays. Especially featured are the standard dramatic situations inspired by George Polti's 19th century work, The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, but with Schmidt's 21st-century spin. Softcover, 277 pp. $26.99.
 Writer's Digest Writing Kit
Writer's Digest
This adorable box set comes with all the resources you need to start writing today! Includes the guide 70 Solutions to Common Writing Mistakes - from developing good habits to writing and editing a new piece, novelist Bob Mayer gives you the skills needed to produce a polished final draft. The kit also comes with the Mini Market Book, 30 idea prompt cards, and 30 writing excercise cards which aim to challenge you to think about every detail of your work. Box set, $30.99.
 The Elements of Style (Illustrated)
William Strunk, E.B. White & Maira Kalman
Every English language writer knows The Elements of Style. The book's mantra, make every word tell, is still on point. This much-loved classic, now in it's fourth edition, will forever be the go-to guide when in need of a hint to make a turn of phrase clearer or a reminder on how to enliven prose with the active voice. The only style manual to ever appear on bestseller lists has explained to millions of readers the basic principles of plain English, and Kalman's fifty-seven exquisite illustrations give the revered work a jolt of new energy, making the learning experience more colourful and clear. Softcover, 150 pp. $18.00.
 Archetypes For Writers
Jennifer Van Bergen
This book and its excercises will enable you to access and enrich the characters that already exist within you. Drawing on her years of training in theatre and decades of teaching, Jennifer Van Bergen unveils the secrets of using your own archetypes. This revolutionary approach has little to do with how to "create" characters or plot stories; it is more about how to find your character and story archetypes - or even how to have them find you. Softcover, 241 pp. $29.95.
 The Writer's Book of Matches: 1,001 Prompts to Ignite Your Fiction
Scott Francis (et al)
Inside this handy pocket-sized reference book you'll discover more than 1,000 writing prompts designed to get your creative fires burning. The editors of Fresh Boiled Peanuts, a literary journal, have compiled this selection of prompts capable of inspiring ideas to start anything from a short story to a novel. Softcover, 252 pp. $15.99.
 Writer's Gym
Edited by Eliza Clark
Motivated by her own experiences as a writer and as a workshop leader, Eliza Clark has conceived a creative-writing book focused on quick and simple excercises--an inspirational kick-start to help writers practice and improve by getting their creative juices flowing. With contributions in the form of interviews, tips, and fiction excercises from some of the best writers working today, this is an essential book for both the novice and the seasoned pro. Softcover, 188 pp. $19.00.
 Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance
Julia Cameron
Finding Water completes Julia Cameron's bestselling trilogy on the creative
process to offer guidance on weathering the periods in an artist's
life when inspiration appears to have run dry. This book offers advice
and wisdom about tackling the greatest challenges you may face. This
revolutionary twelve-week program for artistic renewal is an essential
book for any artist. Hardcover, 286 pp. $32.50.
Writing Life: Celebrated Canadian and International Authors on
Writing and Life
Edited by Constance Rooke
In Writing Life, fifty celebrated authors reveal surprising truths about
what it means to be a writer, and about the sparks that can result
when life and writing intersect -- and sometimes collide. Provocative,
candid,
often very funny, personal, and passionately engaged, this inspired
collection will take readers deep into the heart of the writing life.
Softcover, 449 pp. $24.99.
 Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games
Christy Marx
In these days of feverish, cross-media fertilization, intellectual property
is commonly developed simultaneously for a movie or TV show, a videogame,
a comic book, a toy, a paperback, or an animated series. To help
you get involved as a writer, Christy Marx offers a nuts and bolts
guide to writing for animation, comics and videogames. Softcover,
226 pp. $41.95.
Writer's Guide to Character Traits
2nd Edition
Linda N. Edelstein
What makes a person commit a white-collar crime? Who is a likely candidate
to join a cult? Why do children have imaginary friends? How does birth
order affect whether or not a person gets married? When does mind over
matter become a crippling problem? Writer's Guide to Character
Traits,
2nd edition answers all of these questions and many others. With more
than 400 easy-to-reference lists of traits blended from a variety of
behaviors and influences, you'll gain the knowledge you need to create
distinctive characters whose personalities correspond to their thoughts
and actions--no matter how normal or psychotic they might be. Plus,
you'll learn about common - and not so common - psychological, physical,
and relationship discorders; delve into the minds of criminals; find
out what it takes to be a professional athlete, scientist and truck
driver; discover what life is like for a gang member, suicidal teen,
and alcoholic; and more. Softcover, 378 pp. $22.99.
Stealing Fire from the Gods
Second Edition
James Bonnet
Unlocking the secrets of story reveals the secrets of the mind and
awakens the power of story within you. Work with that power and you
can steal fire
from the gods. Master that power and you can create stories that
will live forever. This revised and expanded second edition includes
important new
revelations concerning the ultimate source of unity, the structures
of the whole story passage, the anti-hero's journey, the high concept
great idea, the secrets of charismatic characters, and the analyses
of many important
new stories and successful films. Softcover, 269 pp. $35.95.
Floor Sample: A Creative Memoir
Julia Cameron
In Floor Sample, the author of the international bestseller
The Artist's Way weaves an honest and moving portrayal of her life. From her
early career as a writer for Rolling Stone magazine and her marriage to Martin
Scorsese, to her tortured experiences with alcohol and Hollywood, in this passionate
memoir she reflects on the experiences in her life that have fed her own art
as well as her ability to help others realize their creative dreams. Hardcover,
405 pp. $32.50.
Writing the Fire! Yoga and The Art of Making Your Words Come Alive
Gail Sher
Written by a psychotherapist/poet/teacher/yoga practitioner, Writing
The Fire! offers writers a new and visionary practice: using yoga to
release the body's inner intelligence and then support, shape, and
inform the creative
process. Softcover, 224 pp. $16.95.
Words, Words, Words
David Crystal
Words, Words, Words is a celebration of what we say and how we say it. It invites
us to engage linguistically with who we are: to understand what words tell us
about where we come from and what we do. And as words continually shape our lives,
it suggests ways that we can look at them anew, and become involved with collecting
and coining words ourselves. Hardcover, 216 pp. $26.00.
Cirque Du Soleil: The Spark
Igniting the Creative Fire that Lives Within Us All
John U. Bacon & Lyn Howard
Creativity and innovation are widely recognized as essential to success in business
and so many aspects of our lives. For over two decades, Cirque Du Soleil has
been a word renowned laboratory of creativity. The Spark invites readers inside
the world and ideas of Cirque du Soleil through the story of an ordinary man
searching for meaning in his work and life. Hardcover, 135 pp. $25.00.
On Becoming an Artist
Ellen J. Langer
On Becoming an Artist is loaded with good news. Backed
by her landmark scientific work on mindfulness and artistic nature,
bestselling author
and Harvard psychologist Ellen J. Langer shows us that creativity
is not a rare gift that only some special few are born with, but
rather an intergral
part of everyone's makeup. All of us can express our creative impulses--authentically
and uniquely--and in the process, enrich our lives. With the skill
of a gifted logician, Langer demonstartes exactly how we undervalue
ourselves and undermine our creativity. This high-spirited,
challenging book sparkles with wit and intelligence. It insipires
in us an infectious enthusiasm for our creations, our world and ourselves.
Softcover, 258 pp. $21.00.
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Natalie Goldberg
For more than twenty years Natalie Goldberg has been challenging
and cheering on writers with her books and workshops. In the groundbreaking
first edition
of Writing Down the Bones, she brought together Zen meditation
and writing in a new way. Writing practice, as she calls it, is no
different from other
forms of Zen practice -- "it is backed by two thousand years of studying
the mind." This expanded edition includes a new preface and an interview
with the author.
Softcover, 312 pp.
Spunk & Bite: A Writer's Guide to Punchier, More Engaging
Language & Style
Arthur Plotnik
When too tightly leashed, writing chokes and loses its vitality. Although
the rules of composition popularized in Elements of Style have
be "de
rigueur" for decades, they won't exactly set your writing free. To
the rescue comes Spunk & Bite, a writer's guide full of tricks and techniques
that make prose fresh, forceful, and publishable. Softcover, 263 pp.
$23.95.
Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice
of Story
Christina Baldwin
In her powerful new book, Christina Baldwin, one of the visionaries who
started the personal writing movement, explores the vital necessity
of re-creating a sacred common ground for each other's stories. Through
story
and example, Baldwin presents storytelling as an innate skill we
can remember and practice. She shows the power of story to connect
life experiences
so that we can share them, learn from them, and teach each other
through the medium of a good tale. Hardcover, 252 pp. $29.95.
How to Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy)
Julia Cameron
In this tongue-in-cheek book, the bestselling author of The Artist's Way
delivers a guide to doing anything and everything you possibly can
to avoid making art. Anyone who is engaged in a creative pursuit
will identify with
these wonderful cartoons by award-winning artist Elizabeth Cameron
of creative wannabes doing everything except actually getting down
to work. This hilarious
look at creative blockage and blunder is a laugh-out-loud tribute
to artist procrastination.
Softcover, $19.50.
Inner Drives: How to Write and Create Characters Using the Eight Classic
Centers of Motivation
There are immeasurably powerful dramatic principles that have governed
story-telling for millennia, yet the powerful dimension they can bring
to the inner life of characters has been forgotten. This inspiring
and practical book delves into the fascinating world of archetypes,
mythology, and the chakra system to reveal the deepest sources of character
motivation
and action for a single purpose: to enhance your storytelling abilities.
Filled with powerful examples and exercises, Inner Drives may be used
to structure character arcs, devise backstories, boost conflict, pair
up couples, and form ensembles -- resulting in strong, believable characters
to drive your story. Softcover, 239 pp. $25.95.
The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life
John Daido Loori
Zen Buddhism is steeped in the arts. Calligraphy, poetry, painting, the
tea ceremony, and flower arranging, when taken up as a practice,
can point us toward our essential boundless nature. In The Zen
of Creativity, American
Zen master John Daido Loori taps the principles of the Zen arts and
aesthetic as a means to unlock creativity and find freedom in the
various dimensions
of our existence.
Softcover, 248 pp. $22.95.
The Writer's Retreat Kit
Judy Reeves
Renowned writing teacher Judy Reeves offers 20 innovative retreats for
creative explorers who don't have the time or resources to withdraw
to a Waldenesque cabin in the woods. Artfully designed to provide
accessible sanctuaries for maximizing creativity, this fun and functional
kit
contains
a 176-page booklet and 25 cards. Hardcover, $26.95.
Journalution
Sandy Grason
Studies confirm what avid journalers have always known: writing helps you
move forward in your life, heal, and realize your dreams. This inspiring
book balances basic instructions in the art of journaling with intimate
entries from the author and workshop participants. Exercises and
prompts will gently encourage you to open your journal, and with
pen and pencil
in hand, begin to transform your life today.
Softcover, 200 pp. $20.50.
From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction
Robert Olen Butler
This inspiring book reimagines the process of writing as emotional
rather than intellectual, and tells writers how to achieve the dreamspace
necessary
for composing honest inspired fiction. Proposing fiction as the exploration
of the human condition, Butler reinterprets the traditional tools
of the craft using his unique paradigm. Novice and experienced writers
alike will
benefit from this invaluable resource. Hardcover, 269 pp. $32.50.
Coaching the Artist Within
Eric Maisel
Have you ever wished you had a professional coach who could encourage your
creative pursuits, help structure your efforts, and cheer you on?
Coaching the Artist Within is the first book to explain the techniques
that creativity
coaches use to help their clients survive and thrive in the arts.
Maisel explains in narrative and with exercises, a 'self-coaching'
program designed
to transform your relationship with the creative process.
Softcover, 226 pp. $20.95.
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See also:
Film > Screenplays
Television > Screenplays
Theatre > Playwrights |
