Language Arts & Disciplines : Composition & Creative Writing

Editing is often seen as one item on a list of steps in the writing process?usually put somewhere near the end, and often completely crowded out of writer's workshop. Too many times daily editing lessons happen in a vacuum, with no relationship to what students are writing. In Everyday Editing, Jeff Anderson asks teachers to reflect on what sort of message this approach sends to students. Does it tell them that editing and revision are meaningful parts of the writing process, or just a hunt for errors with a 50/50 chance of getting it right?comma or no comma? Instead of rehearsing errors and drilling students on what's wrong with a sentence, Jeff invites students to look carefully at their writing along with mentor texts, and to think about how punctuation, grammar, and style can be best used to hone and communicate meaning. Written in Jeff's characteristically witty style, this refreshing and practical guide offers an overview of his approach to editing within the writing workshop as well as ten detailed sets of lessons covering everything from apostrophes to serial commas. These lessons can be used throughout the year to replace Daily Oral Language or error-based editing strategies with a more effective method for improving student writing. more...

Price: $14.80

Good interviewing is the key to good reporting and good stories. It's a difficult skill to acquire and it can be stressful - but you can learn how to approach a total stranger and elicit information on a topic about which you know nothing. In this clearly-written guide, experienced journalists Gail Sedorkin and Judy McGregor show you step by step how to manage the interview process. They explain how to prepare, and what to do when you don't have time to prepare. They outline the difference between 'soft' and 'hard' interviews, and show how to make the most of any interview situation. more...

Price: $21.50

Reviews and ExcerptsWhen you are applying to college or grad school, the essays you are asked to write can count up to 60% in admissions decisions and can influence scholarship offers. This book provides real essays to use as samples, and the book contains real essays used by real people to get into law school, business school, Ph.D. programs, colleges including the Ivy League, as well as graduate schools of all types. Learn the proven techniques used by professional writers in developing essays that give admissions committes what they are looking for. "A picture is worth a thousand words" and this unique book doesn't just "tell how;" it "shows how" to write essays that get you into the school of your choice. "Distinguished by its highly readable samples...essential for library collections." - Library Journal1-885288-20-4 more...

Price: $16.95

One of America 's most influential writing teachers offers a toolbox from which writers of all kinds can draw practical inspiration. "Writing is a craft you can learn," says Roy Peter Clark. "You need tools, not rules." His book distills decades of experience into 50 tools that will help any writer become more fluent and effective. WRITING TOOLS covers everything from the most basic ("Tool 5: Watch those adverbs") to the more complex ("Tool 34: Turn your notebook into a camera") and provides more than 200 examples from literature and journalism to illustrate the concepts. For students, aspiring novelists, and writers of memos, e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, and love letters, here are 50 indispensable, memorable, and usable tools. "Pull out a favorite novel or short story, and read it with the guidance of Clark 's ideas. . . . Readers will find new worlds in familiar places. And writers will be inspired to pick up their pens." - Boston Globe. "For all the aspiring writers out there-whether you're writing a novel or a technical report-a respected scholar pulls back the curtain on the art." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "This is a useful tool for writers at all levels of experience, and it's entertainingly written, with plenty of helpful examples." -Booklist more...

Price: $9.99

Susie Bright, the reigning queen of contemporary erotica, shows you how to heat up sex scenes in everything from traditional novels and romances to science fiction and humor. This irreverent yet practical guide offers writing exercises as well as suggestions for nonwriting activities - to galvanize the imagination and raze any creative or psychological hurdle. more...

Price: $11.99