OBD National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) - Adult | Indian Prairie Public Library District

1) The art of X-ray reading: how the secrets of 25 great works of literature will improve your writing

Author

Description

Where do writers learn their best moves? They use a technique that Roy Peter Clark calls X-ray reading, a form of reading that lets you penetrate beyond the surface of a text to see how meaning is actually being made. In THE ART OF X-RAY READING, Clark invites you to don your X-ray reading glasses and join him on a guided tour through some of the most exquisite and masterful literary works of all time, fromThe Great Gatsby to Lolita to The Bluest...

2) Bird by bird: some instructions on writing and life

Author

Lamott, Anne

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

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"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's...

3) The DC Comics guide to writing comics

Author

O'Neil, Dennis

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Discusses basic elements of comic book writing including script writing, story development, subplots, and character development.

4) Draft no. 4: on the writing process

Author

McPhee, John

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook

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"Draft No. 4 is a master class on the writer's craft. In a series of playful, expertly wrought essays, John McPhee shares insights he has gathered over his career and has refined while teaching at Princeton University, where he has nurtured some of the most esteemed writers of recent decades. McPhee offers definitive guidance in the decisions regarding arrangement, diction, and tone that shape nonfiction pieces, and he presents extracts from his work,...

5) Elements of fiction

Author

Mosley, Walter

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook

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"In his essential writing guide, This Year You Write Your Novel, Walter Mosley supplied aspiring writers with the basic tools and practical advice needed to write a novel in a single year. In this complementary follow up, Mosley guides the reader through the fundamental building blocks of fiction to deliver a master class on the writer's craft. In a series of conversational and instructive chapters, Mosley breaks down the art of fiction to its most...

6) Escaping into the open: the art of writing true

Author

Berg, Elizabeth

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

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Both autobiography and primer, Escaping into the Open is an inspiring, practical handbook on the joys and challenges of the writing life. Renowned author and writing instructor Elizabeth Berg interweaves the story of her own journey from working mother to bestselling novelist with encouraging advice on how to create stories that spring from the heart. Continually in print since its original 1999 publication, this invaluable resource is a true and

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7) How fiction works

Author

Wood, James

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook

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What makes a story a story? What is style? What's the connection between realism and real life? These are some of the questions James Wood answers in How Fiction Works, the first book-length essay by the preeminent critic of his generation. Ranging widely--from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings--Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step.--From publisher description.

8) How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author

Author

Evanovich, Janet

Formats:

Audiobook CD, eAudiobook

Description

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How many people would kill to be a bestselling novelist? Especially one like Janet Evanovich.Writers want to know how a bestselling author thinks, writes, plans, and dreams her books. And they are primed for a book from Janet Evanovich that tells, in a witty Q&A format:
- How she comes up with such remarkable characters
- How she nails the perfect name every time
- How she finds out insider details
- Just how she sets up those masterful

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9) How to Write Best-Selling Fiction

Series

Great courses. Literature and language. Writing

Formats:

DVD, eVideo

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Get a comprehensive, eye-opening, and illuminating survey of the entire writing process, as well as a full breakdown of how dozens of best-selling authors have implemented best practices in their own writing. As an aspiring author, you will gain a wealth of tools that will not only improve your ability to write, but will also increase your enjoyment of the craft.

10) Hungry heart: adventures in life, love, and writing

Author

Weiner, Jennifer

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, Large Print

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"You fall down. You get hurt. You get up again. You know Jennifer Weiner as many things: a bestselling author, a Twitter phenomenon, and "an unlikely feminist enforcer" (The New Yorker). She's also a mom, a daughter, and a sister; a former rower and current runner; a best friend and a reality TV junkie. Here, in her first foray into nonfiction, she takes the raw stuff of her personal life and spins it into a collection of essays on womanhood as uproariously...

11) I came all this way to meet you: writing myself home

Author

Attenberg, Jami

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

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"From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling memoir about unlocking and embracing her creativity-and how it saved her life"-- From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling memoir about unlocking and embracing her creativity?and how it saved her life. In this brilliant, fierce, and funny memoir of transformation, Jami Attenberg--described as a "master of modern fiction" (Entertainment Weekly) and...

12) In the margins: on the pleasures of reading and writing

Author

Ferrante, Elena

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Large Print

Description

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"Four new and revelatory essays by the author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter. In 2020, Claire Luchette in O, The Oprah Magazine described the beloved Italian novelist Elena Ferrante as "an oracle among authors." Here, in these four crisp essays, Ferrante offers a rare look at the origins of her literary powers. She writes about her influences, her struggles, and her formation as both a reader and a writer; she describes the perils of...

13) Janet Evanovich's how I write: secrets of a bestselling author

Author

Evanovich, Janet

14) The kite and the string: how to write with spontaneity and control - and live to tell the tale

Author

Mattison, Alice

Description

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A targeted and insightful guide to the stages of writing fiction and memoir without falling into common traps, while wisely navigating the writing life, from an award-winning author and longtime teacher.

15) The magic words: writing great books for children and young adults

Author

Klein, Cheryl B

Description

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The best children's and young adult novels take readers on wonderful outward adventures and stirring inward journeys. In The Magic Words, editor Cheryl B. Klein guides writers on an enjoyable and practical-minded voyage of their own, from developing a saleable premise for a novel to finding a dream agent. She delves deep into the major elements of fiction - intention, character, plot, and voice - while addressing important topics like diversity, world-building,...

16) Making comics

Author

Barry, Lynda

Description

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"For more than five years the cartoonist Lynda Barry has been an associate professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison art department and at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, teaching students from all majors, both graduate and undergraduate, how to make comics, how to be creative, how to not think. There is no academic lecture in this classroom. Doodling is enthusiastically encouraged. Making Comics is the follow-up to Barry's bestselling...

17) On writing: a memoir of the craft

Author

King, Stephen

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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

18) On writing romance: how to craft a novel that sells

Author

Michaels, Leigh

Description

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Sweep Readers Off Their Feet With a Romance They'll Never Forget

In On Writing Romance, award-winning romance novelist Leigh Michaels talks you through each stage of the writing and publishing process. From the origins and evolution of the romance novel to establishing a vital story framework to writing that last line to seeking out appropriate publishers, everything you ever wanted to know about writing a romance novel is here.

In

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19) Save the cat! writes a novel: the last book on novel writing you'll ever need

Author

Brody, Jessica

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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The first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success.
Novelist Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists that applies the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of novel writing. Revealing the 15 "beats" (plot points) that comprise a successful story—from the opening...

20) Storyville!: an illustrated guide to writing fiction

Author

Dufresne, John

Description

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"A smart and funny guide to writing fiction, with engaging infographics that bring storytelling techniques to life. Whether you are daunted by a blinking cursor or frustrated trying to get the people in your head onto the page, writing stories can be intimidating. It takes passion, tenacity, patience, and a knowledge of and faith in the often-digressive writing process. A do-it-yourself manual for the apprentice fiction writer, Storyville! demystifies...