From one of America's most influential teachers, a collection of the best writing advice distilled from fifty language books -- from Aristotle to Strunk and White.With so many excellent writing guides lining bookstore shelves, it can be hard to know where to look for the best advice. Should you go with Natalie Goldberg or Anne Lamott? Maybe William Zinsser or Stephen King would be more appropriate. Then again, what about the classics -- Strunk and White, or even Ar...

A special 10th anniversary edition of Roy Peter Clark's bestselling guide to writing, featuring five bonus tools.Ten years ago, Roy Peter Clark, America's most influential writing teacher, whittled down almost thirty years of experience in journalism, writing, and teaching into a series of fifty short essays on different aspects of writing. In the past decade, Writing Tools has become a classic guidebook for novices and experts alike and remains one of the...

Why write a nonfiction book in a month? To get the first draft done, that's why.Maybe you have lots of ideas that you haven't gotten down on paper, published, and into the hands of eager readers. Perhaps you think you don't have the time or the skills to become an author. All too often, perfectly capable writers have such misconceptions, and they end up taking years to finish their book-if they finish at all.Don't let that happen to you. Get your brilliant idea out of your ...

One of America's most influential writing teachers offers writing lessons we can draw from twenty-five great texts.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 s...

The craft of writing offers countless potential problems: The story is too long; the story's too short; revising presents a huge hurdle; writer's block is rearing its ugly head.In Help! For Writers, Roy Peter Clark presents an "owner's manual" for writers, outlining the seven steps of the writing process, and addressing the 21 most urgent problems that writers face. In his trademark engaging and entertaining style, Clark offers ten short solutions to each problem. Out of id...

"Very much a manual for the 21st century . . . a welcome addition to the bookshelf of anyone who cares about language-and is willing to argue about it." — New York Times Book ReviewEarly in the history of English, the words "grammar" and "glamour" meant the same thing: the power to charm. Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical ...

The essential guide to crafting the winning college admissions essay that only you could write, from America’s favorite writing coach.Most high school students never have received any instruction in how to write a personal essay. Yet at a time when getting admitted to their dream college is more competitive than ever, the admissions essay may turn out to be the single most important thing they will ever write. The stakes are high.In Writing Tools for th...

America's favorite writing coach and bestselling author returns with an "indispensable" guide (Diana K. Sugg, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter) to writing clearly and honestly in a world full of lies, propaganda, and misinformation.The darker and more dystopian the future appears, the more influential public writers become. But with so much content vying for our attention, and so much misinformation and propaganda polluting public discourse, how can writers break th...

America's most influential writing teacher offers an engaging and practical guide to effective short-form writing." How to Write Short is a deeply practical guidebook and an annotated collection of concise gems from some of the world's greatest writers and journalists, not one of them longer than 300 words. Roy's message is clear: great writing is a matter of craft, not word count. How to Wri...

"In pointing us toward how to be 'better than we are,' Gene Patterson--passionate, funny, sound of mind and full of heart--coincidentally reminds us just how fine journalism can be. This is a wonderful, inspiring book."--Geneva Overholser, syndicated columnist, Washington Post Writers Group, and Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting, University of Missouri"Proves that journalism at its best can endure as literature. A compelling portrait of the 1960s and the American S...

A special 10th anniversary edition of Roy Peter Clark's bestselling guide to writing, featuring five bonus tools.Ten years ago, Roy Peter Clark, America's most influential writing teacher, whittled down almost thirty years of experience in journalism, writing, and teaching into a series of fifty short essays on different aspects of writing. In the past decade, Writing Tools has become a classic guidebook for novices and experts alike and remains one of the...

Roy Peter Clark, one of America's most influential writing teachers, offers writing lessons we can draw from 25 great texts.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...