You're no idiot, of course. You've read poetry that has touched your heart, and you'd like to improve your own writing technique. But even though you have loads of inspiration, you're discovering that good instruction can be as elusive as a good metaphor. Don't let your Muse leave you! With loads of smart advice and helpful exercises, The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Writing Poetry will help you compose powerful, emotion-packed poems that you can be proud of. In this Complete Idiot's Guide®, you get: --Simple explanations of the building blocks of poetry—metaphor, imagery, symbolism, repetition, and more. --A step-by-step guide to the poetic process—from your first inspiration to your poem's last stanza. --Easy-to-follow guidelines for writing sonnets, sestinas, narrative poems, and more!
A fifty percent revision of a popular Complete Idiot's Guide that now, more than ever, offers readers a thorough, creative writing class in a book, with Dr. Laurie Rozakis as their teacher. The book is refocused to more of an academic approach. Readers can begin to unlock their creativity from the first page, with fabulous exercises that help them explore their talents and experiment with different genres and forms of writing, including: • •Short stories •Narrative nonfiction •Memoirs •Magazine articles •Poetry •Drama •Blogging and freewriting
Looks at American authors from Washington Irving to John Updike and provides brief biographical sketches, excerpts and summaries of major works, and explanations of major literary movements
The essential guide to looking at literature with your own two eyes. What students know about Shakespeare, Orwell, Dickens, and Twain is primarily what their instructors tell them. Here’s a book that teaches the students how to move on to the next level—evaluate and read critically on their own, trust their own opinions, develop original ideas, analyze characters, and find a deeper appreciation for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more. • Ideal companion for college students and accessible for the casual reader as well. • Covers fiction, poetry, narrative nonfiction, biographies and memoirs, essays and editorials, and newspapers, magazines, and journals. • Features examples from published writing. • Includes a reading list and a glossary of literary terms.
Demystify and appreciate the pleasures of poetry Sometimes it seems like there are as many definitions of poetry as there are poems. Coleridge defined poetry as “the best words in the best order.” St. Augustine called it “the Devil’s wine.” For Shelley, poetry was “the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.” But no matter how you define it, poetry has exercised a hold upon the hearts and minds of people for more than five millennia. That’s because for the attentive reader, poetry has the power to send chills shooting down the spine and lightning bolts flashing in the brain — to throw open the doors of perception and hone our sensibilities to a scalpel’s edge. Poetry For Dummies is a great guide to reading and writing poems, not only for beginners, but for anyone interested in verse. From Homer to Basho, Chaucer to Rumi, Shelley to Ginsberg, it introduces you to poetry’s greatest practitioners. It arms you with the tools you need to understand and appreciate poetry in all its forms, and to explore your own talent as a poet. Discover how to: Understand poetic language and forms Interpret poems Get a handle on poetry through the ages Find poetry readings near you Write your own poems Shop your work around to publishers Don’t know the difference between an iamb and a trochee? Worry not, this friendly guide demystifies the jargon, and it covers a lot more ground besides, including: Understanding subject, tone, narrative; and poetic language Mastering the three steps to interpretation Facing the challenges of older poetry Exploring 5,000 years of verse, from Mesopotamia to the global village Writing open-form poetry Working with traditional forms of verse Writing exercises for aspiring poets Getting published From Sappho to Clark Coolidge, and just about everyone in between, Poetry For Dummies puts you in touch with the greats of modern and ancient poetry. Need guidance on composing a ghazal, a tanka, a sestina, or a psalm? This is the book for you.
You're no idiot, of course. You know how to tap out an email to your boss, scrawl a note to your sweetheart, even throw in an extra flourish when you sign a greeting card. But when it comes to really writing that excruciating process of transferring your thoughts to paper without inventing some strange new language well, let's just say you think you lack the write stuff. The written word was a great achievement in human history; don't give up on it just yet! 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Well' is the writing book you've been waiting for everything you need to know to make writing of any kind as easy as thinking or speaking. In this 'Complete Idiot's' Guide, you'll get : -Expert advice on making your writing as clear, persuasive and painless as possible, whether it's a thank-you note, a school paper, or an executive briefing. Easy-to-follow guidelines on a structure, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary and style. No-nonsense advice on figuring out the three hardest parts of any writing: the beginning, middle and end.
Market more successfully-with thousands of powerful, persuasive words. This reference is for anyone who needs to write effective marketing copy-for ads, catalogs, brochures, letters, press releases, displays, fundraising materials, and more. With thousands of entries, it does the brainstorming for you-and sparks ideas that stand out in a sea of hype. -Three A-to-Z sections: descriptive words, promotional words, and words organized by industry (cosmetics, food, travel, computers, etc.) -Extensive synonym lists for frequently used marketing words: 45 words for big; 19 words for authentic; 27 words for clean; 46 words for money; ... and 10 words for purple -Additional lists of Related Words and Phrases, Expressions, Symbols, and Antonyms -Also features A Concise Guide to Copywriting, with chapters on consumer psychology; tricks of the trade; grammar and style tips; and 7 Qualities that Make a Great Copywriter
Times have changed for first-time authors. Publishers have consolidated. Editors are fewer. Literary agents are more selective. The result is that it's tougher than ever to get published. That's why new authors need The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, Fourth Edition. For years, new authors have depended on the wise inside advice and tricks from Sheree Bykofsky, successful New York literary agent, and author, and Jennifer Basye Sander, best-selling non-fiction author and literary consultant. And now, their book is even more packed with the latest information about the business of publishing and the practical advice any writer will need to achieve the all-important goal of "getting published."
You've always known writing comedy was about more than just being funny. But how do you create a joke and work it into a script or a stand-up routine? Comedian, writer, and teacher Jim Mendrinos has the answers. In The Complete Idiot s Guide to Comedy Writing, Mendrinos gives readers the principles he teaches in his popular courses, from understanding what funny is and how to find it, to how to actually construct comedy. Working through the basic constructions and forms including premises, points of view, and twists, he shows the variations of written, verbal, and physical comedy. With useful exercises, Mendrinos helps writers refine their writing, appeal to their audience, and even break writer's block by learning techniques for brainstorming, free association, lists, and finding infinite points of view.
