Makerspace: Writing Resources

According to a recent survey, 81% of adults harbor dreams of writing—but of those, only 2% have actually completed a manuscript. Jurgen Wolff’s writing guide helps readers realize their dreams of becoming a successful writer. As a successful author with experience in feature films, television, radio, books, newspapers, plays—as well as credits from Hollywood and the BBC—Wolff teaches writers how to avoid procrastination and find time to write, create vivid characters, obtain an agent, and more. Novels, screenplays, short stories, articles, memoirs, and poetry are all included in Wolff’s comprehensive approach. Your Writing Coach provides powerful tips for every writer and includes updated advice on marketing techniques for the twenty-first century.

Providing essential guidance for both aspiring and experienced authors, the second edition of The Author’s Handbook is a valuable resource for writers of all levels. Extensively updated and expanded to account for significant changes in the publishing industry, The Author’s Handbook outlines effective techniques to develop marketable book ideas, research those ideas, and write a manuscript—either fiction or nonfiction—for publication. The authors provide many tips on topics that include choosing a publisher, negotiating contracts, understanding legal matters, and promoting your work. With this guide, the reader will gain insight into virtually every aspect of publishing.

Sometimes setting pen to paper requires bravery, and writing well means breaking free of the rules learned in school. Liberating and emboldening the beginning writer are the goals of Ted Kooser and Steve Cox in this spirited book of practical wisdom that brings to bear decades of invaluable experience in writing, teaching, editing, and publishing.
Unlike “how to write” books that dwell on the angst and the agony of the trade, Writing Brave and Free is upbeat and accessible. The focus here is the work itself: how to get started and how to keep going, and never is heard a discouraging word such as “no,” “not,” or “never.” Because of the wealth of their experience, the authors can offer the sort of practical publishing advice that novices need and yet rarely find. Organized in brief, user-friendly chapters—on everything from sensory details to a work environment, from creating suspense to revising and taking criticism—the book allows aspiring (and practicing) writers to dip in anywhere and find something of value.

Writing Nonfiction provides a roadmap. The reader will learn how to break a topic down into easy-to-attack projects; how and where to do research; a process that makes writing easy; how to improve material; how to evaluate publishing options and how to develop an individualized and workable plan.