{"product_id":"now-write-isbn-9781585425228","title":"Now Write!","description":"A collection of personal writing exercises and commentary from some of today's best novelists, short story writers, and writing teachers, including Jill McCorkle, Amy Bloom, Robert Olen Butler, Steve Almond, Jayne Anne Phillips, Virgil Suarez, Margot Livesay, and more. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What's the secret behind the successful and prolific careers of critically acclaimed novelists and short story writers Amy Bloom, Steve Almond, Jayne Anne Phillips, Alison Lurie, and others? Divine assistance? Otherworldly talent? An unsettlingly close relationship with the Muse? While the rest of us are staring at blank sheets of paper, struggling to come up with a first sentence, these writers are busy polishing off story after story and novel after novel. Despite producing work that may seem effortless, all of them have a simple technique for fending off writer's block: the writing exercise. In \u003ci\u003eNow Write!\u003c\/i\u003e, Sherry Ellis collects the personal writing exercises of today's best writers and lays bare the secret to their success. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e - In \"The Photograph,\" Jill McCorkle divulges one of her tactics for handling material that takes plots in a million different directions;\u003cbr\u003e - National Book Award-nominee Amy Bloom offers \"Water Buddies,\" an exercise for writers practicing their craft in workshops;\u003cbr\u003e - Steve Almond, author of \u003ci\u003eMy Life in Heavy Metal\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCandyfreak\u003c\/i\u003e, provides a way to avoiding purple prose in \"The Five-Second Shortcut to Writing in the Lyric Register\";\u003cbr\u003e - and eighty-three more of the country's top writers disclose their strategies for creating memorable prose. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Complemented by brief commentary from the authors themselves, the exercises in \u003ci\u003eNow Write!\u003c\/i\u003e are practical and hands-on. By encouraging writers to shamelessly steal proven techniques that have yielded books which have won National Book Awards, Pulitzers, and Guggenheim grants, Now Write! inspires the aspiring writer to \u003ci\u003ewrite now\u003c\/i\u003e.Now Write!Editor's Note\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGet Writing!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJayne Anne Phillips\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWedding Pictures\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRobert Olen Butler\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrough the Senses\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlison Lurie\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy Pet\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlice Mattison\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwo People Come Out of a Building and Into a Story\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlexander Chee\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Seed\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDiana Abu-Jaber\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTruthful Dare\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJill McCorkle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Photograph\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRick Hillis\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Prefab Story Exercise\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaria Flook\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Upside-Down Bird: Hybridizing Memory, Place, and Invention\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePaul Lisicky\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Map to Anywhere\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChuck Wachtel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStarting with the News\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDebra Spark\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWedding Cake Assignment\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKatherine A. Vaz\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Tabula Rasa Experiment\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKaren Brennan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCollage\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDan Wakefield\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Five Senses\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCrystal Wilkinson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBirth of a Story in an Hour or Less\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLaurie Foos\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSurrealism Exercise, or Thinking Outside the Box\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLeslie Schwartz\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOvercoming Dry Spells\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eVirgil Suárez\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eField Trip\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDavid Michael Kaplan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSmushing Seed Ideas Together\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKathleen Spivack\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Writing Exercise: A Recipe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePoint of View\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNina de Gramont\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStory to Tell\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaureen McCoy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst-Person Point of View: Imagining and Inhabiting Character\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eClyde Edgerton\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou-Me-I-You in the Cafeteria\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMartha Cooley\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGetting Characters' Ages Right\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePaula Morris\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat Are They Thinking? A Point-of-View Exercise\u003ci\u003eDaphne Kalotay\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThird-Person Narration and \"Psychic Distance\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEileen Pollack\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLook Backward, Angel\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLaura Kasischke\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet the Dead Speak: An Exercise in First-Person Narration\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCharacter Development\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKay Sloan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEmpathy and the Creation of Character\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMichelle Herman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat's Under the Surface?\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLauren Grodstein\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Interview\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eElizabeth Graver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Once Upon a Time\": Playing with Time in Fiction\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRobert Anthony Siegel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy I Stole It\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChris Abani\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLanguage Portrait\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRachel Basch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaw Through Their Pockets, Rifle Through Their Drawers\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaxine Chernoff\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Samsa, Meet Bartleby\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMichelle Brooks\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRattlesnake in the Drawer\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eK. L. Cook\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Family Theme, a Family Secret\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMichael Datcher\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCharacters in Conflict\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEdie Meidav\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Voyager: Write What You Don't Know\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoan Silber\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGetting Dramatic\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMary Yukari Waters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDeveloping Your Characters\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLise Haines\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Way They Do the Things They Do\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCai Emmons\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBraiding time\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDialogue\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSteven Schwartz\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSnoop 'Da Dialogue\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSands Hall\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDialogue Without Words\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLon Otto\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHearing Voices\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThomas Fox Averill\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDialogue Exercise: The Non-Apology\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDouglas Unger\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLevel of Dialogue\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePlot and Pacing\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDan Chaon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFictional Building Blocks\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRenée Manfredi\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKeep the Engine Running\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFred Leebron\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Riff\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrent Spencer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStoryboard Your Story\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSean Murphy and Tania Casselle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSticking to the Structure\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirby Gann\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat Am I Writing About? Clarifying Story Ideas Through Summary\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDouglas Bauer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Richness of Resonance\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSetting and Description\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMargot Livesey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSetting in Fiction\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJim Heynen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Character of Setting\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoan Leegant\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnimating the Inanimate\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eVenise Berry\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLearning to Layer\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePatricia Powell\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Sense of Place\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJohn Smolens\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBe the Tree\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eGeoffrey Becker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Very, Very Long Sentence\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKaren E. Bender\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMost Memorable Food: Using Sensory Detail\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBret Anthony Johnston\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLike Water for Words: A Simile Exercise\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCraft\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSusan Vreeland\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFinding a Larger Truth by Turning Autobiography into Fiction\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSheila Kohler\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSecrets of the Great Scene\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTony Ardizzone\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHemingway's Caroms: Descriptive Showing and Telling\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRobert Boswell\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow to Own a Story\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eElizabeth Searle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eObject Lessons\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRosellen Brown\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Goldilocks Method\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSandra Scofield\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBig Scenes\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNancy Reisman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoving Through Time: A Four-Paragraph Short Short\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoy Passanante\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUsing the Retrospective Lens\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmy Bloom\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWater Buddies\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eVictoria Redel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eListening to Sound to Find Sense\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLynne Barrett\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEntrances: Building Bigger Scenes\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSteve Almond\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Five-Second Shortcut to Writing in the Lyric Register\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristopher Busa\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeaning Making Via Metaphor\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristopher Castellani\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSoundtracking Your Story\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRobert Cohen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNegative Capability\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRevision\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePorter Shreve\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSeven Drafts in Seven Days\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnn Harleman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMore Is More: An Exercise in Revising Your Story\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrian Kiteey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePotholes\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJonis Agee\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Dark Matter: Twenty Issues in Novel Revision\u003cbr\u003eAuthor Websites\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eCredits\u003cbr\u003eAbout the EditorSherry Ellis is the editor of \u003ci\u003eNOW WRITE! Fiction Writing Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eNOW WRITE! NONFICTION\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as a personal writing coach. Her author interviews have appeared in the \u003ci\u003eKenyon Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Writer’s Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGlimmer Train\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAGNI\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as other literary and arts magazines. She lives in Massachusetts.","brand":"Tarcher","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304527220965,"sku":"NP9781585425228","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781585425228.jpg?v=1767733943","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/now-write-isbn-9781585425228","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}