Research Fiction

Imagine writing an enthralling story set in a futuristic world, featuring advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and intergalactic travel. A story that not only captivates audiences but also brings you joy during the creative process.

Calvin Trillin has reported serious pieces across America for The New Yorker, covered the civil rights movement in the South for Time, and written comic verse for The Nation. But one of his favorite subjects over the years—a superb fit for his unique combination of reportage and humor—has been his own professional environment: the American press.

Compelling characters are what keeps readers turning pages and buying books—from fantasies to mysteries to the great literary novel. But how to do you create characters that feel three-dimensional and real on the page? Counsellor and author Eileen Cook shares common psychological techniques to help you build your characters and take your story to the next level. This book covers understanding your character's backstory and how it impacts their choices in your book by doing a structured counselling interview, personality structure, and the Stages of Change.

In this series, you'll get three audiobooks that will help you with all types of writing. You'll get practical writing prompts, learn what productivity for authors looks like, and discover how to become a great non-fiction author. There's nothing worse than sitting down at your desk to write...and then finding out you don't have any ideas. You'll discover proven productivity strategies you can use to get the words out and finish writing an article, a story, a book, and more. I will also explain all you need to know about writing your non-fiction book, step-by-step.

In Plotting a Fantasy Novel, you’ll discover how to create a novel outline in five easy steps. Fantasies are our secret escape to utopia. And with the right tools and techniques, you can create many more escape gateways by writing compelling fantasy novels…novels your readers will be itching to get their hands on. If you dream of seeing your name among the masters of storytelling, it’s time to learn the secrets.

The CliffsNotes study guide on William Golding's Lord of the Flies supplements the original literary work, giving you background information about the author, an introduction to the work, and critical commentaries, all for you to use as an educational tool that will allow you to better understand the work. This study guide was written with the assumption that you have read Lord of the Flies.

Edited and annotated by H. L. M., this is a selection from his out-of-print writings. They come mostly from books - the six installments of the Prejudices series, A Book of Burlesques, In Defense of Women, Notes on Democracy, Making a President, A Book of Calumny, Treatise on Right and Wrong - but there are also magazine and newspaper pieces that never got between covers (from the American Mercury, the Smart Set, and the Baltimore Evening Sun) and some notes that were never previously published at all.

A compassionate and captivating examination of evolving attitudes toward mental illness throughout history and the fight to end the stigma. For centuries, scientists and society cast moral judgments on anyone deemed mentally ill, confining many to asylums. In Nobody’s Normal, anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker chronicles the progress and setbacks in the struggle against mental-illness stigma - from the 18th century, through America’s major wars, and into today’s high-tech economy.

Point of view is one of the most powerful tools in a writer's kit, but it's also one of the hardest to understand and master. In this book, Sandra Gerth draws on her experience as an editor and a best-selling author to teach you how to handle point of view in a way that will make your readers identify with your main character, draw them into the story, and keep them captivated until the very last page. The book provides concrete examples and exercises that will hone your writing skills, whether you're a novice writer working on her first story or an established author.

Ninety crime writers from the world’s oldest and most famous crime writing network give tips and insights into successful crime and thriller fiction. Howdunit! offers a fresh perspective on the craft of crime writing from leading exponents of the genre, past and present. The book offers invaluable advice to people interested in writing crime fiction, but it also provides a fascinating picture of the way that the best crime writers have honed their skills over the years.

Sinner is the story of Marsuvees Black, a force of raw evil who speaks with wicked persuasion that is far more destructive than swords or guns. Beware all who stand in his way. It's also the story of Billy Rediger and Darcy Lange, two unsuspecting survivors of a research project gone bad, who discover that they are perhaps the two most powerful souls in the land. Listen to them or pay a terrible price. And it's the story of Johnny Drake, the one who comes out of the desert and leads the 3,000. Follow him and die.

Born in 1909 in Jackson, Mississippi, Eudora Welty shares details of her upbringing that show us how her family and her surroundings contributed to the shaping not only of her personality but of her writing as well. Everyday sights, sounds, and objects resonate with the emotions of recollection.

Holidays in Hell follows P. J. O’Rourke on a global fun-finding mission to the most desperate places on the planet, from the bombed-out streets of Beirut to the stultifying blandness of Heritage USA. P.J.’s unforgettable adventures abroad include storming student protesters’ barricades in South Korea, interviewing Communist insurrectionists in the Philippines, and going undercover in Arab garb at Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock Mosque. Packed with P.J.’s classic riffs on everything from Polish nightlife under communism to Third World driving tips....

The vast majority of writers begin the storytelling process with only a partial understanding of where to begin. Some labor their entire lives without ever learning that successful stories are as dependent upon good engineering as they are artistry. But the truth is, unless you are master of the form, function, and criteria of successful storytelling, sitting down and pounding out a first draft without planning is an ineffective way to begin. Story Engineering starts with the criteria and the architecture of storytelling, the engineering and design of a story....

The beginning is the most important part of your book. The first chapter—probably even the first page—is what makes agents and editors accept or reject a manuscript, and it's what makes readers decide to buy a book or pick another. But writing a compelling opening is hard because there are so many things a great beginning needs to do and so many mistakes to avoid.

For nearly two centuries, the authorship of William Shakespeare's plays has been challenged by writers and artists as diverse as Sigmund Freud, Mark Twain, Henry James, Helen Keller, Orson Welles, Malcolm X, and Sir Derek Jacobi. How could a young man from rural Warwickshire, lacking a university education, write some of the greatest works in the English language?

Crime Writing 101 is the ultimate toolkit for fiction writers who want to create a thrilling, suspenseful, and unpausable murder mystery. This comprehensive guide is the book you need to listen to before you sit down to write.

The Complete Art of World Building brings together volumes one through three in The Art of World Building series. This how-to guide will make listeners a master of inventing imaginary worlds and help a setting stand out from the multitude of fantasy and SF worlds audiences see.

In Fiction Writing 101, you’ll find a complete guide to nailing a successful book—from the seed of an idea right through to the finished manuscript....

This CliffsNotes study guide on William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar supplements the original literary work, giving you background information about the author, an introduction to the work, and commentaries, all for you to use as an educational tool that will allow you to better understand the work. This study guide was written with the assumption that you have read Julius Caesar.