Writing in a Nutshell

In Writing in a Nutshell: Writing Workshops to Improve Your Craft, writer, editor, and publisher, Jessica Bell, guides writers through a variety of "before" and "after" writing examples demonstrating the transition from weak to strong writing, and encourages them to follow her example through clear and simple self-teaching steps. In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says a writer needs to focus on short assignments to avoid feeling overwhelmed. She refers to the one-inch picture frame on her desk and how, it reminds her to focus on bite-sized pieces of the whole story. If you focus on one small thing at a time, the story will eventually come together to create a whole. The same applies to learning how to write. If writers focus on one aspect of the craft at a time, the process will seem less daunting, and piece by piece, it will come together. Not only is Writing in a Nutshell: Writing Workshops to Improve Your Craft an excellent addition to any creative writing course, but it's also a great primary learning tool for aspiring writers, and a great booster for more experienced writers to use to hone their craft.

Have you been told there's a little too much telling in your novel? Want to remedy it? Then this is the book for you. In Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing you will find sixteen real scenes depicting a variety of situations, emotions, and characteristics which clearly demonstrate how to turn telling into showing. A few short writing prompts are also provided. Not only is this pocket guide an excellent learning tool for aspiring writers, but it is a user-friendly and simple solution to honing your craft no matter how broad your writing experience.

Have you been told you use too many adverbs and clichés in your writing? Want to remedy it? Then this is the book for you. In Adverbs & Clichés in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Subversions of Adverbs & Clichés into Gourmet Imagery, you will find thirty-four examples of prose which clearly demonstrate how to turn those pesky adverbs and clichés into vivid and unique imagery. Extra writing prompts are also provided at the end of the book. Not only is this pocket guide an excellent learning tool for aspiring writers, but it is a user-friendly and simple solution to honing your craft no matter how broad your writing experience. NOTE: This book is included as Part 2 in Writing in a Nutshell: Writing Workshops to Improve Your Craft.

Have readers told you that they can't seem "get into" your novel? That could be because it lacks the sensory information required to effectively hook your readers' attention. Would you like to remedy this? Then this is the book for you. In The Six Senses in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Bleak to Bold Narrative you will find eleven real scenes which illustrate how utilizing the six senses can bring your writing to life. In each demonstrated transition you will find a BLEAK passage (prose lacking sensory information), and a BOLD passage (the BLEAK passage revamped to make it more appealing by utilizing sense in an indirect and/or stimulating way). Writing exercises are also provided. Not only is this pocket guide an excellent learning tool for aspiring writers, but it is a light, convenient, and easy solution to honing your craft no matter how broad your writing experience.

In Polish Your Fiction: A Quick & Easy Self-Editing Guide, writer, editor, and publisher, Jessica Bell, offers her tried and tested advice on the quickest and easiest ways to polish different areas of writing style, consistency of prose, grammar, punctuation, typography, and layout. Each section is, armed with a numbered checklist for moments when writers need that "at-a-glance" reminder and nifty Microsoft Word tricks that will save time. At the end of the book there are also magnificent accounts of editorial mistakes other authors have made, during their careers, to show that no matter how many times, a book is edited, something always slips through, and to therefore not be so hard on oneself. In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says a writer needs to focus on short assignments to avoid feeling overwhelmed. She refers to the one-inch picture frame on her desk and how it, reminds her to focus on bite-sized pieces of the whole, story. If you focus on one small thing at a time, the story will eventually come together to create a whole. The same applies to editing a manuscript. If writers focus on one aspect of the editorial process at a time, the task will seem less daunting, and piece by piece, it will come together to form a piece of very polished work.

Revised 2019 Edition In Self-Publish Your Book: A Quick & Easy Step-by-Step Guide, writer, editor, and publisher, Jessica Bell, does not overwhelm you with all information available-she explains exactly what one needs to know, without the faff, by following a foolproof, cost-efficient, time-efficient, extremely easy-to-follow, step-by-step, self-publishing method. By following this method, a writer can have their book go from manuscript to published book within one week. They'll learn how to: prepare their manuscript in Microsoft Word, design their paperback and eBook cover, prepare their front/back matter and blurb, format their paperback interior & eBook, proofread their designed pages, register with desired retailers/distributors, export their eBook to a retail-ready file, and upload their paperback and eBook to retailers/distributors. In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says a writer needs to focus on short assignments to avoid feeling overwhelmed. She refers to the one-inch picture frame on her desk and how it reminds her to focus on bite-sized pieces of the whole story. If you focus on one small thing at a time, the story will eventually come together to create a whole. The same applies to publishing a book. If writers focus on one aspect of the publishing process at a time, the task will seem less daunting, and piece by piece, it will come together to result in a quality product the author can sell with pride. Not only is Self-Publish Your Book: A Quick & Easy Step-by-Step Guide an excellent addition to any self-publishing course, but it's also a great primary learning tool for first-time self-publishers as it allows them to get their feet wet without committing too much time or money to the process, while simultaneously producing a quality product.

Don't need paperbacks? Then save $$$ by snapping up the complete collection of the Writing in a Nutshell series in digital format, revised and updated in 2019. In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says a writer needs to focus on short assignments to avoid feeling overwhelmed. She refers to the one-inch picture frame on her desk and how it reminds her to focus on bite-sized pieces of the whole story. If you focus on one small thing at a time, the story will eventually come together to create a whole. The same applies to learning writing, editing, and publishing craft. If writers focus on one aspect of the craft at a time, the process will seem less daunting, and piece by piece, it will come together. With more than ten years' experience as an editor and writer of English Language Teaching (ELT) materials for various ELT publishers worldwide, I know that "breaking down" language and tasks into smaller focus areas is an effective learning method. After much experimentation on myself, and volunteer aspiring writers, I discovered it is extremely effective with writing, editing, and publishing too. And so the Writing in a Nutshell series was born. The first book, Writing in a Nutshell: Writing Workshops to Improve Your Craft, I guide writers through a variety of "before" and "after" writing examples demonstrating the transition from weak to strong writing, and encourage them to follow my example through clear and simple self-teaching steps. This book is also broken down into three separate workbooks (available to purchase separately) should writers not need practice in all areas: Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing; Adverbs & Clichés in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Subversions of Adverbs & Clichés into Gourmet Imagery; and The Six Senses in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Bleak to Bold Narrative. In the second book, Polish Your Fiction: A Quick & Easy Self-Editing Guide, I offer my tried and tested advice on the quickest and easiest ways to polish different areas of writing style, consistency of prose, grammar, punctuation, typography, and layout. Each section is armed with a numbered checklist for moments when writers need that "at-a-glance" reminder and nifty Microsoft Word tricks that will save time. At the end of the book there are also magnificent accounts of editorial mistakes other authors have made during their careers, to show that no matter how many times a book is edited, something always slips through, and to therefore not be so hard on oneself. In the third book, Self-Publish Your Book: A Quick & Easy Step-by-Step Guide, I do not overwhelm with all information available-I explain exactly what one needs to know, without the faff, by following a foolproof, cost-efficient, time-efficient, extremely easy-to-follow, step-by-step, self-publishing method. By following this method, a writer can have their book go from manuscript to published book within one week. They'll learn how to: prepare their manuscript in Microsoft Word, design their paperback and eBook cover, prepare their front/back matter and blurb, format their paperback interior & eBook, proofread their designed pages, register with desired retailers/distributors, export their eBook to a retail-ready file, and upload their paperback and eBook to retailers/distributors. Not only is the Writing in a Nutshell series an excellent addition to any creative writing, editing, and/or publishing course, but it's also a great primary learning tool for aspiring writers and self-publishers.