Stop a while and browse our shelves for some self-help books on writing. If you find something you like, just follow the instructions on the library page in order to check the book out for your reading pleasure.
CATEGORIES:
1. Articles:
Author: KEVLES, Barbara
Title: BASIC Magazine Writing: How to master the seven most important article forms and get published in the leading national magazines
Year: 1986
Publisher: Writers Digest Books.
ISBN: 0 89879 077 8
Blurb: This book illustrates the basic models to turn any idea worth reporting into an article for a lading national magazine. The author defines each of the forms (e.g. Q & A, expository articles and 'As Told To'), explains their formulas for success, illustrates their requirements with samples from the newsstand, and shows good and bad examples for clarity.
A great place to start for people who want to learn more about how to write and sell great articles.
Author: MASTON, G.J.
Title: The Writing School Guide to … Writing Articles that Sell
Year: None stated
Publisher: Clarefen Ltd.
ISBN: 0906486 01 7
Blurb: Common pitfalls to avoid and all you need to know about pitching articles to various markets.
Author: RICKETSON, Matthew
Title: Writing Feature Stories: How to reaserach and write newpaper and magazine articles
Year: 2004
Publisher: Allen & Unwin.
ISBN: 1 86508 732 7
Blurb: More feature stories are being published in newspapers and magazines than ever before, ranging from lifestyle spreds about the search for the perfect chocolate mud cake to investigative series about the illegal trade in wildlife. Feature stories offer journalists the chance to move beyond conventional news reporting to write more creatively. This book explains how to generate fresh ideas, organise your time efficiently, gather factual and personal information, sift and sort raw material, find the best way to tell the story, write the story, edit and proofread your work and how to work with editors.
A must for the serious article composer.
2. Family History & Genealogy
Author: HALL, Nick Vine
Title: Tracing Your Family History in Australia
Year: 1985
Publisher: Rigby Publishers
ISBN: 0 7270 1953 8
Blurb: This is a source book. A where to go to trace Great Aunt Amanda rather than a how to do it. It is a national summary of genealogical sources available in Australia. Details of the sources are available, along with particulars on the type of information available. A must-read for the serious family historian.
Author: KYLE, Noeline
Title: Writing Family History Made Very Easy: A beginner's guide
Year: 2007
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 978 1 74175 062 1
Blurb: You've done the research, but how do you put it into a fascinating history that will do your family's story justice? This book offers practical and straightforward advice to help you write your family story in an interesting and accessible way.
Author: MANKTELOW, Nicole
Title: The Australian Guide to Online Genealogy
Year: 2002
Publisher: Pearson Education Australia
ISBN: 1 74009 762 9
Blurb: Written specifically for Australians as a clear, easy-to-follow guide. It combines tips and techniques on how to use the Internet in order to begin tracing your ancestry.
Author: REAKES, Janet
Title: The A to Z of Genealogy
Year: 1990
Publisher: William Heinemann Australia
ISBN: 0 85561 280 0
Blurb: A comprehensive book for the family researcher. It provides an exhaustive survey of how to research your Australian forebears and provides guidance on tracing ancestors from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. An indispensible resource guide for the beginner and advanced family history researcher.
3. Memoir
Author: ANDREW, Elizabeth J.
Title: Writing the Sacred journey
Year: 2005
Publisher: Skinner House Books
ISBN: 1 55896 470 3
Blurb: This is a course-book for writing your spiritual autobigraphy. It is written with exceptional depth and nuance about inner processes of daily writing, what's at stake in revision and what's beyond the block. This is na genre in which one's life is written with particular attention paid to its mysteries. This book will teach you how to write a memoir with heart and flair; it will help you get started, move through drafts, and gain skills in the craft.
4. Romance
Author: WIBBERLEY, Mary
Title: To Writers with Love
Year: 1985
Publisher: Buchan & Enright Publishers, Ltd.
ISBN: 0 9076735 37 9
Blurb: A mass of tips and advice on everything to do with romance writing. It includes information on plot, ideas, methods, research, characters, dialogue, setting and much more.
5. Humour & Comedy
Author: BYRNE, John
Title: Writing Comedy
Year: 2002
Publisher: A & C Black Publishers Ltd.
ISBN: 0 7136 6379 0
Blurb: In this book, John Byrne breaks down the basics of writing comedy into simple steps and shows how to make the most from your abilities. Whether you are writing routines, sketches, sitcoms or comedy for print, this book will encourage, inform and inspire you. This new edition looks at all the latest markets for comedy writers, including the internet and interactive TV.
6. Words & Language
Author: DENT, Susie
Title: The Language Report
Year: 2003
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0 19 860860 8
Blurb: Know your camikini from your kitten heel? Prefer your bling-bling to your biscuit? Listen to electrocash or foxcore? Live with a blogging screenager or a silver surfer suffering from wapathy?
The Language Report is the frontline account of what we're saying and how we're saying it. From street slang to rhyming slang: from sporting language to cyberspeak and beyond - this book is an enlightening collection that will keep your writing current and up-to-date.
Author: KIRKPATRICK, Betty
Title: The Usual Suspects & Other Cliches
Year: 2005
Publisher: A & C Black Publishers Ltd.
ISBN: 0 7136 7496 2
Blurb: Cliches in writing are beyond the pale, but often used when we draw a blank. Good writers avoid them like the plague even if it means back to square one to find a suitable alternative. Are you one of the many writers who fall victim to cliches and done-t-death phrases? Then this book is your saving grace. This book contains more than 1,500 cliche phrases and hacyneyed words writers should avoid. Check your latest novel or short story against this book to see if you are guilty of cliche offenses. It outlines the situation in which each expression is used, its origins, and the reason for its creation.
Editor: MANSER, Martin H
Title: Good Word Guide
Year: 2004
Publisher: Bloomsbury Pubslishing
ISBN: 0 7475 7232 1
Blurb: Our language is changing faster than ever before, thanks to the influence of the media, computers, e-mail, the Internet and text messaging. Modern communictions are breaking down the distinctions between formal and informal English, raising ever more questions as to how to speak and write correctly. This book offers information and advice on punctuation, pronunciation, spelling, grammar, usage and the latest buzzwords, and provides clear, straightforward answers to everyday language problems. If you are ever stuck between choosing correctly between disntinct and distinctive, or masterful or masterly, then this is the ideal reference book to use to improve your writing.
Author: QUINN, Edward
Title: Collins Dictionary of Literary Terms
Year: 2004
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
ISBN: 0 00 716555 2
Blurb: From crime fiction to structuralism, from Imagism to queer theory, this book covers all the bases of modern literary theory. In clear, succinct, non-technical language, this dictionary covers more than 1000 literary terms and themes reflected in literarture today.
7. Novels
Author: FREY, James N.
Title: How to Write a Damn Good Novel
Year: 1987
Publisher: St. Martin's Press.
ISBN: 0 312 01044 3
Blurb: A step-by-step no-nonsense guide to dramatic story-telling. A practical, systematic, witty and wise approach to writing a novel that will be published, will be read, and will be enjoyed. For beginners and professionals alike, this is written in a crisp and clear style. Topics include:
Creating sizzling characters; developing a compelling premise; telling a riveting story; bringing story to climax; resolving the conflict; establishing viewpoint and much, much more.
Author: FREY, James N.
Title: How to Write a Damn Good Novel II
Year: 1994
Publisher: St Martin's Press.
ISBN: 0 312 10478 2
Blurb: The sequel that all authors (and would-be-authors) need to read. This book deals with the advanced techniques of dramatic storytelling. This book builds upon his basics from 1987 to show you advanced means to build suspense, create fresher and more interesting characters, and ultimately achieve greater reader sympathy, empathy and identification.
Author: GRENVILLE, Kate & WOLFE, Sue
Title: Making Stories: how ten Australian novels were written
Year: 1993
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1 86373 316 7
Blurb: It is comforting to know that even our greatest novelists come to their books by a lng and uncertian process. Making Stories shows ten acclaimed Australian authors at work, painstakingly constructing their books from rough notes, dimly-glimpsed ideas, and trial and error. It takes the reader step-by-step through the creative process to share the invisible hours of toil that shape a work of fiction. All faced problems and doubts, and solved them in sometimes startling ways.
A fascinating read about how authors such as Peter Carey, Helen Garner, davide Ireland, Elizabeth Jolley and others worked at their craft.
Author: JOSEPH, Richard
Title: How to be a Bestselling Noveslist
Year: 2005
Publisher: Summerdale Publishers Ltd.
ISBN: 1 84024 462 3
Blurb: Celebrity authors including Tomy Clancy, Barbara Taylor Bradford, James Herbert and Jilly Cooper talk candidly about how they started writing and how their careers developed, expressing their views on failure, success and the publishing industry. This entertaining book provides valuable and fascinating insights into how unknown writers became household names, selling millions of books.
Author: ZUCKERMAN, Albert
Title: Writing the Blockbuster Novel
Year: 1994
Publisher: Writer's Digest Books.
ISBN: 0 89879 598 2
Blurb: Zuckerman covers every aspect of writing the blockbuster novel (or the "big novel," as it's called in the publishing world, including defining it. You'll learn:
- how to develop and use an outline
- the value of setting
- how to choose and build characters
- to control point of view
- to knit together relationships between characters
- the importance of conflict and how to sustain it
- weaving plot strands in order to build maximal climaxes
- to develop and use rhythm in your plotting
- what a story point is and how to make sure each chapter includes at least one
In doing so, he draws on examples from blockbuster history such as Margaret Mitchell (Gone With the Wind), Mario Puzo (The Godfather), Ken Follet and others.
An excellent read for the serious novellist - both beginner and expert alike.
8. General Writing Books
Author: ATKINSON, Jon & SANDWELL, Beryl
Title: The Writing School Guide to … Writing for Cash
Year: 1975
Publisher: Clarefen Ltd.
ISBN: 0 906486 00 9
Blurb: Includes useful chapters on writing letters, short fillers, gossip columns, trade press, women’s magazines and radio pieces.
Author: BATES, Dianne
Title: The New Writer’s Survival Guide
Year: 1989
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia Ltd.
ISBN: 0 14 011508 0
Blurb: A book that contains a wealth of information on te art and craft of writing. It contains essential information and advice on writing novels, short stories, non-fiction, poetry, drama and scripts.
Author: CANE, Andrew
Title: Self Publishing and Book Making
Year: 2008
Publisher: Menai Publishing And Binding
ISBN: 978 0 9804987 1 4
Blurb: A 34 page no-drivel approach to self publishing anf book making. Equips you with enough information to produce your own books and have them published with a minimum of fuss.
Author: HODGE, Evie
Title: Write Through Loss and Grief
Year: 1998
Publisher: B W Publications
ISBN: 0 9585926 0 8
Blurb: Written by an Australian author and teacher who is trained in loss and grief counselling. She writes from personal experience and provides a multitude of ideas for a grieving person to work with. Learn effective strategies to help you identify issues around your loss, express your grief, integrate your experiences and develop new ways of looking at life.
A valuable guide to recovery through writing.
Author: LEGAT, Michael
Title: Writing for Pleasure and Profit
Year: 1986
Publisher: Robert Hale Limited
ISBN: 0 7090 2677 3
Blurb: If you want to be a writer this is the book for you. Michael Legat has produced a truly practical guide to the craft of writing. Beginning with useful advice and tips it warns against common pitfalls and teaches ou how to adopt a professional attitude towards your work. Chapters cover such aspects of writing as the novel, short stories, non-fiction, articles, poetry, plays, radio and television scripts - ecen chidlren's books.
A comprehensive and helpful guide for both beginner and advanced writer alike.
Author: PILKINGTON, John
Title: A Survival Guide for Writers
Year: 2000
Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd.
ISBN: 0 7090 6522 1
Blurb: A comprehensive hands-on guide for writers and aspiring writers alike. In a realistic and practical way Pilkington examines every aspect of the writer's life, from copyright and contracts to choosing a PC; from coping with noise, rejections and writer's block to finding an agent and dealing with financial matters.
Author: WALKER, Brenda
Title: The Writer's Reader: A guide to writing fiction & poetry
Year: 2007
Publisher: Halstead Press.
ISBN: 1 875684 75 1
Blurb: A practical guide on how to write, by well known authors and writing teachers who have valuable insights on how to create good, enjoyable fiction and poetry.
Where do you start a historical novel and how factual does it need to be? Learn how to listen to the voices in your head can be the key to writing well. Experts in their field discuss the techniques of crime fiction, the art of making poetry scan and much more. Contributors include Marele Day, Dennis Haskell, Delia Falconer, Alan Gold and many others.
Author: WILSON, Anne
Title: Magical Thought in Creative Writing: The distinctive role of fantasy & imagination in fiction
Year: 1983
Publisher: Thimble Press.
ISBN: 0 9033555 09 4
Blurb: The author sets out to etablish the role and behaviou of pimitive, magicalthinking (fantasy) in the creation of fiction and to distinguish this from imaginative art, where the rational faculties are at work. This persuasive book proposes a more accurate definition of "fantasy" than those currently in use. Through close examination of plot structures, she shows how magical thinking uses cyclical repetitions - "moves" - and such devices as exorcism, ritual punishment, and magc words in its attempts to bring about solutions to inner conflicts.
A fascinating read for the writer of modern fantasy and magical tales.
9. Character & Plot
Author: SWAIN, Dwight V.
Title: Creating Characters: How to Build Story People
Year: 1990
Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books
ISBN: 0 89879 417 X
Blurb: Dwight Swain helps you build story people from the unique perspective of what your story people care about. He shows you how the enter the world of your characters to create 3-D characters that readers find believable and can epmathise with. A must for a writers to read.
10. Crime, Murder Mystery, Forensics & Law
Author: RANSON, David.
Title: Forensic Medicine & the Law
Year: 1996
Publisher: Melbourne University Press
ISBN: 0 522 84469 3
Blurb: Everything you ever wanted to know about the legal aspects of forensic medicine in both pathology and clinical settings. Don't write that murder mystery without consulting this invaluable text. Some of the issues talked about in this book include:
- the role of the medical practitioner in the justice system and courts
- tasks of the various people involved in forensic and legal cases
- medical witnesses
- preparing for cross examination
- and a wonderful appendix of various body part charts and sample forensic medicine reports.
Written as a text by the Deputy Director of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, it is in easy to understand plain English. A must read for the serious crime writer.
Author: RANDISI, Robert J. (Ed.).
Title: Writing the Private Eye Novel
Year: 1997
Publisher: The Private Eye Writers of America
ISBN: 0 89879 767 5
Blurb: The definitive guide from the people who know. Excerpts, comments, and helpful advice from the experts that include Sue Grafton, Parnell Hall, Ed Gorman, Lawrence Block, Loren D. Estleman, Robert J. Randisi, Catherine Dain, Jan Grape, Christine Matthews & Michael Seidman. Chapters include:
- getting started
- plot and structure
- creativity
- character
- setting
- writing the PI short story
- stretching the boundaries
- from the editor's desk
This is an invaluable read if you are a fan of writing the shamus short story or detective block-buster.