Writing

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy

Finally, Orson Scott Card's Hugo award-winning classic on the art and craft of writing science fiction and fantasy is available in paperback! Card provides invaluable advice for every science fiction and fantasy writer interested in constructing stories about people, worlds and events that stretch the boundaries of the possible...and the magical. They'll learn: * what is and isn't science fiction and fantasy, and where their story fits in the mix * how to build, populate, and dramatize a credible, inviting world readers will want to explore * how to use the MICE quotient--milieu, idea, character and event--to structure a successful story * where the markets are, how to reach them and get published There's no better source of information for writers working in these genres. This book will help them effectively produce exciting stories that are both fascinating and market-ready.

The Writers Complete Fantasy Reference

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (Genre Writing)

World Building (Science Fiction Writing)

Another in Ben Bova's series on Science Fiction Writing, here geologist and SF scribe Stephen Gillett helps you construct star systems and planets from the atoms up. While it may take you a little more than the proverbial seven days (well, six with rest), when you're done, your knowledge of gravity, weather patterns, cosmic mass and stellar patterns--in this universe--will be greatly enhanced.

This book is designed to give science fiction writers the solid grounding they need in real science to make their fictions read like fact. World Building is a blueprint in words, calculations, tables and diagrams to help writers transport readers from one world to another.

The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy, Vol. 2: The Opus Magus

Tee Morris and Valerie Griswold team up as editors for the title that picks up where Alchemy With Words leaves off. The Opus Magus takes on the advanced topics of writing, such as incorporating horror, mystery, herbalism and advanced worldbuilding.

The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community

C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien were members of a writing group known as the Inklings, a group that also included novelist Charles Williams, historian Warren Lewis, and philosopher Owen Barfield. In this groundbreaking book, Diana Glyer invites readers into the heart of their meetings, showing how encouragement, criticism, and collaboration changed The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and dozens of other important works. While this book is a must for those who read Lewis or Tolkien, it will also appeal to those who are interested in the writing process, small-group interaction, the nature of creativity, and the various ways that artists challenge, correct, and encourage one another as they work together in community.

Why I Write About Elves

This is yet another attempt to explain why I write what I write and why people in general sometimes have trouble understanding my reasoning. I have been doing this verbally and in writing since I first published Sword of Shannara. I guess I keep doing it because I feel so strongly about what I do. I want readers to look beyond preconceptions and first impressions. I want them to be open to what fantasy can be and how much fun it is to be a part of it. The funny thing is, I didn't set out to write fantasy. I just found my way there by trial and error. I have decided that it was fate that took me on that journey, and you never want to argue with fate.

Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life

In Sometimes the Magic Works, author Terry Brooks mixes advice on writing with stories from his personal experience in publishing. A seasoned fantasy writer with 19 books under his belt, including the New York Times bestseller The Sword of Shannara, Brooks began his second career in middle age when he gave up his law practice to pursue writing full time. His move was fueled by an obsession with writing, ("If I don't write, I become restless and ill-tempered"), inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien, and constant encouragement from publisher Lester del Rey. Some of Brooks's advice is specific and useful, such as the chapter he dedicates to the importance of outlining. However, the lessons he tries to tell through his own adventures tend to be self-serving. Still, Brooks's experiences could be particularly interesting and valuable to fans of his fantasy novels--and aspiring authors of their own. --Lacey Fain

In Sometimes the Magic Works, New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks shares his secrets for creating unusual, memorable fiction. Spanning topics from the importance of daydreaming to the necessity of writing an outline, from the fine art of showing instead of merely telling to creating believable characters who make readers care what happens to them, Brooks draws upon his own experiences, hard lessons learned, and delightful discoveries made in creating the beloved Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover series, The Word and The Void trilogy, and the bestselling Star Wars novel The Phantom Menace.

In addition to being a writing guide, Sometimes the Magic Works is Terry Brooks’s self-portrait of the artist. “If you don’t think there is magic in writing, you probably won’t write anything magical,” says Brooks. This book offers a rare opportunity to peer into the mind of (and learn a trick or two from) one of fantasy fiction’s preeminent magicians.

Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy

SF Writer (with MyCompLab NEW with E-Book Student Access Code Card) (4th Edition)