"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's...

In his first journal, middle schooler Rowley Jefferson, Greg Heffley's sidekick, records his experiences and misguided decision to write a biography of Greg, who, in his own mind, is destined to become rich and famous.

The authors share stories from their literary friendship and respective careers, offering insight into writing principles and mechanics that they have identified as elementary to quality prose.

"Authoritative as it is amusing, this book distills everything Benjamin Dreyer has learned from the hundreds of books he has copyedited, including works by Elizabeth Strout, E. L. Doctorow, and Frank Rich, into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best foot forward in writing prose. Dreyer offers lessons on the ins and outs of punctuation and grammar, including how to navigate the words he calls 'the confusables,'...

Abdul loves telling stories but thinks his messy handwriting and spelling mistakes will keep him from becoming an author, until Mr. Muhammad visits and encourages him to persist

The author relates incidents in his life and how they inspired parts of his books about the character, Brian Robeson.

John Shade, a homebody poet in New Wye, U.S.A., writes a 999-line poem in the last twenty days of his life which is then acquired and annotated by his crazy neighbor, Charles Kinbote.

Joan Castleman, traveling with her husband, famous novelist Joseph Castleman, to Helsinki where he is to be honored with a prestigious award, comes to the realization that she has had enough and wants out of their long, deceptive marriage.

"Organized into six accessible, easy-to-navigate sections, The Way of the Writer is both a literary reflection on the creative impulse and a utilitarian guide to the writing process. Johnson shares his lessons and exercises from the classroom, starting with word choice, sentence structure, and narrative voice, and delving into the mechanics of scene, dialogue, plot and storytelling before exploring the larger questions at stake for the serious writer....

Jodi Picoult weaves the story of Trizie Stone, 14, who was drugged, raped, and murdered, has been a ghost for 14 days, seven hours, and 36 minutes. This story, told from the perspective of each person involved, is a haunting tale of parental love, truth and relationships.