the mediastore
the reference department...learn more about your writing and then sell it!
You've got the music that stimulates your imagination, and you've got the classic books that inspire you, but now what? The next step is honing your craft and then getting your work published. From market guides to how-to guides for everyone from the novelist to the poet to the screenwriter, we've got all you need to take your writing to the next level - the publishable level!
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 market guides
1. 2003 Writer's Market: 8,000 Editors Who Buy What You Write
A comprehensive source for selling all kinds of writing: fiction, nonfiction, articles, vignettes, books, and more. Also includes listings of book agents and what to send, how to send it, where to send it, what is needed, what you get paid and more. The master source of all the Writer's Markets books. learn more at amazon.com
2. 2003 Poet's Market: 1,800 Places to Publish Your Poetry
It provides listings for more than 1,800 opportunities, including book publishers, small presses and journals, magazines, and chapbook publishers. Each entry includes contact information, types of poetry accepted, submission details, phone numbers, addresses, Web sites, emails and more. The 2003 edition provides even more great information, including an invaluable selection of helpful articles and Insider Reports. learn more at amazon.com
3. Novel & Short Story Writer's Market, 2003: 2,000 Places to Sell Your Fiction
An essential for fiction writers. Not only does it list thousands of places to publish your work, but it also includes interviews and advice from seasoned writers and editors. learn more at amazon.com
4. Song Writer's Market 2003: 1,300 Places to Market Your Songs
A great supplementary resource for any musician or songwriter. Contains lots of helpful information and resources and even lists which markets accept submissions from beginners. learn more at amazon.com
5. 2003 Guide to Literary Agents: 600+ Agents Who Sell What You Write
In addition to detailed listings of reputable literary agents, there are guides to script agents, independent production companies and independent publicists. An agent specialties index ensures that aspiring John Grishams don't waste their time sending manuscripts to an agent who focuses on historical nonfiction. In addition to the listings, there are informative articles and interviews that offer, for instance, advice from real, live agents. learn more at amazon.com
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poetry writing
1. Merriam-Webster's Rhyming Dictionary
This dictionary makes finding rhymes easy! It contains over 53,000 entries, the sounds arranged alphabetically, with pronunciations at every entry. You want to locate a word that rhymes with 'commander'? Look up 'ander' in this dictionary, and you will find: bander, brander, candor, lander, pander, slandor, strandor, and 34 more! There are over ten pages of words that end in 'ation'! learn more at amazon.com
2. Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry, by Gary Mex Glazner
From their humble beginnings in dimly lit bars to the 1999 international convergence with poets from 48 cities, poetry slams - the "Olympics of poetry" - have become a cultural phenomenon. This vital anthology documents ten years of these unprecedented literary events. The book includes tips on how to win, details on how to plan a national tour, and 100 of the best slam-winning poems by contributors from throughout the U.S., including poetry slam founder Marc Smith , Lisa Martinovic, Justin Chin, and Patricia Smith. learn more at amazon.com
3. Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life With Words, by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
Poemcrazy invites readers into a realm where poetry is accessible, where poems are moments of discovery that often arrive unexpectedly (in parking lots, at the grocery store, on walks) and makes ordinary lives extraordinary. The reader learns to create images, begins to develop metaphor, and gradually moves into "dreamsense" where an exploration of who we are in poems carries us to deeper levels within. learn more at amazon.com
4. In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop, by Steve Kowit
This book employs more than 100 poems and excerpts to illustrate discussions on everything from metaphor to meter to metaphysics. Working your way through this book is like sitting in on a terrific creative-writing seminar. If you go by the book, you'll have written at least 69 poems by the end. There are so many good ideas here that more experienced poets won't want to miss out; Kowit has lots of exciting ways to invigorate one's writing. learn more at amazon.com
5. The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing Poems, by Frances Mayes
Beginning with basic terminology and techniques, from texture and sound to rhyme and repetition, Mayes shows how focusing on one aspect of a poem can help you to better understand, appreciate, and enjoy the reading and writing experience. In addition to many creative and helpful composition ideas, following each lyrical and lively discussion is a thoughtful selection of poems. learn more at amazon.com
6. New Rhyming Dictionary and Poets' Handbook: A Stimulating Storehouse of Words and Rhymes for the Writer, by Burges Johnson
Is your ballad a touch pallid? Is your verse even worse? Put a kick in your limmerick and make your meter a bit neater . . . with this classic rhyming guide. Arranged by number of syllables in a simple alphabetical format, this text brings thousands of rhyming words to the writer's fingertips, broadening the possibilities for expression and helping to create desired rhythms. learn more at amazon.com
7. The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing, by Richard Hugo
This remains one of the freshest and most refreshing treatises on the writing of poetry. Hugo doesn't believe that he can teach you how to write; he believes he can teach you how he writes, and by doing so, teach you "how to teach yourself how to write." And while most writing instructors claim that one can't be a good writer without being a good reader, Hugo claims "that one learns to write only by writing." Hugo's essays are strong-willed and funny and by turns full of bluster and cloaked in modesty. learn more at amazon.com
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fiction writing
1. A Dictionary of World Mythology, by Arthur Cottrell
Writers not only draw on myth and legends for inspiration, but as a source of metaphors and allusions. learn more at amazon.com
2. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne & Dave King
This exemplary instruction manual offers readers the wisdom of two experienced editors who focus on writing/editing techniques (the mechanics of dialog, characterization, point of view, etc.). Adhering to fiction's underlying principle of "show and tell," this lively text includes both good and bad examples in each lesson. At the end of every chapter is a tip checklist to match against one's own work and two or three exercises with which to practice and reinforce the chapter's topic. learn more at amazon.com
3. The Dictionary of Concise Writing: 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases, by Robert Hartwell Fiske
The Dictionary of Concise Writing is a compendium of wordy phrases and sharp alternatives. It's the ultimate tool for the writer who appreciates conciseness and clarity. learn more at amazon.com
4. What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers, by Anne Bernays
What If is comprised entirely of specific exercises intended to help the reader master the art of writing fiction. The exercises isolate the various elements of fiction - dialogue, plot, characterization, point- of-view, etc. - and present specific problems to solve through writing. This book addresses topics such as discovering where to start and end a story; learning when to use dialogue and when to use indirect discourse; transforming real events into fiction; and finding language that both sings and communicates precisely. learn more at amazon.com
5. How to Grow a Novel: The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How to Overcome Them, by Sol Stein
A guide to writing a novel by one of the most popular writing instructors in America describes common pitfalls in writing a novel, showing how to avoid them and offering many tips on how to improve one's writing skills. learn more at amazon.com
6. Description, by Monica Wood
Description is most powerful when it's visible, aural, tactile. Make your descriptions fresh and they'll move your story forward, imbue your work with atmosphere, create that tang of feeling that editors cry for and readers crave. Wood helps you squeeze the greatest flavor from the language. She segments description like an orange, separating its slices to let you sample each one. learn more at amazon.com
7. The Writer's Block: 786 Ideas to Jump-Start Your Imagination, by Jason Rekulak
Here’s the first book on writer’s block that’s packaged in the shape of a block--3" x 3" x 3"--with 672 pages and more than 200 photographs throughout. Next time you’re stuck, just flip open THE WRITER'S BLOCK to any page and you’ll find an idea or exercise that will jump-start your imagination. learn more at amazon.com
8. Writing Dialogue, by Tom Chiarella
It's all in the title... learn more at amazon.com
9. Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster
Forester's wit and lively, informed originality have made this study of the novel a classic. He freely examines elements that all English-language novels have in common: story, people, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern and rhythm. The reader comes away with a deeper appreciation for the novel in general. learn more at amazon.com
10. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler
Christopher Vogler asserts that "all stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams, and movies." This book sets forth archetypes common in "the hero's journey," the mythic structure that he claims all stories follow. In the book's first section, he lists the different kinds of typological characters who appear in stories. In the second, he discusses the stages of the journey through which the hero generally passes. learn more at amazon.com
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memoirs and miscellaneous writing
1. A Dictionary of Symbols, by Jean Chevalier
This supremely erudite book draws together folkloric, literary, and artistic sources and focuses on the symbolic dimension of every color, number, sound, gesture, expression, or character trait that has benefited from symbolic interpretation.
learn more at amazon.com
2. Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing, by Margaret Atwood
Six essays about what it means to be a writer, particularly a female writer. Each essay explores one aspect of writerly contemplation: art vs. commerce; the ideal reader; the separation between the part of a person that writes and the part that lives; and, as the title suggests, the constant presence of those who came before (both writers and other ancestors). learn more at amazon.com
3. On Writing, by Stephen King
A fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists. He gives you a whole writer's "tool kit": a reading list, writing assignments, a corrected story, and nuts-and-bolts advice on dollars and cents, plot and character, the basic building block of the paragraph, and literary models. He shows what you can learn from H.P. Lovecraft's arcane vocabulary, Hemingway's leanness, Grisham's authenticity, Richard Dooling's artful obscenity, Jonathan Kellerman's sentence fragments. learn more at amazon.com
4. Playwrights on Playwriting, by Toby Cole
Like reading a Master's Class taught by the masters of playwriting. learn more at amazon.com
5. Playwriting In Process: Thinking and Working Theatrically, by Michael Wright
Playwriting-in-Process was created to provide a resource, a craft-reminder/reinforcer, a stimulus, a self teaching mechanism, and a reference work. learn more at amazon.com
6. Artistotle's Poetics for Screenwriters, by Michael Tierno
Long considered the bible for storytellers, Aristotle's Poetics is a fixture of college courses on everything from fiction writing to dramatic theory. Tierno shows how this great work can be an invaluable resource to screenwriters or anyone interested in studying plot structure. In carefully organized chapters, Tierno breaks down the fundamentals of screenwriting, highlighting particular aspects of Aristotle's work. This user-friendly guide covers a multitude of topics, from plotting and subplotting to dialogue and dramatic unity. learn more at amazon.com
7. The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, by Julia Cameron
With the basic principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, the author leads you through a comprehensive twelve-week program to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces, replacing them with artistic confidence and productivity. This book links creativity to spirituality by showing how to connect with the creative energies of the universe. learn more at amazon.com
8. Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal, by Alexandra Johnson
A practical guide to keeping a journal successfully and transforming it into future projects. Each chapter features both narrative and tailored exercises for beginning and committed diarists. Beginners will turn first to quick ways to overcome inhibitions, get started, and stay on course. Seasoned chroniclers will start diaries with a new slant: they will learn how to trigger inspiration with creative brainstorming exercises; how to note patterns in diaries they already have, and how to shape their material. learn more at amazon.com
9. Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir, by William Zinsser
This provocative dialogue vividly examines the expanding and innovative approaches to a literary form practiced by some of our most prestigious authors. Contributors address the pleasures and challenges of accurately rendering their personal histories. Some of the authors featured include Toni Morrison, Annie Dillard, Alfred Kazin, Russell Baker, and many others. learn more at amazon.com
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We Need You!
We're looking for your favorite books about the art of writing! Have anything that you think other Xenith readers would be interested in? Then send an e-mail to centaurus7@aol.com with the name of the book and the author and we'll post it in our Reader's Choice section.
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