Reviews

Here is a selection of books and other products recommended by Writing Magazine.

• The Fiction of Autobiography

  

  A study of the autobiographical genre including memoir writing. Anyone working in this genre cannot rely only on writing about the self because life experience mostly involves interaction with other people, and those other people therefore become an important part of the story of any life.

  24 March 2014

• Improve Your Written English

  

  A book that explains how grammar works with an emphasis on how you should use it in writing. Early chapters are concerned with the practical basics of grammar and punctuation and followed by advice on how best to construct sentences and paragraphs.

  24 March 2014

• Haggard Hawks and Paltry Poltroons

  

  This book features fifty English words (most of them very common) each with brief details of its history, plus details on ten words derived from the headword. For anyone interested in words and in the English language, this book is a joy.
  
  

  24 March 2014

• Horror Upon Horror

  

  Horror is not a self-contained genre. It can, for example, include ghost stories, classic Gothic Horror, vampire novels, others based on supernatural elements of folklore, novels of the mind and many others. Suzanne Ruthven argues that there are common principles that run through each of the sub-genres, and these are explored and explained in her book which focuses on the art and craft of writing horror.

  24 March 2014

• Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations

  

  First published in 1995, the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations is now in its fifth edition and with a new editor in Gyles Brandreth. There is a huge influx of new quotations, many of them from very recent years, as well as new themes.

  06 January 2014

• Swearing Like A Trooper

  

  MJ Trow’s book sets the bad language of the war in its historical context (it is subtitled Rude Slang of the Second World War). Useful if you are interested in words and the way they were used in the front line.

  06 January 2014

• Oxford A-Z of English Usage

  

  Here we have the complete alphabetised guide to tricky questions of English usage, starting with the indefinite articles a and an (should you write ‘a unique feature’ or ‘an unique feature’?) and working through to the use of yourself (would it be correct to ask ‘is this book for yourself?’ or ‘is this book for you?’).

  06 January 2014

• Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation

  

  This grammar book is written in clear simple language and gives you a straightforward and easy to understand guide to the subject.  Starting with a brief explanation of the grammatical structure of sentences and paragraphs it includes an alphabetical listing of all the grammatical terms you are ever likely to need, showing the role they play in your writing.

  13 November 2013

• Writing Childrens Fiction

  

  Writing Childrens Fiction is a creative book, providing the print equivalent of attending a writing for children seminar.
  It discusses the challenges of each of the range of categories that comprise the children’s market with good practical advice for writing for them all.

  13 November 2013

• Bending Genre

  

  Bending Genre is a collection of essays on the art of creative non-fiction which is fact based writing that uses the techniques of fiction to bring its stories to life.

  13 November 2013

• The Lifestyle Writer

  

  What is lifestyle writing? In her new book, Sarah Beth Watkins describes it as writing that focuses on things that are important in our lives. This book shows you how to construct, write and market magazine articles, and even how to write a lifestyle book and see it published.

  13 September 2013

• Get Writing Childrens Fiction

  

  This book features a lot of helpful advice about finding your publisher, from writing your proposal and synopsis through to assessing your publishing options. If you want to be published as a children’s writer, or you are already published and want to see more of your work in print, this is the practical guide you need.

  13 September 2013