In this one volume are personal selections by the author from his three classics, Steal this Plot!; Make That Scene; and "Shut up!" He Explained. Selecting parts of three of his previous books to guide you though the art of writing a novel, William Noble starts by asking three questions: • What's happening? • Who am I? • Where am I? and then uses the answers to create a solid foundation for developing a story. With this structure in place, he demonstrates how to move on to motivating the story, establishing a sense of place, and creating tension. Noble has added new material on developing characters and using point of view to help you get your story across. "The 'what' section, dealing with plot motivators and 'story spicers' and comprising a third of the book, is worth the price alone." -From an Amazon.com review

Three Rules for Writing a Novel: A Guide to Story Development

Reference

Noble, William

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

A SilverStowe Book

Armed and Dangerous: A Writer's Guide to Weapons

History

Newton, Michaël

Military

Fast-paced plots, white-knuckle moments, heart-stopping adventure. Learn how to pack your pages with action, from beginnings that grab to endings that leave your readers begging for more from the author of more than 180 novels. "A vital book for authors wishing to add impact to their fiction. ...a very good analysis of the genre markets, a deft guide to the craft of modern fiction writing, &amp; a glimpse into the life of the best-selling novelist-not the gazillionaires like King or Koontz of Mailer or whoever, but the scrivener who just makes a nice living at cranking out entertainment for the rest of us. Newton shows you many passages that don't quite make the grade (but went to press anyway, because that's often how it works) &amp; chunks that he feels are golden. He berates you to make it all larger-than-life-that's the market!-but also stops you short of falling to mawkish self-parody. This is certainly a vital book for the mystery writer &amp; those who do war stories, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a tonic before writing Western, Gothic, space adventure, or quest fantasy. It's worth ten bucks, &amp; certainly a fiver, even though the world has changed so much since 1989." -Anthony D. Ravenscroft, Amazon.com reviewer

How to Write Action Adventure Novels

Words, Language & Grammar

Steal This Plot: A Writer's Guide to Story Structure and Plagiarism

This book is not about cemeteries. Nor is it a mystery-suspense story. It is about writing-the craft of writing and telling a tale. It is about how to use other people's stories, and what we are allowed to do with them. The plot of any story is the key. The plot is the story within the story that propels the action and develops the tale. In Hamlet, for instance, the story deals with who will be the rightful king of Denmark, but the plot is concerned with revenge and ambition. The plot is the nucleus of the action, and it is here that the writer must look to form his efforts. In Part One, the authors deal in depth with the structuring and "spicing" of the story. In Part Two, using classic and modern examples they outline 13 common plot movers: Vengeance Catastrophe Love and Hate The Chase Grief and Loss Rebellion Betrayal Persecution Self-Sacrifice Survival Rivalry Discovery (Quest) Ambition showing you how weave it all together in a tapestry of words rich and satisfying to the reader. Worried you'll go too far in your plot thievery? A thorough look at plagiarism and copyright is also included.

Noble, June

"The locale of your story is the picture frame within which you weave the action." -William Noble Ever read a novel and years later be able to recall the feeling of place you got as the words flowed into your head? That's what great writers, both fiction and nonfiction can do. That's what you can do. Make That Scene will show you how. Using scores of examples of great writing, longtime editor-author William Noble discusses the influence mood, setting, and atmosphere have on your characters; the mixing and matching of settings; setting as a plot limitation; and when the setting itself becomes a major character. Learn: • the value of an imperfect memory • how much research to conduct • how to use sensory images • how many details to include • how to use time, dialogue, and point of view to establish your setting • oodles more. Make That Scene is an essential guide to enriching your writing.

Make that Scene: Setting, Mood, and Atmosphere

Writing Dramatic Nonfiction

"Why does nonfiction have to be boring," he sniveled. "It doesn't," she replied cheeringly. "Haven't you ever read anything by Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, John McPhee, Joan Didion, Norman Mailer, Mark Bowden, Laura Hillenbrand, or Sebastian Junger-just to name a few?" "No," he said popping open another long-neck Bud. "That explains a lot," she said. Dramatic nonfiction-the relating of factual information in a manner that makes it as gripping as fiction-is the thrust of Writing Dramatic Nonfiction by longtime editor-author William Noble. Using the techniques and guidelines offered in this book, you will learn to create nonfiction works that rise to the level of great literature without sacrificing credibility. Dramatic techniques such as flashbacks, foreshadowing, building tension and suspense, character development, and scene intercuts are described in plain words along with instruction on how you can use such devices in your own writing. Dramatic or creative nonfiction, sometimes called narrative nonfiction, is now an important part of the literary landscape. In this useful, nay, essential guide, Noble teaches you how to craft riveting true accounts. ----- William Noble's books are a popular staple in the writer's personal library. I revisited his book "Writing Dramatic Nonfiction" to get some fresh ideas for adding dramatic techniques to a nonfiction project I am presently involved in. I found valuable pointers on basic development skills including: conflict and character development, anecdotes, using dialog, and point of view. His illustrations and examples are helpful. The book is filled with basic information for the beginning writer and a well organized reminder for those seasoned writers looking for motivation and inspiration. Although the book was first written in the year 2000 the principles are as applicable today as when they were first written. -Richard R. Blake, author and Co-Founder of Christian Education Resources

Dialogue must contribute to the telling of the story said Victorian-era novelist Anthony Trollope more than one hundred years ago and his words have been a yardstick for writers ever since. A more recent novelist, Stephen King, wrote, "When dialogue is right, we know. When it's wrong we also know-it jags on the ear like a badly tuned musical instrument." In "Shut Up!" He Explained (the title comes from a Ring Lardner poke at the way some people overwrite), William Noble shows you how to write dialogue that sounds right and contributes. Fiction or Nonfiction With liberal use of anecdotes and examples, Noble develops six "Master Keys to Dialogue," each of which is crucial for the fiction or nonfiction writer to understand and use. You'll learn how to use dialogue to: • create tension • develop your characters • establish setting • move the plot • create flashbacks and transitions You'll also learn when to use narrative instead of dialogue; how to write in dialect; and how to deal with interior monologue (your character's thoughts). And more! An important section of "Shut Up!" He Explained covers the misuse of dialogue from the legal viewpoint, exploring libel and right-to-privacy. Get a copy of "Shut Up! He Explained" an make your writing scintillate with captivating dialogue. "This is the best book that I could find on the use of dialog when writing fiction." -Amazon.com review

"Shut UP!" He Explained: A Writer's Guide to the Uses and Misuses of Dialogue

This is the story of the toughest sentencing law in America as chronicled by those who were intimately involved in the fight to see it enacted, and who believe in it passionately. It is the story of one family's heartbreak, of behind-the-scenes political maneuvering by consistently soft-on-crime, liberal politicians in an effort to eviscerate the law, and it's the story of the ultimate victory by the majority of Californians who, in the face of decades of citizen neglect, banded together to vote for common sense and justice. "(Three Strikes) sends a clear message to repeat criminals: Find a new line of work because we're going to start turning career criminals into career inmates." -California Governor Pete Wilson "If you've ever wondered why you feel unsafe in your own neighborhood, or wondered what you can do about it, read this book." -Larry Wieda, President, Crime Stoppers International "Mike Reynolds is living proof that, in America, all it takes is for one common man to get involved. Buy this book. Read it. Loan it to your friends." -Michael Reagan, Host of the "Michael Reagan Talk Show" "This book must become required reading, on a monthly basis, for all politicians, judges, and parole boards until all 50 states have followed where the Reynolds family has led." -Morton Feldman, Executive Vice President, National Association of Chiefs of Police "This book should be read by every citizen who is concerned about revolving-door justice." -John J. DiIulio, Jr., Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University

Three Strikes and You're Out! the Chronicle of America's Toughest Anti-Crime Law

Jones, Bill

Reynolds, Mike

Evans, Dan

Criminal Law

The Texas Argonauts were on the march west as early as January, 1849 -a remarkable circumstance when it is recalled that the famous tea caddy of gold dust which set off the gold fever in the "States" did not reach Washington, D. C, until December 7, 1848. From Brownsville, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio, the dusty trails of the gold seekers crisscrossed through West Texas and northern Mexico. Among the travelers was young attorney Benjamin Butler Harris, who joined the fifty-two man Duval party, one of the earliest emigrant parties to head for California from Texas. Traveling by saddle horse and pack mule, the Duval group was probably the first to operate a ferry on the Colorado River, although the boat was only a hastily caulked wagon bed. The overland journey was fraught with interest and peril-Apache alarms and skirmishes adding to the hazards of nature -but the party reached the mines on September 29, 1849. Here, published for the first time, are Harris's colorful reminiscences of his experiences on the Gila Trail and in the Mother Lode mining camps in 1849-50. Harris was intelligent, observant, and gifted with a sense of humor, and his account of the trail and the feverish activities of the early mining camps makes first-rate reading for all Western Americana enthusiasts. There is a bonus, too, in the new material presented on some of the most interesting and important men of California's early days, among them Major James D. Savage, Judge David S. Terry, and John Joel Glanton. About the author and editor: The sixth of twelve children in a prominent Virginia family, Benjamin Butler Harris graduated from Nashville University, Tennessee, read law and went to East Texas to seek his fortune. Soon convinced that the East Texas climate, with its "Brazos fever," would do him in if he remained, he decided to take his law practice and his bad liver farther west-hence this account. Richard H. Dillon who has provided the superb introduction and informative notes for Harris's account, is a historian of note and author of Embarcadero an excellent story of the port of pre-fire San Francisco.

The Gila Trail: The Texas Argonauts and the California Gold Rush

Harris, Benjamin Butler

Americas

The greatest California mountain man of them all was Grizzly Adams. He was also one of the most mysterious men in the history of the American West. In this colorful biography, historian Richard Dillon chronicles the life of the man from a dull New England town who cultivated a society of bears in the wilderness of the West and went on to be one of the greatest showmen. Grizzly Adams' real name was John Adams (despite various aliases he used) and he left Medway, Massachusetts for California in 1849 at the age of 37. Adams traveled widely in the West racking up exploit after exploit. After trying mining in the Gold Country, hunting game to sell to the miners, and trading, Adams finally settled on ranching near Stockton, California. Creditors took his ranch in 1852 and he decided to head to the hills to get away from it all. With the help of the local Miwok Indians, Adams built a cabin and spent the winter alone in the Sierra. During a later hunting and trapping expedition 1,200 miles from his California basecamp, in what is today western Montana, Adams caught a yearling grizzly he named Lady Washington. He tamed her and trained her to follow him. Before long he had her carrying a pack and pulling a loaded sled. In due course, she allowed him to ride her. Lady Washington was the first grizzly Adams captured and tamed, but not the last. As he traveled, John set up impromptu shows of his bears and other animals he had collected. Thinking he was onto something, he then opened the Mountaineer Museum in a basement on Clay Street in San Francisco. In 1855, Adams had been attacked by a mother grizzly in the Sierra. Ben Franklin, one of two grizzly cubs he'd made into pets a year earlier, save his life. In the melee, Adams had his scalp dislodged and came away with a permanent depression in his forehead the size of a silver dollar. Adams often wrestled with the bears during his shows and during one such event, his old wound was cracked open like an eggshell. Knowing he was in poor health and having been away from his wife and family for 10 years, on January 7, 1860, Adams and his menagerie departed from San Francisco on the clipper ship the Golden Fleece. It was a three and one-half month voyage around Cape Horn. When he got to New York he went to work with famed circus owner P.T. Barnum for six weeks. His health having failed him, he sold his menagerie to Barnum and retired to Massachusetts where he died, five days after arriving at the home of his wife and children. Adams was 48.

The Legend of Grizzly Adams: California's Greatest Mountain Man

Biographies & Memoirs

Dillon, Richard H.

Historical

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