For anyone who has ever dreaded the blank page or struggled tofind something to write and then agonized over how best to writeit, or has simply found writing to be hard work, The Playful Way toSerious Writing breaks down common writing barriers and frees thewriter within. Drawing on extensive experience in teaching creativewriting and a lifetime of free artistic expression, Roberta Allen,novelist, short story writer, and author of Fast Fiction, hascreated a unique book of writing exercises packed with hundreds ofverbal directives and visual cues. The key, Allen says, is ENERGY,"the force behind the words, the desire to bring forth somethingthat has never before existed." Allen's ENERGY METHOD, whichfocuses creativity without interruption or that nagging innercritic, can be used for any type of creative effort at any level --stories, novels, plays, memoirs, sketches, journals, and more.Attractive, engaging, funny, and free ranging, The Playful Way toSerious Writingis more than just a writing guide -- it

Designed with the beginning journalism student in mind, this undergraduate textbook for fledgling reporters is a reference guide and an instructive text full of real-world examples and writing exercises. Conrad C. Fink, a longtime reporter and bureau chief with the Associated Press, leads intro journalism students through the basics of news writing, followed by analytical, interpretive, and opinion writing, including specialty coverage-sports, science, business, technology, and profiles. This text makes use of a wide range of real-world examples and uses a direct, minimalist writing style developed by the author in 45 years of experience in journalism and teaching. Chapters include exercises that introduce students to a writing opportunity or problem, reproduce a real-life example of how a seasoned journalist handled it, then discuss the point made. In this wise and highly usable text, Fink will ease the path toward becoming a better writer-giving students the tools they need to communicate clearly and effect

Macroeconomics is the most exciting neweconomics textbook in a generation. Charles Jones distillsmodern macroeconomics as it is currently practiced—producing thefirst text to cover modern growth theory at the undergraduatelevel. The author's unique abilities as a teacher and writer renderthis modern treatment of economic theory an easy read for studentsnew to the field. Together with a distinctive focus on problemsolving, this clearly written text brilliantly matchesaccessibility with cutting-edge theory.