Even More Book Reviews

Writing a Play Steve Gooch A practical guide to play-writing, from the original idea through plotting, structuring, characterisation, dialogue and rewriting to successful realisation. Presenting and marketing your play, working with theatre groups and your rights as an author are also covered. This revised edition includes a new chapter covering stage realism. Only £9.99!*

The Art of Dramatic Writing Lajos Egri In this advanced book the author offers an approach to playwriting based on the natural law of dialectics. Don't buy this book as your first introduction to dramatic writing, but if you've read the beginner's guides this will take you way beyond. £7.16* - save 20%

The Crafty Art of Playmaking Alan Ayckbourn With over 60 plays written and staged, many playing in the West End or the Royal National Theatre, Alan Ayckbourn's expertise on writing and directing plays is unsurpassed. Here, he shares his tricks of the trade. From helpful hints on writing (Where has your play come from? Where is it going? How does it get there? What is comedy and how do you write it? What is tragedy and how does it work?) to tips on directing (working with actors and technicians, when to listen to the experts, how to cope with rehearsals), the book provides a complete primer for the novice and a refresher for the more experienced. £11.99* - save 20%

Teach Yourself How to Write a Play David Carter A reference for the aspiring playwright. It covers the writing of stage, film, TV and radio plays and gives guidance on ideas, dialogue, plots, exposition and climax. It also discusses putting on the play, including self-production, marketing and the financial aspects. £5.59* - save 20%

The Dramatist's Toolkit Jeffrey Sweet This is a practical guide to being a working playwright. The author discusses such matters as: the building blocks of playwriting; how characters relate to one another; the differences and similarities between musicals and plays; and screenwriting versus playwriting. £7.67* - save 9%

The Art & Craft of Playwriting Jeffrey Hatcher A thoughtful and intelligent approach to understanding and analysing plays, as well as practical, creative suggestions for writing. Includes an excellent recommended reading list. £8.24* - save 9%

Solving Your Script Jeffrey Sweet Tools and techniques for the playwright. £9.01* - save 9%

More Book Reviews

The Mind Map Book Tony & Barry Buzan Shows how to increase your ability to learn, remember and record or store information. Organise your thinking, make decisions easily, brainstorm, create more ideas in 10 minutes than you could in an hour using traditional methods. £6.39* - save 20%

How to Get Great Ideas Jack Foster How to come up with more ideas, faster and easier. Step-by-step guidelines to help anyone generate ideas and take the mystery and anxiety out of the idea-generating process. Great fun, easy to read, and very inspirational. £7.19* - save 20%

Instant Creativity Brian Clegg, Paul Birch Problem solve, brainstorm, innovate. This book shows how fresh ideas and solutions are within reach, and demonstrates that a fresh perspective can be gained after doing the contained exercises. Not just for writers, this book is widely used in the business world. £7.12* - save 9%

Thinkpak - A Brainstorming Card Deck Michael Michalko A terrific brainstorming tool. Just flip through the cards and ideas start popping up out of nowhere. A fantastic tool for creative thinking, and can be used by anyone, not just writers. £9.32* - save 9%

A Kick in the Seat of the Pants Roger Von Oech, George Willett (Illustrator) Using your Explorer, Artist, Judge and Warrior to be more creative. With an entertaining manner, the author gives the nuts-and-bolts of being creative, outlines a four-step programme to help stimulate creative thinking and promote the application of creative ideas, and provides techniques that everyone will find useful. £8.79* - save 10%

30 Minutes to Brainstorm Great Ideas Alan Barker This book starts with the essential rules of brainstorming and goes on to offer some other practical techniques that will help you generate new ideas. The author shows you how to make your brainstorming sessions effective, productive and fun, and provides ideas and advice on brainstorming alone or in a group to come up with ideas that really work. Only £3.00!*

Five Star Mind - Games and Puzzles to Stimulate Your Creativity and Imagination Tom Wujec This interesting book describes how you can be more creative. The author divides this creativity process into 8 phases, drawing a metaphor from cooking food: appetite - hunger for ideas, gather - collect ideas, cut - analyze ideas, mix - combine ideas, cook - concentrate on ideas, spice - season ideas, taste - evaluate ideas, and digest - assimilate ideas. Within each of these he gives you valuable tools you can use. Only £8.52!*

What If? : Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers Anne Bernays, Pamela Painter Widely used by creative writing classes, loved by tutors, this book is full of exercises designed to guide you through the writing process and put your ideas into practice. Guaranteed to improve your writing! £7.67* - save 9%

Story Starters Lou Willett Stanek How to jump-start your imagination, get your creative juices flowing, and start writing your story or novel. Packed with good, sound, exciting advice, this book has so many story starters you'll be spoilt for choice. £6.87* - save 9%

The Writer's Partner Martin Roth 1001 breakthrough ideas to stimulate your imagination. A comprehensive collection of plot twists, characterisations, regional dialects, occupation-specific dialogue and much more. A quick and easy reference tool that will save you hours of research whatever your genre. Only £12.18!*

Cracking Creativity The Secrets of Creative Genius Michael Michalko This books shows how creative people think - and how to put their secrets to work for you. The author has researched hundreds of history's greatest thinkers - from Leonardo da Vinci to Pablo Picasso - and shows you how to apply their strategies in your own life. A fantastic overview of creative thinking. £10.97* - save 9%

Book Reviews

The Date-A-Base Book 2009 Over 1,200 forthcoming historic anniversaries covering the whole year from Jan - Dec 2009. Ideal for writers, journalists, film-makers, editors, producers, researchers, teachers and students. The book contains more than twice as many events per month than our standard listings on this site. You'll never run out of ideas for magazine and newspaper articles, radio and television features, and much more. Just one sale will pay for your book many times over. printed version: £6.99 (£5.99 for members) e-book version: £4.99 (£3.99 for members)

Writing Television Sitcoms Evan S. Smith This book is a must for established or aspiring writers of sitcoms. Packed with tips from established industry names. Use the author's premise-driven writing concept and you'll never suffer from writer's block ever again. £8.45* - save 9%

Writing for Television Gerald Kelsey Covers plot, story construction, characterisation, dialogue and comedy. Includes extracts from recent television scripts and information on the latest advances in television production techniques. There is also information on how to market new material, fees and a section aimed at beginners to help them avoid pitfalls. £8.79* - save 20%

Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Joe Nazzaro "If you've got any interest at all in TV sci-fi, and especially if you've got any ambitions to write the stuff, buy this book." - Dreamwatch Magazine. £10.49* - save 30%

Radio Drama Tim Crook This book brings together the practical skills needed for radio drama, such as directing, writing and sound design, with media history and communication theory. Only £18.99!*

Writing for Television William Smethurst Information and advice on all areas of writing for TV, such as: should you plan for commercial breaks, what camera moves should be put in, how should a script be presented and who should you contact? Includes chapters on the opportunities available to new writers, the basics of scriptwriting, and situation comedy. £8.45* - save 9%

Scriptwriting for the Screen Charlie Moritz An accessible guide to writing for film and television. Covers the first principles of screenwriting and advises how to identify and formulate a story and develop ideas to build a vivid, animated and entertaining script. The book introduces the essential skills of writing good drama. Includes many examples, ranging from American Beauty to Coronation Street. Only £9.99!*

Writing Television Comedy Jerry Rannow Provides an inside view of the process of conceiving, writing and marketing a winning TV sitcom. It offers detailed instructions on getting started, story outline, pitching to producers and creating a show. Tips, sample scripts and exercises are also provided. Only £9.95!*

Writing for Soaps Chris Curry This handbook covers the specifics of writing for the soaps, and guides the writer through the collaborative process from submitting a proposal and storylining to the finished script and the future of the industry. It also offers advice to readers about how to work in a successful team. £7.99* - save 20%

Writing for Radio Rosemary Horstmann A guide to everything writers need to know to write for radio: structure of plays and short stories, effective use of music and sound effects, moving characters in sound and space, and interviewing. Also covers possible markets for work, awards open to writers and the writing of commercials. Only £10.01!*

Writing for Radio Shaun MacLoughlin Hints and tips from an experienced author on how to write for the radio and how to get a play, feature or short story successfully produced. This revised and updated edition includes new material covering the future of radio, the future of audio drama on the Internet, and digital radio stations. £7.19* - save 20%

Local Radio Journalism Paul Chantler, Sim Harris This book concentrates on all aspects of local radio journalism, from how to establish a small newsroom on a budget, to planning and developing news stories and preparing bulletins. It explains what studio equipment to use and provides advice on keeping on the right side of the law. Only £17.99!*

Television and Screenwriting From Concept to Contract Richard A. Blum A practical guide to writing and marketing scripts for film and television. In addition to story, character, and dialogue development, this book also coaches readers on developing series concepts and writing effective script visualisations, and how to incorporate it into television and film script formats. An entire section is devoted to marketing the finished product - how to analyse the market, prepare the script for submission and find an agent. This revised edition includes details of competitions, festivals, and workshops, and websites for screenwriters, with appendices on funding and legal information. £16.94* - save 9%