As a child, my favorite pastime was sitting under the Ping-Pong table, over which I'd draped a cloth tent, reading. When puberty hit, I sequestered myself in my room, preferring to read about others' lives rather than living my own. Entering a cloister when I was 18 put a real crimp in my reading activities. Our reading was limited to lives of the saints and books on prayer or asceticism. The monastery library, however, held an astounding collection of Stoddard's Lectures. I read the entire series, traveling round the world with Stoddard on early 20th century journeys. When I left the monastery I crashed the local library and seized every book the staff recommended.  Continue reading...

Think you know books? Test your smarts with the "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" game! Listen to the opening lines from novels, poetry, even children's books, and see if you can guess the title or author. Check it out here.

Interested in writing television scripts for dramas and sitcoms? Before you pack up for Hollywood, check out these books :

Writing TV Sitcoms

Successful Television Writing

Crafty TV Writing: Thinking Inside the Box

The Understructure of Writing for Film and Television

Ready to pen the next Oscar-winning screenplay? May we suggest you start with these helpful guides:

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting

Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need

Screenwriting for Teens

Crafty Screenwriting: Writing Movies That Get Made

After reading author John Elder Robison's inspiring Backstory about his memoir Look Me in the Eye, we wanted to learn more about what makes this particular writer tick. How did he go from touring with KISS to repairing luxury cars to writing his acclaimed book about living with Asperger's syndrome? So we called him and had a fascinating conversation about writing, storytelling, and touching readers' lives though a memoir:  Continue reading...

The Dictionary Society of America publishes a list of books about lexicography and dictionary writing. Here are a few of our favorites:

Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography

Chasing the Sun: Dictionary-Makers and the Dictionaries They Made

The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and its Critics

Dr. Johnson and Mr. Savage