Mickey Spillane noted, “The first chapter sells the book. The last chapter sells the next book.” Mr. Bell has already provided the tools to get your reader hooked with the first chapter, and potentially the first line! Now, he provides the five strategies that will help you end your book in a way that gets your reader craving your next title.

Dr. Harvey reviews the fundamentals of storytelling and expands on common themes that can be found across tales that span time and location, such as protection of family, being resourceful, demonstrating bravery, overcoming entrapment, and more. She shares her favorite tale, "The Wonderful Pot" from Denmark, and concludes with a Scottish tale called "Death in a Nut."

Dive deeper into the use of transformation in stories as Dr. Harvey presents a version of "Beauty and the Beast." Compare that version to the German story by Ludwig Bechstein in 1847 called "Beauty's Stone Sisters." Dr. Harvey concludes this lesson with an Ancient Greek tale called "Cupid and Pysche," which demonstrates how bravery can be the root of transformations.

Many fictional stories are an attempt to explain why things in the world are the way they are. Dr. Harvey shares several pourquoi tales from around the world, including Kipling's "How the Camel Got His Hump" from his "Just So Stories" published in India. She also shares an African-American tale "Why the Rabbit has Long Ears and a Short Tail" and the 1929 Norse story "Why the Sea is Salty."

Filmed on location in Stratford-on-Avon, celebrated Shakespearean actor Alan Howard presents some of the Bard's best known works.

Take an international journey starting in early 20th century Japan with Taro Hirai to modern Japanese suspense writers such as Natsuo Kirino. Then, travel to Africa and discover the lesser-known Darko Dawson series. In Latin America, you’ll look in depth at two influential contributors: Leonardo Padura Fuentes and Paco Ignacio Taibo II.

Usually flawed, quite often brilliant, and sometimes not even aware of their role, the dectective is a staple of the genre. This lecture will scrutinize the many ways the detective has been portrayed across stories and series over time, revealing similarities between a variety of characters that make even the most unique detectives oddly familiar.

Once you’ve nailed a query letter, you will need to provide a synopsis. Condensing your entire story into a one-page overview while still keeping it compelling and intriguing is not easy. Get valuable tips on what a synopsis should and should not contain, and learn what your synopsis needs to focus on and accomplish to be successful..

Mr. Bell introduces you to the different kinds of beginnings and investigates the benefits of using a prologue. With examples from Mary Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, Ken Kesey, John Gilstrap, Mickey Spillane, David Morrell, and others, you’ll learn how to start your scenes with a bang, raise big questions, and then switch things up in the next scene so readers are on the edge of their seats.

Originating in the medieval period, polemical essays are the form for writers who wish to focus on a topic from one perspective only. They are often written to be deliberately polarizing. Refusing to shy away from volatile issues, it takes a strong writer to turn an antagonistic rant into a persuasive, polemical argument. Professor Cognard-Black shares examples of both well-written and overly strident polemical essays from authors such as Jonathan...