Special Effects: Short Takes on Stylish Prose tackles the dilemma dedicated writers have faced for generations: how to make words on the page as compelling as images on the screen. Perfect for film buffs and TV enthusiasts who want to improve their writing, this innovative handbook reveals how cinematics transform syntactics. Packed with 40 proven strategies designed to make serious and scholarly texts “read” as seamlessly and enjoyably as great movies, and accompanied by nearly 100 writing prompts perfect for use in writing courses, writers’ workshops, and workplace conference rooms, this one-of-a-kind guide shows how to make the daring leaps action heroes and dauntless authors make routine.

Special Effects addresses writing’s most persistent craft questions by boldly going where no prose style guide has gone before: to a front row seat at the movie theater.