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 can 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 college 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.

What do James Bond flicks and Dante’s Divine Comedy say about the art of attention-getting beginnings? What does a thorough credit roll have in common with effective scholarly citation? How can film set gaffers and film noir writers show us how to light our prose? How are passive verbs like guys on the lam in old black-and-white spy thrillers? How do Black Panther films and Wonder Woman comics inspire us to flip our scripts, diversifying the characters, real and imagined, about whom we write? 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.