Tilar J. Mazzeo

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Haley Bennett, Tom Sturridge, and Sam Riley!

"Narrative history that fizzes with life and feeling." — Benjamin Wallace, New York Times bestselling author of The Billionaire's Vinegar

The New York Times bestselling biography of the visionary young woman who built a champagne empire, became a legend, and showed the world how to

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"In 1944, the war had reached its climax in continental Europe. News of secret diaries kept by Italy's former Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano, had permeated public consciousness. What wasn't reported, however, was how three women-a Fascist's daughter, a German spy, and an American socialite-risked their lives to ensure the diaries would reach the Allied forces, who would use the papers as key evidence against the Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials. Just...

Set against the backdrop of the Nazi occupation of World War II, The Hôtel on Place Vendôme is the captivating history of Paris’s world-famous Hôtel Ritz—a breathtaking tale of glamour, opulence, and celebrity; dangerous liaisons, espionage, and resistance—from Tilar J. Mazzeo, the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow Clicquot and The Secret of Chanel No. 5

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A gripping account of Irena Sendler, who took staggering risks to save 2,500 children from death and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II.

Conclude the course with a look at the habits of effective writers. First, learn several steps you can take to silence your internal critic and survive writer's block. Then, examine seven ways you can make space in your life for writing, including setting concrete goals, reading more, and befriending other writers.

Unpack the technical aspects and secrets of sentences that create pacing and tension. First, investigate the importance of word order in your sentences. Next, explore the effectiveness of compound sentences. Finally, uncover how changing different sentence types in your writing can dramatically alter the impact of your work.

As a writer of creative nonfiction, you have an immense responsibility to your subject (and your readers). Investigate ways to tell your stories dramatically and truthfully-all while avoiding conflict with your subject. Two of the tips you learn here: Use comedy extremely carefully and watch out for turning living people into simple stock characters.

Every story needs good pacing, and that's where chapters come in. What does an effective chapter do, and what does it look like? Professor Mazzeo uses a series of examples to show how chapters can effectively deepen your story's narrative arc and-most important-keep your readers reading.

In this lecture, explore how to successfully undertake the hardest part of telling a great story: beginning it. You'll discover the characteristics of a powerful opening sentence, examine great opening lines by famous writers such as Sylvia Plath, uncover several strategies to generate ideas (including the "story starter"), and more.

While it may sound counterintuitive, smart creative nonfiction writers know when not to tell something. Discover how learning when to keep quiet can actually be a storyteller's most powerful tool-creating drama, strengthening a sense of suspense, and allowing readers themselves to become active participants in your work.