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Summary
Summary
LEARN HOW TO WRITE LIKE THE EXPERTS, FROM THE EXPERTS.
Practical advice in a perfect package for young aspiring writers.
After receiving letters from fans asking for writing advice,accomplished authors Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter joined together to create this guidebook for young writers. The authors mix inspirational anecdotes with practical guidance on how to find a voice, develop characters and plot,
make revisions, and overcome writer's block. Fun writing prompts will help young writers jump-start their own projects, and encouragement throughout will keep them at work.
Author Notes
Anne Mazer was born in New York in 1953 to novelists, Harry Mazer and Norma Fox Mazer. She began reading at an early age and knew the trials and frustrations of being a writer. Instead of following in the family business, she went to college and concentrated on art as well as French, moving around to several colleges and living in New York, Boston and France. After the birth of her first child, Mazer began writing picture books and found her craft. She has since written over 35 books for children ranging from picture books to novels for young adults. Her titles include: All that Glitters Isn't Gold, A Childhood Remembered, and Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6 Up-Young writers are warmly welcomed and carefully instructed to encourage getting the creative process off to an open-ended start. The alternating authors discuss topics such as characters, dialogue, plot, and titles, citing their own experiences. Often that leads to "I DARE YOU" questions, followed by problem-solving suggestions. Black-and-white sketches add to the text's appeal. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This playful guide for aspiring writers aims to demystify the creative process as it explores first drafts and finding inspiration, the meat and potatoes of writing, and writer's block and criticism. Mazer (the Sister Magic series) and Potter (the Olivia Kidney books) challenge readers to dig deep into their characters, make a "mental compost pile" to find inspiration, and face revision head on, while modeling their own approaches. "I get ideas while waiting in lines, staring at the clouds, or lying sick in bed," says Mazer; demonstrating how to build suspense, Potter shares the true story ("with a few embellishments") of a robber hanging from her neighbor's terrace. Phelan's ink illustrations and a lighthearted humor enliven the text, and honest advice, such as "Your character's heart's desire is what propels your story forward," are cogent and invaluable. Ages 9-14. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A how-to manual with heart, this guide contains brief sections offering encouragement, advice, and playful exercises for budding writers. Mazer and Potter draw on autobiography as they discuss major writing topics from finding ideas to crafting characters and plot to overcoming nerves and writer's block. Catchy subheadings and Phelan's often-humorous illustrations complement the friendly tone. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Two prolific writers for children offer advice on the writing process for young writers. In an engaging, informal style, Mazer and Potter cover the range of writing concerns, from getting started, creating characters, writing dialogue, finding a narrative voice and revising. Clearly the authors had fun compiling their tips, and original metaphors and images for the writing process keep things light: "Mental compost" is the fertile soil of the imagination, the "overflowing toilet" comes from having too many ideas and 300-pound drafts are what students lug around when enthusiastic teachers burden them with too many required steps in the writing process. This volume runs that risk, too, with so much well-intentioned advice that it could become daunting, but Phelan's illustrations, "I Dare You" sidebars that encourage students to try out ideas and the authors' own models of their writing help keep the format light and engaging. Young people who have already written a fair amount will best be able to see the value of the advice and will feel as if they have been allowed into a friendly conversation with masters of their craft. The best of recent volumes on the subject. (introduction, appendix) (Nonfiction. 9-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Two fine writers put their heads together and come up with an equally fine guide to their craft for beginners. Avoiding traditional chapters, the coauthors address issues by turns in short personal takes. Mazer speaks to beginnings, for example, while Potter tackles endings; and both have diverting things to say about everything that happens in between, whether it's the narrative voice or (eek) writer's block. Always agreeable, practical, and commonsensical in their approach, the two are also refreshingly permissive ( it's fine to break rules ), though they add the caveat that rule breakage should come from a knowledge of said rules and a good reason for breaking them. Their text is enlivened with sidebar features, personal anecdotes, and suggestions to readers for exercising their new skills (happily these aren't called Exercises but, instead, I Dare You ). Such devices, along with the authors' unfailing good humor, will go a long way to convincing their audience that writing can actually be fun! A notion that is nicely underscored by Phelan's engaging and always appealing illustrations.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist