Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook - Softcover

Potter, Ellen; Mazer, Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 159643628X ISBN 13: 9781596436282

Verlag: ROARING BROOK PR, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

LEARN HOW TO WRITE LIKE THE EXPERTS, FROM THE EXPERTS.

In Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook, you'll find 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.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Anne Mazer is the author of The Salamander Room, The Sister Magic series, and the bestselling Abby Hayes series. She lives in Ithaca, New York.

Ellen Potter is the author of acclaimed books for children including Slob, Pish Posh, and Olivia Kidney. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, son and a motley assortment of badly behaved animals.

Matt Phelan has illustrated many books for children, including the 2007 Newbery Medal winner The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Spilling Ink

A Young Writer's Handbook

By Anne Mazer, Ellen Potter, Matt Phelan

Roaring Brook Press

Copyright © 2010 Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-59643-628-2

Contents

Introduction, 
Part I: Ready, Set, Go!, 
Section 1: Is It Really This Simple?, 
Section 2: Ugly First Drafts, 
Section 3: Inspiration, 
Part II: Crafting Your Story, 
Section 4: Convincing Your Characters That They Are Alive, 
Section 5: Naming Your Characters, 
Section 6: Blackberries, Raspberries, and Story Ideas, 
Section 7: Now We Get to the Weird Stuff: Plot, 
Section 8: Who Is Telling Your Story? The Narrative Voice, 
Section 9: Starting Points, 
Section 10: How to Create a Great Story Setting, 
Section 11: Suspense, 
Section 12: Title Tattle, 
Section 13: How to Write Dialogue, 
Section 14: Description, 
Section 15: More Crawling Lizards, Please: Talking About Illustrations, 
Section 16: Shape Shifters, 
Section 17: Ta-Da!, 
Section 18: Revision, 
Section 19: Journaling, 
Section 20: Two Heads Are Better Than One, 
Part III: The Writer's Brain, 
Section 21: The Writing Process, 
Section 22: Hellooooo? Anybody Out There?, 
Section 23: Keeping Your Readers Awake, 
Section 24: Writers Are Strange Creatures. Thank Heavens!, 
Section 25: Writer's Block 9-1-1, 
Section 26: Your Writer's Identity, 
Section 27: Begging, Borrowing, and Stealing, 
Section 28: The Writing Habit, 
Section 29: Belly Buttons, 
Section 30: Criticism, 
Section 31: A Writer's Life, 
Appendix, 
Spilling Secrets, 
Acknowledgements, 
Authors' Bios, 

CHAPTER 1

section 1

Is It Really This Simple?

Getting Started

by Anne

1. Pick up a pen.

2. Write a few words on paper. Like this.

3. Write whatever comes into your head — words, images, sounds, babbling, nonsense, laughter, crazy thoughts, last night's dream, a shopping list ...

4. That's right — ANYTHING.

5. Keep on going. See what happens.

6. You're writing! Don't get dizzy ...

Fancy Equipment Not Required

by Anne

One of the things I love about writing is that it's very low-tech. You don't need a computer (although it's nice), or have to learn a special language, or buy fancy equipment that costs a lot of money.

If you are seized by inspiration, grab the nearest thing at hand. You can scribble on the margins of a newspaper, write on the back of your science homework, use an envelope (one of my favorites), or commandeer a napkin. When I was a teen, I wrote on my jeans. (Don't do this if you wear the hundred-dollar kind.)

The physical act of writing is very easy.

The challenging part is bringing your ideas into reality.

The Blank Piece of Paper

by Anne

It's normal to feel afraid or nervous when a blank piece of paper is giving you an intimidating glare. It looks at you coldly, and says, "You think you're a writer?" Suddenly you can't think or breathe. Your pencil slips through numb fingers and rolls under the bureau. You begin to stammer out apologies. "I didn't mean ... I don't know ... I can't ..." You don't know why you wanted to write in the first place. Maybe you'll try again tomorrow. Or next week. Or in five years. The mood just isn't right.

A blank piece of paper is a formidable opponent, but you can defeat it. Just stare the thing down. Refuse to be intimidated. Take a deep breath and write a word or two on the paper. Make that a sentence, a paragraph. Now you're in charge. Now you're writing.

Writers' Rule to Ignore or Adore? Write What You Know

by Anne

When I was fifteen years old, my mother, who is a very accomplished writer, gave me a piece of writing advice. She said that I should always write what I know — about the real things that I had experienced and seen.

It was a pretty good piece of advice, but since it came from my mother, and I was a rebellious teenager, I automatically questioned it. Why should I write what I know? I fumed. Was that the limit for writers? Didn't this advice leave a lot out?

It left out imaginary worlds, for example. It left out real, but unknown, times and places. It left out putting yourself in the shoes (and mind) of a very different person than you. I ended up by concluding that there was a lot to be said for writing about what you don't know.

There's no right or wrong here. For many people, "write what you know," is an excellent guide. If you want to stick with the familiar, keep your eyes and mind open. The best writers reveal the mystery in everyday reality.

If you prefer to go as far as your imagination will take you, keep a link to reality. In Tamora Pierce's fantasy classic, Alanna, The First Adventure, Alanna disguises herself as a boy so that she can train as a warrior. I love the fantasy elements in this book, but what really grabs me is its truth. What girl hasn't — at least once — felt that certain worlds are only open to boys? Alanna steps into a boy's life in order to fulfill an unusual destiny. It's a thrilling idea. Even the most distant worlds have familiar problems.

What Kind of a Writer Are You?

by Anne

Do you favor exciting plots, or complex characters? Are you interested in action or emotion or mood? Do you enjoy describing everything in the room, or do you prefer to write pages of dialogue? Do you want to write about things that you've seen and experienced, or do you love fantasy worlds? Do you prefer science or fiction? Do you like romance, comedy, mystery, or stories about real-life problems? Do you like all of the above, none of it, or your own unique mixture?

Decide for yourself what kind of writer you'd like to be. Or experiment until you find what you want.

Spilling Ink

by Anne

If you're afraid to start, or you hate every word you write, here's a foolproof fear-fighting exercise. Give yourself permission to write anything. That's right — anything. Spill some ink. Just babble on paper. Or write one sentence over and over. Or close your eyes and write. (Sometimes I take off my glasses so I won't see what I'm writing.) You may be writing absolute nonsense, but you are writing. Sooner or later, you'll start to think of something you really want to write about. Or maybe, buried in the pages of sludge, there's one tiny diamond.

CHAPTER 2

section 2

Ugly First Drafts

Making a Mess

by Ellen

Before I started writing seriously, I was under the delusion that "real" writers sit down and write out the entire story in one nearly perfect, spectacularly clever draft. Oh, sure, maybe they would change a word or two, or rename one of their characters "Nathan" because his original name, "Jake," reminds them too much of their cousin Jake who belches the theme music to retro TV shows. But that's about it.

Wrong!

Hugely, profoundly, utterly wrong.

The truth of it is, professional writers have to rewrite their stories over and over (and over and over and over ... you get the picture) again in order to get them just right. I generally spend more time rewriting than writing the first draft. My first drafts are always ugly. Super sloppy. Lots of things don't make sense. Chapters are out of sequence; some of the dialogue is confusing. The manuscript is splattered with...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: ROARING BROOK PR
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 159643628X
• ISBN 13: 9781596436282
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Zeichner: Phelan Matt
• Anzahl der Seiten: 275
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Square Fish; https://us.macmillan.com/publishers/square-fish-books/; ; 120 Broadway; New York; NY; 10271; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland