Book: Writing Fiction: A Guide for Pre-Teens Author: Heather Wright Publisher: Saugeen Publications Date: July 24, 2014 Genre: Writers' Guide-book Pages: 68 Price: under $7.00 My Rating: A helpful, easy-to-follow guide designed for young writers and useful to anyone
When I learned that Heather Wright had put together a writing guide for pre-teens, I asked for a review copy. Hoping there would be tips even I could pick up, I wasn’t disappointed.
When I was a pre-teen or teenager I could have benefited from this book, as will any young writers now. Writing Fiction: A Guide for Pre-Teens is well-planned, covering everything a young writer needs to know to give them a sound foundation. It is easy to follow, enjoyable to read, informative, helpful, educational and challenging in a fun and encouraging way.
Each section is divided into sub-sections as follows:
Getting Started
- Joywriting
What do I need to be a writer?
Habits and Goals
- Choosing Your Goal
- Writing Every Day
- Don’t Miss a Word
- Write with a Friend or Two
Pantser or Plotter: Which are You?
- The Pantser
- The Plotter
Where do I get ideas for stories?
- What if?
- Write What You Know
- Pick 4 Words
Writing Prompts
Plotting Tips
- Basic Rule of Plotting
- Story Planning
Plotting with the Hero’s Journey
How do I start my story?
Who should tell the story?
- Point of View: First Person
- Point of View: Second Person
- Point of View: Third Person
How do I describe my characters?
- Show Don’t Tell
- Change is Good
- Character List
How do I describe the setting?
- Think about how much you really have to describe
- Use Comparisons
- Get the Senses Involved
- Draw a Map or Use Photos
How do I write dialogue?
How do I end my story?
How do I make my writing better?
- Revising and Editing
- Words
- Sentences
- Combining Sentences
- Paragraphs
What do I do when a story gets stuck?
- Outline
- Forget about making the first draft perfect
- Write more than one story at a time
- Put the story away
- Brainstorm
- Ask “What if?”
- Don’t worry
The author ends with a section called Last Words in which she invites readers to visit her website and ask any questions they may have, or share with her a paragraph or two of their stories.
Writing Fiction: A Guide for Pre-Teens by Heather Wright is an excellent teaching aid for young writers. I suspect that if you are a writer – no matter your age – reading the headings above you found something that caught your interest. Why not add this helpful writing guide to your collection of writing books?
You can find Writing Fiction: A Guide for Pre-Teens on my BUY THE BOOK! page.
As a bonus for you I am including a link to Laura Best’s blog so you can read the very interesting guest post by Heather Wright.
Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂
Polilla Writes 