Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly

The advice given in each section of this book is rather vague, and many of the sections are things most writers already know. I think it'd be best for children who are just starting writing, but if you're older and are already familiar with writing, this book won't be much help to you. The advice given is stuff like "be creative about your names", "don't use substitutes for 'said'", and other fundamentals. This didn't help me at all, but it doesn't make it a bad book, necessarily. I'd just recommend looking at something else.

Levine is the person who wrote Ella Enchanted. I liked that book so much I wanted to check out her non-fiction book on "how to write". I thought, by the title, it would have to do with specifically magic and fantasy, but no, it's writing in general. That's not a bad thing.

This is one of the better writing books I've read. Liked it more than "Bird by Bird" (but that's not a high bar to jump for me). The focus is on prompts and exercises (i.e. you learn to write by writing). It also never wears out its welcome. Some books emphasize sentence structure and adverb placement -- too much nitty gritty. This one doesn't care, and it shouldn't. It's wants you out there and producing.

However, it is definitely skewed toward younger audiences. Middle school and high schoolers will get more out of this book than I did from Stephen King's "On Writing".

Although WRITING MAGIC is geared towards young adults, this is the perfect helper for anyone who has ever wanted to write a book. Creating stories is hard work. It takes practice, discipline, and dedication. It would be nice to think that writing a book simply means sitting down and typing up words, but, alas, it really doesn't work that way. Thankfully, though, we have Gail Carson Levine, Newbery Honor author of some of my favorite books (Ella Enchanted (Trophy Newbery),The Two Princesses of Bamarre, and the upcoming Fairest, to name a few) who has taken the time to put together WRITING MAGIC. Filled with tons of wonderful tips about becoming a great writer who creates even greater stories, there are also writing exercises to get those creative juices flowing.

The book is broken down into five sections, with several categories in each:

Section one is entitled Liftoff, which includes A Running Start, Why I Wrote This Book, Shut Up!, Eureka!, Getting into It, and Noticing.

Section two, Heart and Guts, includes The Nitty-Gritty, The Kiss of Life, Character Helper, Suffer!, Talking, Back to Beginnings, Where Am I?, Who Am I?, Voice, and Happily Ever After--Or Not.

Section three, Plowing Through, includes Stuck!, The Operating Room, and Writers' Groups and Other Helpers.

Section four, Digging Deeper, includes Show and Tell, Abracadabra!, I'd Recognize Her with My Eyes Closed, Speaking Body Language, Method Writing, Writing Funy/Writing Punny, The Right Moniker, and Fiddling with Fairy Tales.

The final section, called Writing Forever, includes Writing for Your Spirit, Putting Your Words Out There, and Exeunt Writing.

I loved the writing exercises included in WRITING MAGIC. From the simple (writing brief character descriptions) to the more advanced (writing convincing dialogue), this book is a great tool for anyone. If you've ever wondered how to get started writing a story, ever questioned how to get that great book idea down on paper, this is the guide for you. Pick up a copy of WRITING MAGIC, try the exercises, take Ms. Levine's words to heart, and you're guaranteed to write anything--story, e-mail message, diary entry--with an easier flow and style.

Some books that teach how to write better also show its readers how to read books better, as this one does, because it tells readers what a writer needs to do to satisfy a reader's needs. The following are some of the many ideas that Levine suggests:
* Story beginnings are hard to write; so skip the beginning and start in the middle. Try starting a story from different times such as before, during, or after an event. You can fine-tune the beginning during the revising process after the rest of the book is completed.
* Start the story with an action. "The bear charged."
* Learn to listen. Do exercises, write down what you hear, see, feel, and taste. Then imagine what happens next.
* Details light up the fictional world. Think about what the character is seeing, feeling, hearing. Use details that make a reader care, that plunk her down inside the story, that heighten tension, that create atmosphere.
* Story plots are determined by the character of the protagonist. If Cinderella is grouchy instead of sweet and kind, the story doesn't work.
* Be cruel to your character to draw your reader's sympathy and worry to her. Make the reader want to find out what happens to her. Have Cinderella burn herself while cooking waffles for breakfast for her stepfamily.
* "Show and tell": show what is happening and summarize the action.
* Use lots of short paragraphs and dialogue, so that readers look at the page and say, "I can handle that."
* Use the simple word "said" instead of "queried" or "questioned" or "aver." The substitutes call attention to themselves, slow down the tale, and kill it. Consider adding body language to the dialogue. "She should have burnt her whole arm," the stepsister said as she scratched her own arm.
* Know that "There is no such thing as a perfect book or a perfect story," so don't be discouraged.
* Revising what you wrote can be your favorite part of writing.

I picked this book up about 9 years ago at a book fair because writing has always been one of my hobbies. This book has been my companion ever since. While I write just for fun and just for me, this book has changed the way I write. Over the last 9 years, this book has helped me take my ideas and make them into fun stories for me, my friends, and my family to enjoy. It has such great advice, that while I'm no longer in the age range that it was marketed towards, I still reach for it when I want to start writing. This is definitely a book I would recommend you get, especially if you are young adult wanting to write or if you have a young adult wanting to write in your life.

Admittedly, part of what I like about writing guides is getting to read about authors. Truth to be told, I didn't pick up Writing Magic by Gail Levine to discover how to write stories. I've read so many writing guides that now I learn most by the actual process of writing. Rather, I wanted to know how one of my favorite fantasy authors writes. For that reason, I loved the first section! In it, Levine shares all her reasons for being a writer. Just so you know, she writes to be in charge, to tell herself a story, and to make discoveries about her feelings. Regarding the latter, she explains that she once wrote a book about an orphan. When she reread it years later, she realized that it was less about her father who had been an orphan and more about how she felt orphaned when her parents died.

Because Writing Magic isn't an autobiography, the emphasis of course is on how to write. Even though I didn't expect to learn anything new from yet another writing guide, I filled a page with the insights I gained from reading Writing Magic. For example, when Levine writes about beginnings, she talks about the types of beginnings but also gives examples along with reasons for why they do or not work. Then she follows-up by challenging readers to pull favorite books off their shelves and look for the ways the authors hooked them. Besides writing several chapters on plot structure, Levine writes several on character and in one of them she includes a questionnaire. What made the questionnaire pop for me is that she shares when she is most likely to use it and even how it helped her when she couldn't figure out one of her characters. Within every chapter Levine tosses out activities for readers to try and I particularly liked the one for details: Your main character is participating in a scientific investigation of a magical object. She must choose an object, and wear it, eat it, or drink it. Then she must speak into the microphone and tell the scientists everything that happened. Bauer had me grabbing my pencil and paper to write down ideas; Levine had me itching to experiment with my stories.

My review of Writing Magic is getting long and so let me leave you with two analogies that worked for me: Levine argues that authors must both show to slow down action and tell to speed up action. She compares telling to looking down from the window of an airplane or decreasing the magnification on a telescope and showing to being on the ground or increasing the magnification of a telescope; Writers often write about things that haven't happened to us and Levine compares this to method acting, when actors remembers events and feelings in their own life that are similar to what their characters experience. They use these recollections to shape a scene--as must writers.

One last thing! In the final section, Levine shares more about her own life. For example, this is where I learned about her worst rejection letter and that she has a folder two inches thick of rejection letters. Obviously, I could blather on and so suffice to say this guide is "magic".

This book is great. Levine provides encouragement, anecdotes, advice, and sample writing exercises for the aspiring writer. She emphasizes that practice is what will improve writing and the joy of writing for one's self.

I've long heard about this book, but only just now had a chance to read it. Oh, excellent! I have wonderful writing books about how to take apart my manuscript and edit it on the nitty gritty cellular structure, but this is the book to remind you why you love to write in the first place. I just felt like it was sparking ideas in my brain every time I picked it up. It's great for both experienced writers and children who love to write (it's actually aimed at youth writers). Definitely recommended!

Gail Carson Levine may not be a worldwide famous bookwriter, but her books are truly magical when you read them. Her sparkling dialouge, and irresistible adventure is sure to hypnotize any true reader. There are books other than Writing Magic written by Gail Carson Levine. Ella Enchanted (based on Cinderella)(is a Newberry Honor Book), The Two Princesses of Bamarre,Dave at Night (based on her father), and the new book Fairest are just a few of the books by Ms.Levine. Writing Magic has writing exercises, tips for writing, steps for writing, and much much more. At some times Writing Magic can get boring unlike the other books written by Ms.Levine, but then there comes the magic of the book! Writing Magic is divided into five parts LIFTOFF, HEART AND GUTS,PLOWING THROUGH,DIGGING DEEPER,and WRITING FOREVER.

LIFTOFF includes A Running Start, Why I Wrote This Book, Shut Up!, Eureka!, Getting into It, and Noticing.

HEART AND GUTS includes The Nitty-gritty, The Kiss of Life, Character Helper, Suffer!, Talking, Back to Beginnings, Where Am I?, Who Am I?, Voice, and Happily Ever After- or Not.

PLOWING THROUGH includes Stuck!, The Operating Room, and Writer's Groups and Helpers.

DIGGING DEEPER includes Show and Tell, Abracadabra!, I'd Recognize Her with My Eyes Closed, Speaking Body Language, Method Writing, Writing Funny Writing Punny, The Right Moniker, and Fiddling with Fairy Tales.

WRITING FOREVER includes Writing for Your Spirit, Putting Your Words Out There, and Exeunt Writing.

Gail Carson Levine truly shows you that you to can write magic.

P.S This Book is directed torwards 9-12 year olds, but can be admitted for 9 and up.

The author of this fun-to-read book is well known for her excellent children's novels. Though this one was published in 2006, her advice for young writers is not out-of-date. Furthermore the practical lessons and fun exercises will help a beginning writer of any age to find ideas and then learn to express them in an inviting, satisfying way.

The book is divided into five sections from "Liftoff" to "Writing Forever." The sections have from three to thirteen chapters filled with explanations and examples, written with bits of humor and truckloads of wisdom.

Fortunately, the book is available in hardcover, paperback, Kindle and as an audible book.

-Hope Irvin Marston, author of EYE ON THE IDITAROD: AISLING'S QUEST

Levine, Gail Carson, Writing magic: Creating stories that fly, FSG, 2006

The art of writing has always given me so much pleasure even as I could never adequately understand the process; I loved to read the finished product but its creation always seemed wholly magical. Renowned writer Gail Carson Levine now breaks the process down into many learnable units including: dealing first with nagging feelings of self-doubt, how to get ideas, and the necessity to utilize all your senses to gather information to provide the many details needed to create characters, setting, action, and atmosphere. She emphasizes that the writer has to make paramount some reasons to care about what happens to the character(s); to accomplish the writer needs to be cruel to her character in order to garner "the reader's sympathy" and also provide a compelling reason to keep reading to find out what happens as the character struggles to overcome obstacles. This book which manages to be colloquially friendly and instructive should provide any child with both the inspiration and skills to improve their writing and includes an index to help the user refer back to useful points. A copy should reside in every classroom that wants to promote writing as a positive activity.

I actually purchased thirty five copies of this book to have a complete classroom set, and my students really seem to enjoy it. Every Friday we spend the first half of class reading one chapter and doing the writing exercise at the end. The short chapters with a singlular focus are perfect for this type of activity, and there are enough chapters in this thin book to keep us busy one day a week for the entire year. I'm constantly surprised how much my students actually write...getting 8th graders to write for an extended amount of time is a challenge, and I've never even had to give them a pep talk about using this book. I try to do the exercises along with them and have always enjoyed it; this book is equally good for an English teacher as it is for a middle school student. Additionally, other teachers in our open concept school have wandered in on a friday morning and commented on what a great resource the books are. I'm glad I invested in them, as I'm sure I'll use them for years to come.

I love this book! My mom got it for me since she knows I want to be an author. Anyway, I am going through a lot of struggles with my book, but looking at this book really helps me out! And I love how u worded it that like you write books and help other kids write stories too. And i am one of those people, technically. So, I know that a couple reviews said she constantly advertises her books, but I think that's good since she uses parts of her own life to help explain things, although there are other reasons why too. So I'm really happy i got this book. I definently recommend this book, especially for kids. Oh and I'll probably read one of your other books too, like Ella Enchanted!

I first bought this thinking it was writing about magic. It's actually a guide to writing fiction in general, written for kids. But I still liked it. Here's why. It hit all the basics of good writing in a short, direct book. You could buy a fiction writing guide for adults, spend four or five times as much on it, and it wouldn't tell you anything this little book tells you. Ms. Carson Levine gets right to the point. Lots of writing advice for just a little money.

I've loved reading for as long as I can remember, and a lot of my childhood was taken up writing short stories that I'd beg my friends and family to read and give me advice on. I'm 19 now and although I don't remember a lot of this book in detail, I have many fond memories of it and I remember how much I loved the author's voice and how much her advice made me want to write. I definitely read it front to back more than a few times, and I'm fairly sure that I tried all of the prompts at least as many times. If you have a kid that is as crazy about books as I was, then this is definitely something you should consider getting for them. I promise you they will love it.

I purchased this book based upon the recommendation of a colleague. Since receiving it, I have had two uses for Writing Magic - I share some of the writing ideas with the teachers I work with in an elementary school (I am the building Literacy Coach), and I also read a chapter a week to my graduate students who are obtaining certification as Literacy Specialists. I believe it helps them to understand what students go through with the writing process and therefore my students are asked to try each of the author's writing suggestions.
If you teach upper elementary school, middle school or even early high school writing, this book is full of engaging ideas for students that may be reluctant to write. Taking advice from such a successful author helps young writers take new risks. I highly recommend this easy to read book.

Whether you are a published writer, or are still struggling to make it into print, Gail Carson Levine's book is a must read. Even though it is primarily written for young people, I find the exercises and advice on the writing process extremely useful. In addition,it is just a delightful book to read. Would that I had her skill with the written word Things I Learned from My Grandmother About Leadership and Life: (How to Light a Fire Under People Without Burning Them Out) would have been a better book.

"Writing Magic" should be on every writer's bookshelf.

This is a young people's guide to writing. It provides advice on how to start a story, how to get ideas for stories, how to develop and conclude stories. It is written with enthusiasm , and tries to give practical advice including advice about selling one's work. It also speaks about 'writing' as a way of organizing one's life, and as having purposes outside the selling of one's work.

It seems to me a fine down- to - earth work though perhaps a bit optimistic and therefore misleading about the real chances for most people's making a career in writing.

This is a short, readable, exciting book for any kid who wants to write novels. (I think the ideal audience is ages 10-12 and very interested in fantasy.) I wish I'd had this book 30 yrs ago! You really can't go wrong with this.

This is a great book to learn creative writing! It has many good exorcises in it. I give it 4 stars becuase i dont agree with all its advice; mostly on some descriptive advice, and its not the best example of grammar.

I've read this book several times. Although some of the tips are generic, there are also a good deal of interesting and helpful tips. I would highly suggest this for any person that wants to write creatively!

This book is fantastic, especially for kids who want to someday be published. She gives great tools and writing exercises that provide practice. This book is ideal for rising authors who are just beginning, but for the more serious writer, I think Holly Lisle's How to Think Sideways is the best writer's resource money can buy.
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I just looked over my son's writing assignments from the past 3 months - everything from 'Writing Magic' is lush, engaging and interesting!!! And loooong - sometimes several pages (this from 9 year old who says he hates to write!!!)

We have at least 3 other programs (IEW, Writing Strands, k12) that we use - but this little book has really opened him up to writing - and at less than $10.00 dollars - you just cannot go wrong!!

A grateful homeschooling mom

I purchased this book when I was in a "Teaching Language Arts in the Elementary School" class. In the class we were creating our own writing pieces. I happened to see Writing Magic when I bought Fairest and thought for $6 it was worth picking up. I loved this book. The suggestions and activities are fun and helpful. Above all I think that this could be a wonderful book to include in my elementary school class library. It is written in a way that appeals to very young writers and adults like myself.

I bought this book for my nine-year-old who creates stories constantly but was resisting writing. I started reaading it myself and was hooked. Ms. Levine talks to kids as if they were real people - imagine! No condescending. And she puts the writing steps into a logical order that sounds fun and exciting. This is the best book on writing written for kids.

My 12-year-old daughter had checked this book out from the library so many times that she finally asked for her own copy! She is an aspiring writer, and has been helped and encouraged by the advice GCL gives in this book.

How refreshing to find a helpful writing guide by a successful author whose books I enjoy. I found this book in my local library and read it cover to cover before passing it along to my ten year old daughter. It's full of solid, age-appropriate advice and inspiring writing prompts.

I bought this book for my 10 year old granddaughter, who aspires to be the next Jo March (Little Women). I thought she might just glance at it, and perhaps use it for reference. Imagine my surprise to find her reading it from cover to cover. The helpful hints and tips were just exactly what she needed to "fix" some of her stories. She told me she learned a lot from the book.

I have the audio book. Her voice is not easy to listen too. I was encouraged to order this by all the 5 star reviews. I ordered the audio version and listened to it for 2.5 hours. I found some useful bits.

I can see where it would better inspire young adults to write, there wasn't a lot here for me. Nice refresher though. I think I would have enjoyed the audio book much more with a different narrator. Just my opinion.

I'm an old kind of guy who came to writing late. I have read a number of books on writing including those by E.M.Forster and Marten Manser. This surpasses them for simplicity, usefulness and directness (if there is such a word. Highly recommended.

This book is the best! I love it. It helped me write so many amazing stories. Here is a bit from one of them.

I tossed and turned on my lumpy bed. My ragged blanket barley kept out the freezing cold of the winter night. I practically threw myself out of bed. I walked over to my bag of special stuff. It was a bag filled with stuff. It was almost everything from my house I could fit in on the day my Mama had died. Yeah it is sad.

My Papa died first when he was 36 years old. I was only 3. It was really sad and I first thought he was `broken'. My Mama and Sister and Brother had to explain the concept of dying to me. So then my Sis died she was 18 and I was 5. She died `cause her classmate had a disease and Sis caught it and she died. Except her classmate had more money and could afford the right treatment. We never were rich. Anyway then my Bro died `cause he got hit in the head with a baseball to hard. I was only 7. Then Mama died from complications from another baby in her stomach. I guess it kicked her to hard and she died.

Thanks for reading this.

Now when I was reading the Writing Magic book I just knew that the advice was not very good and the book was not entertaining. The only fun part was when you made the character portfolio, and that was it. The advice was not useful and it was geared more towards kids ages 10 and under than real authors. If you want to get a book about writing fantasy get a book from an author that doesn't focus mainly on unuseful advice. Plus she is constantly advertising her books.