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4th out of 14 books
—
17 voters
Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write
Do you wish you had a published writer's secrets at your fingertips, ready to help you achieve your goals of publication, success, and the chance to be the next great teen writer? In Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write, Victoria Hanley, award-winning author of young adult fiction, spills the secrets for bringing action, adventure, humor, and drama to st...more
Paperback, 213 pages
Published
July 1st 2008
by Cottonwood Press (Fort Collins, CO)
(first published 2008)
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Seize the Story
Hanley, V.(2008). Seize the Story. Fort Collins, CO: Cottonwood Press.
Reviewed By: Sarah Cherry
Type of Reference- Handbook
Description: This book is packed with information to help young adults as well as teens to develop great writing skills. It is filled with examples and exercises to teach young writers how to bring action humor and drama to stories. This book reads like a novel and you don’t want to put it down. It is easy to read and well written.
Scope and Content: The book gr...more
Hanley, V.(2008). Seize the Story. Fort Collins, CO: Cottonwood Press.
Reviewed By: Sarah Cherry
Type of Reference- Handbook
Description: This book is packed with information to help young adults as well as teens to develop great writing skills. It is filled with examples and exercises to teach young writers how to bring action humor and drama to stories. This book reads like a novel and you don’t want to put it down. It is easy to read and well written.
Scope and Content: The book gr...more
Victoria Hanley's, "Seize the Story" has an incredible warm and inviting tone that invites any reader in, young adult or otherwise, and also includes a large dash of humor. She walks the reader through the various elements of writing a novel, acknowledging the challenges and the rewards of writing in a manner that only an experienced writer could do. It made me feel such a connection at points when I thought, "I know EXACTLY what she is talking about." I think it is one of the incredible strengt...more
There are so many books which guide writers to create great stories, but I've never read a successful one that is written for teens. I was intrigued by this book--cover to cover. While I have other books about writing, most of my students find them to be boring or inaccessible. Hanley talks directly to teens and speaks in their language. Further, I think adults and younger children would also find value in the text.
The best part about this book is that it is a comprehensive guide. There are chap...more
The best part about this book is that it is a comprehensive guide. There are chap...more
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I only have one word to describe this book: AMAZING!
Seize the story is a handbook for teens who like to write, for adults who want to write YA books, or for any other person who enjoys writing and wants to improve his/her writing skills.
At the beginning of the book the author talks about creative writing classes and why sometimes people don't like those classes. She says that people think that Writing Courses or this kind of book can kill the creativity and put everybody to write in the same w...more
Seize the story is a handbook for teens who like to write, for adults who want to write YA books, or for any other person who enjoys writing and wants to improve his/her writing skills.
At the beginning of the book the author talks about creative writing classes and why sometimes people don't like those classes. She says that people think that Writing Courses or this kind of book can kill the creativity and put everybody to write in the same w...more
This writing book was quite good. It was easy to read, engaging, and humorous. The book was filled with writing exercises that I found quite helpful. With school, the amount of time I spent writing had decreased a lot. But after doing these writing exercises, I have gotten into the habit of free writing, finding other writing exercises to do, and working on my book(s) again.
Every chapter starts with some quotes from writers (some of them quite inspiring, if I do say so myself). There are also ex...more
Every chapter starts with some quotes from writers (some of them quite inspiring, if I do say so myself). There are also ex...more
When I was asked to review Seize the Story, I was a bit hesitant. I thought the book sounded great but writing isn't something I do all the time, even though I like it.
I'm going to talk about my experiences a lot in this review as the book made me reflect on my writing. Two years ago I attempted to write a book. I had an idea that wouldn't leave my mind and it's still there! I made all sorts of promises and goals and outlines, but I never finished this story. I made the awful mistake of letting...more
I'm going to talk about my experiences a lot in this review as the book made me reflect on my writing. Two years ago I attempted to write a book. I had an idea that wouldn't leave my mind and it's still there! I made all sorts of promises and goals and outlines, but I never finished this story. I made the awful mistake of letting...more
This book caught my attention the first time I took a glimpse of it in the shelves. And did it wow me? It SURE did. This was my first writing book to read and it revealed so much great tips for teenagers and adults alike! Victoria Hanley sure is a blessed and professional writer since the book was proof itself. The book has truly made me see what the writing industry has to give. Great techniques which is probably unforgettable. I'm so addicted to writing books now. Life changing!
I absolutely love this book! It has amazing advice for anyone who enjoys writing. It's definitely geared towards teens, but the writing advice it has is advice that's great for anyone who writes. I'm definitely going to be keeping advice from this book in mind during the future. I also enjoyed the interviews with the other authors. The book contains so much advice that will really help any teen who wants to make their writing the best it can be. I strongly recommend Seize the Story to any teen w...more
I have to admit that I wasn't overly impressed with the book. The writing style is casual, which I like and my students appreciated as well. It does contain some good ideas, though I don't know that the organization is always ideal--so I played around with the sections we read. My students, however, really liked the book. Most of them wanted to take it home. So that upped my rating from 2 to 3 stars.
This book may be for teens, but if you want a crash course in story writing because you are too old to remember your teens? This is perfect. Honestly, the text is easy to understand, fresh and uncomplicated. All the questions I had about basic story construction as well as a few chapters that bolstered my self confidence were here. I would recommend this as a gift for any young (or old) aspiring writer. Well done.
One of the only helpful writing books I have read.
I actually took notes while reading this book and have gone back to them. While other books throw advice on you until you're drowned and depressed, Hanley splits everything up into specific chapters with clear goals, examples, and exercises.
I actually took notes while reading this book and have gone back to them. While other books throw advice on you until you're drowned and depressed, Hanley splits everything up into specific chapters with clear goals, examples, and exercises.
Aug 05, 2011
T. M.
added it
A quick, easy read for teen writers who don't want to go through adult writing books. The Q&A with various authors is enlightening and Hanley does a great job of distilling writing down to the basic levels and even uses modern examples, such as "Twilight" to explain various concepts.
I love to pick up instructional books and see if they have any validity. This one, though written for teens, would help anyone who wanted to learn to write creative fiction. Also, the fact that it's written for teens works as an advantage, because the book is full of exciting material, quotes and advice that never gets monotonous. It guides you through he basic necessities of every story- conflict, setting, characters- as well as the lesser understood but equally as important topics like point o...more
I really like this book so far. I was right in thinking that I really needed to start with something simple...i.e. Teenage level! I look forward to learning more as I read this!
I've been writing for roughly four years. So, basically, this book ended up telling me everything I already knew about characters and plots and writing in a simple, uncomplicated way. Good for teens just starting out. :)
See my review here:
http://www.examiner.com/literature-in...
http://www.examiner.com/literature-in...
I wish I could own this book. It's great. I really connected with it.
It's Such a helpful book, It was amazing, and light.
This was a nice little book. It contained pretty much all of the advice I've read in other writing books, just in more accessible language (and with illustrations!)
This is such an incredibly helpful handbook.
Will pick this up again if I venture (or help someone) to write fiction.
Jul 05, 2011
Sabore
added it
Really great/helpful book :D
May 05, 2013
Hannah
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Mika
marked it as to-read
Mar 31, 2013
Sara Karako
marked it as to-read
Mar 23, 2013
Savina
marked it as to-read
Mar 21, 2013
Emilyanne
marked it as to-read
Feb 22, 2013
Igraine
marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall
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