Bridge to Terabithia (A Book Review for Writers)

Here are four writing lessons I took away from the bestselling children’s novel, Bridge to Terabithia:

Give your characters an immediate motivation.

We know what the main character wants on page 1. This is a perfect example of Kurt Vonnegut’s advice to give characters an immediate motivation no matter how insignificant it is.

Jesse wants to be the fastest kid in the fifth grade. More importantly, he wants to fit in. He wants the other kids in the school to like him.

The inciting incident com...