Writing It Right! How Successful Children's Authors Revise and Sell Their Stories

by Sandy Asher

There are Nine Essential Questions that all writers must answer before any manuscript is finished and before it can win an editor's acceptance. They're not our questions. They're the same questions editors ask every day. So, why doesn't every writer use these questions? Is it possible that some writers may not know the Nine Essential Questions . . . or how to answer them? The authors in Writing It Right! respond to their editors critiques and show you every trick in the book to get their stories accepted and published . . . and give you permission to use these techniques in your writing and revising. You'll see how to turn a short poem into a picture book (by cutting all but two lines of the first draft) and completely shifting the point of view . . . You'll watch a first draft go through three versions as the title changes and the author's best-loved section is cut to answer an essential question . . . You'll be astounded as you watch the author shift from third person past tense to first person present tense, while changing the main character . . . and many more feats of editorial skill. It's a roll-up-your-sleeves-and-go-to-work writer's manual that's guaranteed to change your perception of revision forever.

Genres: Nonfiction

416 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2009

About the author

Sandy Asher, a playwright and children's author, is probably best known for her young-adult novels and other prose works for young readers. Drawing many of the ideas and characters for her writings from her childhood memories, Asher has earned critical praise and numerous awards for novels such as Just like Jenny, Things Are Seldom What They Seem, and Everything Is Not Enough. In addition to fiction, Asher has also edited the story collections On Her Way: Stories and Poems about Growing up Girl and the award-winning With All My Heart, with All My Mind: Thirteen Stories about Growing up Jewish, which collect works that address many of the same adolescent concerns Asher confronts in her fiction.

Reviews

[Terri Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book fascinated me and if you write for children or want to, it will likely fascinate you too. It takes a number of published books and short stories for children and the authors show you the rough drafts then all of the edits including those done by the editors who wound up publishing the works so you can see how that works and how to improve your own work through editing.

[Dianna Winget · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the years I've read many books on writing, and I really found this to be one of the most helpful. All of its great advice on revision came just when I was working on the sequel to my first children's novel, "A Smidgen of Sky." I've never written a sequel before, and the examples of before and after that Sandy uses were just what I needed. I'd definitely recommend this book for writers.

[Kim Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every writers and want-to-be needs to add this useful guide to her bookshelf! Learn how to round your characters and enhance your story!