or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
X
More Buying Choices
54 used & new from $2.30
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: speech mannerisms, Ella Enchanted, Little Red Riding Hood, Princess Tales (more...)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
Price: $5.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Friday, November 13? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
32 new from $2.35 22 used from $2.30

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Hardcover $14.44 $4.92 $2.96
  Paperback $5.99 $2.35 $2.30

Frequently Bought Together

Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly + Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write + Wild Ink: How to Write Fiction for Young Adults
Price For All Three: $27.69

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly by Gail Carson Levine

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write by Victoria Hanley

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Wild Ink: How to Write Fiction for Young Adults by Victoria Hanley

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • This item is eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. Eligible products include select Books, Single Copy Magazines, and Home & Garden items. Buy any 4 eligible items and get the lowest-priced item free. Here's how (restrictions apply)
  • Over a hundred thousand items are eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. How do I find more eligible items?

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Wild Ink: How to Write Fiction for Young Adults

Wild Ink: How to Write Fiction for Young Adults

by Victoria Hanley
4.9 out of 5 stars (12)  $10.85
What's Your Story?: A Young Person's Guide to Writing Fiction

What's Your Story?: A Young Person's Guide to Writing Fiction

by Marion Dane Bauer
4.0 out of 5 stars (5)  $7.95
The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales

The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales

by Gail Carson Levine
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  $6.99
Writing for Children and Teens: A Crash Course (How to Write, Revise, and Publish a Kid's or Teen Book with Children's Book Publishers)

Writing for Children and Teens: A Crash Course (How to Write, Revise, and Publish a Kid's or Teen Book with Children's Book Publishers)

by Cynthea Liu
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  $11.25
The Two Princesses of Bamarre

The Two Princesses of Bamarre

by Gail Carson Levine
4.7 out of 5 stars (209)  $6.99
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 5 Up—The accomplished children's and young adult author speaks directly to young writers, providing advice on all aspects of fiction creation. Sections titled "Liftoff," "Heart and Guts," "Plowing Through," "Digging Deeper," and "Writing Forever" address such topics as coming up with story ideas, developing characters and plot, and finding opportunities for publication. The tone is friendly and direct, getting quickly to the point in each short chapter, which closes with writing prompts. Levine encourages readers to take their work seriously while remembering to have fun. An informative and encouraging must-read for young writers.—Beth Gallego, Los Angeles Public Library, North Hollywood
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From Booklist

Levine, best known forElla Enchanted (1997), offers middle-graders ideas about making their own writing take flight. Though her concentration is primarily fiction, she notes that her suggestions can help all sorts of writing. Among the topics she covers are shaping characters, beginnings and endings, revising, and finding ideas. But the best part of Levine's book is her honesty as she shares with children the truth that there are no perfect books, that rejection can be as useful as success, and that you thank the creative part of you by using the ideas that it sends. She even dips into the details of getting published, which will inspire the most serious in the audience. Each chapter concludes with writing exercises, some surprisingly inviting, all of which end with the injunctions: "Have fun" and "Save what you write." A terrific item to have on hand for writing groups or for individual young writers who want to improve. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Collins (September 19, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060519606
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060519605
  • Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,853 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #7 in  Books > Children's Books > Reference & Nonfiction > Language Arts > Composition & Creative Writing
    #13 in  Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Careers

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Gail Carson Levine
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Gail Carson Levine Page
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
speech mannerisms
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ella Enchanted, Little Red Riding Hood, Princess Tales, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Amelia Bedelia, King Humphrey, King Lionel, The Fairy's Return
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 20 books:
See all 20 books this book cites
 
1 book cites this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(18)
(15)
(14)
(13)
(10)
(7)
(6)
(5)
(5)
(3)
(2)
See all 22 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

41 Reviews
5 star:
 (30)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (41 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
93 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, September 20, 2006
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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Not only a compelling read but fantastic writing advice, November 10, 2006
Writing Magic is so wonderful--I think it's right up there with Stephen King's On Writing: A memoir of the Craft, which was so helpful to my own writing. I tore through every page of Writing Magic, and I don't think anyone should let the fact that it was written by a YA author or FOR that particular audience stop you from reading it to help your own writing immediately! Gail Carson Levine gives great, usable advice and has filled each chapter with exercises to improve your craft. Like all of her other fiction, it's a well-written, page-turner! Thank you Ms. Levine, for a true gem of a book!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on writing, ever, November 4, 2006
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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for getting started as a writer
This book is fantastic, especially for kids who want to someday be published. She gives great tools and writing exercises that provide practice. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jollygreen

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Helpful and Fun!
This book is geared towards younger readers, but even I was able to get a lot of good stuff out of it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by The Compulsive Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Helper
This is a great book to help pull out you inner writer. Fun and fast exersise gets right to the point.
Published 5 months ago by Evelyn K. Jennigs

2.0 out of 5 stars Advice was child like, and it didn't help a lot
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. Read more
Published 7 months ago by AM

5.0 out of 5 stars No intimidation
I purchased this book for my daughter--who has loved all the books she has read that were written by Gail Carson Levine.

But when she saw that Ms. Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. Carlisle

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Classroom Use!
I actually purchased thirty five copies of this book to have a complete classroom set, and my students really seem to enjoy it. Read more
Published 9 months ago by T. Arnold

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for kids! Helpful to me!
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. Read more
Published 9 months ago by BlueM

5.0 out of 5 stars Approachable
It presented a very approachable way of writing, and I liked that it provided exercises.
Published 10 months ago by S. Esmond

5.0 out of 5 stars How to get started --- and keep going
Whether you are a published writer, or are still struggling to make it into print, Gail Carson Levine's book is a must read. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Avid Reader

3.0 out of 5 stars Writing Magic
I thought writing magic was a very good book but that it was meant more for younger kids. The advice was useful for writing stories and it was really cool to learn how to write... Read more
Published 12 months ago by KLG

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:












i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
Ad
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.