Gail Carson Levine's Writing Tips

Teachers love to beg, borrow, and steal ideas. Creative Writing is a lot of fun to teach, and Gail Carson Levine, a wonderful children's writer known for her novels Ella Enchanted, Fairest, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, and others.

Levine started sharing her writing tips on her blog. You can find it here. Eventually it led her to writing these two books, Writing Magic and Writer to Writer (From Think to Ink). 

I enjoyed reading Levine's books as a young girl. If I had a bad day, I would grab Ella Enchanted (one of the two copies I owned) off my book shelf and read it in one sitting. For this reason, and the trust publishers have for her, I respect the advice she gives in these two books.

Levine first wrote Writing Magic before Writer to Writer. However, I read them in the opposite order.

Photo from Amazon.com

This book is easy to read; it is fun and creative. It is easy to sit and read through, but you most enjoy it when you can take your time. As you read (she does this in both books), she ends each chapter with writing prompts.

It was a lot of fun reading about the writing process of an author that I've read several books of. For example, "[. . .] I don't think I did a better job with one heroine or the other [Ella and Addie]" (71).

Other than that, I enjoy stealing prompts from this book to ask students to write. Here are a few of my favorites. 

• "Superman gives up saving people. Write the turning point that pushes him in this direction" (73).
• "Visit your villain's childhood and write a flashback that shows how he became bad" (82).

The best way to read this book is when you can keep the copy of the book for awhile. Read a chapter, maybe two a day, and actually take the time to complete the prompts given to you.

A chapter that was particularly helpful for my own writing was Chapter 19. It explains how to make a nail-biting scene. You'll have to read it yourself for the specific details, but a helpful list: 

1. Time Pressure
2. Milestone
3. Thoughts
4. Nonstop Action
5. Separation from the Problem
6. Flaws in Characters
7. Isolation
8. Expectation
9. Injustice

This book gives a lot of fantasy examples. If you have the time, I recommend reading this book rather than Writing Magic. However, the advice and prompts given in each book is different.

Photo from gailcarsonlevine.com

As I began reading Writing Magic, I realized that I had read it before, when I was younger. As she advises, "Save what you write." I have a notebook somewhere (I'm not quite sure where) with some of these prompts and my own creative thoughts.

This book focuses on writing fantasy.

There were a couple of sections within the book who explains why people should write:
            Write to nurture yourself.
            Write to tell us about being you.
            Write to tell us about being human.
            There can never be too many stories. Add to the reservoir. (161)

My other favorite advice is what to do when we're stuck. When we've reached writer's block, write 12 options, both stupid and excellent, to find out where the story needs to go.

If you teach creative writing and want to share easy reads or ideas with your students, I recommend using these two books.