Just Write: Here's How!

by Walter Dean Myers

Overview

Practice, practice, practice. Now Walter Dean Myers, the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and New York Times bestselling and award-winning author, walks you through the writing process.

Includes:

• Examples from his writing and reading experiences
• Walter's six-box and four-box outlines for writing fiction and nonfiction
• Excerpted pages from Walter's own notebooks
• An afterword by Ross Workman, Walter's teen coauthor of kick
• Writing tips from both Walter and Ross

Anyone can be a writer, with a little help from Walter Dean Myers!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062203908
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/24/2012
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	547,525
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	970L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Walter Dean Myers was the New York Times bestselling author of Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award; a National Ambassador for Young People's Literature; and an inaugural NYC Literary Honoree. Myers received every single major award in the field of children's literature. He was the author of two Newbery Honor Books and six Coretta Scott King Awardees. He was the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults and a three-time National Book Award Finalist as well as the first-ever recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Editorial Reviews

Myers offers a wealth of advice that is professional and pragmatic and often couched in the context of his own work...Feeling that books saved his life, Myers now gives his readers the same opportunity through his advice and his largehearted example.

Booklist

Myers offers a wealth of advice that is professional and pragmatic and often couched in the context of his own work...Feeling that books saved his life, Myers now gives his readers the same opportunity through his advice and his largehearted example.

Booklist

The third National Ambassador for Young People's Literature offers a how-to guide for young writing enthusiasts. Who's more qualified to write about the craft of writing than Myers, one of the biggest names in children's literature and author of 100 works for young readers? Though this volume is far from flashy, the straightforward, no-nonsense, you-can-do-it tone may well inspire young readers and beginning writers. Myers tells about his own life and how he became a writer before moving on to the craft itself, offering advice on structuring fiction using a six-box outline and nonfiction with a four-box outline. Excerpts from his own notebooks and commentaries on his work with teen writer Ross Workman (Myers' collaborator on the soccer novel Kick, 2011; Workman contributes to the backmatter) are enlightening, and readers will find themselves in the presence of a friendly mentor and writing co-conspirator. Ultimately, since writers draw on their own lives and interests, this is a writer's guide to life. Myers advises, "The best way to find inspiration is just to live your life doing these things that interest you most…. Pursuing your passions will expand your world. This will make you a better writer." Good advice on the craft of writing from someone who should know. (writing tips, further reading on writing, about the author, a list of the author's books) (Nonfiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

Myers offers a wealth of advice that is professional and pragmatic and often couched in the context of his own work...Feeling that books saved his life, Myers now gives his readers the same opportunity through his advice and his largehearted example.” — Booklist

From the Publisher