Live Writing: Breathing Life into Your Words

I read excerpts of this book to my at-risk secondary students and they really enjoyed hearing about how to make their writing more full of life. It really brought the writing process to their level and helped them internalize the importance of writing.

This is a light, easy-to-read small book summarizing the important ideas for young creative writers. The author gives published examples of most of his creative writing recommendations. The book is short but was well worth the price of the paperback version ($5 retail). Although the target seems to be young writers, I found many interesting quotes and passages to digest and underline. And although I think of this book as a little 'lightweight' I keep going back to browse through it. John Dunbar Sugar Land, TX

Ralph Fletcher has written a trio of fantastic books for young writers. "A Writer's Notebook" is about gathering material; "How Writers Work" is about the process of writing; and "Live Writing" is about craft, or how to write well. Most importantly, these three books are written directly to kids, in a warm and personal rather than "textbook" manner. I don't know of any other author who writes books on writing for kids, and this genre is so needed! Plus all of Fletcher's books are very engaging and well-written. Fletcher selects what he feels are the most important aspects of craft for this book. My notes on some of them follow:Characters· Characters are the most important part of a story.· The plot should grow out of the characters, and not the other way around.· Characters must first be born in your mind.· Build characters from people you know.· Give physical descriptions of your characters.· Characters should be complex, containing both good and bad.· Write letters to and from your characters, asking them questions!Voice· Best way to develop it is through your writer's notebook.· Think of writing as chatting on paper.· Always have a particular audience in mind.· Be honest!· Writing is trying to get readers to see something as you do.Conflict· Types of.· Don't wait long to develop it.· Don't solve it too quickly.· Don't end a story too abruptly or predictably.Time· Writing time isn't the same as real time.· Slow down "hot spots."· Skip over unimportant time quickly.· Narrow the time frame to key points.· Flashbacks are usually needed; they represent memories, what makes a character tick.

This easy to understand book is good for writers of all ages. I have used lessons from this book to help my middle school and high school students improve their writing. Fletcher concentrates on specific aspects of writing, like leads or characters, and uses simple but powerful examples that implicitly show students how to improve their writing. If you are using a workshop class, many of his ideas lend themselves to effective mini-lessons.

I think everyone should go and buy this book. It is worthy of 5 stars.This book trys to help you become a better writer by sharing some of Ralph Fletcher's experiances. If you like this book I reccomend you read Spider Boy or A writer's notebook. ( The book before Live Writing)