Do You Believe in Magic? Not Just Any Magic……Writing Magic.

Do you believe in magic?  Readers of all ages have long been fan Ella Enchanted, one of the rare children’s books that make it into the big screen. In fact, it was the movie, starring Anne Hathaway, which got me reading this book in the first place, Writing Magic. Unfortunately, it wasn't as magical for me as I had hoped.

s of Gail Carson Levine’s Newbery Honor work,

If I had read Writing Magic when I was eight, it could have changed my life.  After almost a decade, I came upon this book with a slight grin. Outgrowing the age when fantasy was fanciful, the book itself wasn't that appealing to me, that doesn't mean, it couldn't be for a younger age group.

Writing Magic is a wonderful book for kids who want to write or are in need of some motivation.  It’s filled with great advice for young readers to use in their own writing.  Levine covers topics ranging from ideas, writing the actual story, working through revisions, and most of all encouragement.  The book discusses practical things like the best way to write dialogue, and discusses why you might feel inspired to write to begin with.  Likewise, there are even writing prompts at the end of every chapter, for those who are kinesthetic learners.

The author mentions many rules to follow when deciding to write. But one in particular caught my attention the most: a rule regarding the importance of saving childhood workings to later reflect and observe in life. She said that she used to think she’d always remember what it felt like to be a kid, but she discovered (as we all do) that you forget the details. The only way to absolutely remember how you feel being a child is to write as a child, and then save those writings. A strategy which lacked in my childhood and had wished I had done more when I was little. She further explains, “When you become a teenager, you step onto a bridge. You may already be on it. The opposite shore is adulthood. Childhood lies behind. The bridge is made of wood. As you cross, it burns behind you” (93). Being one of my favorite quotes from the entire book she illustrates the idea of writing as a savior that when times are troubling, you can always come back to your past writings to reflect. Furthermore, if you save what you write, you still won’t be able to cross back to childhood. But, instead you’ll be able to see yourself in that lost country of your childhood, you’ll be able to wave to yourself across that wide river.

Throughout this book, Levine uses examples from her own novels, as well as other famous children’s works, to clarify her points. I loved being able to enter into her thought process, of how she came up with her ideas for books such as Ella Enchanted, Fairest, The Wish, and others. Furthermore, the real life examples established not only the author’s credibility but the reader’s acknowledgment about tips which can be applied to any type and level of writing.

Levine closes every chapter with two simple commands: “Have fun!” and “Save what you wrote” (102). This writing style, I think, was very effective in reaching the attention of her primary audience of younger children who are in process of becoming writers and learning what they are capable of.  With such simple syntax, she emphasizes how easy it is preserve ones writing so the reader is encouraged and sees it as an appealing thing to do.

This brings me back to my first thought of the book. The only reason Writing Magic didn't change my life, as it should have, was that it reached me at a point when I had already read other books on writing, taken many writing classes, and had already heard a lot of the advice Levine gives.  It was indeed constructive and valuable, but just not the life-altering event that could have occurred if I were younger.  

Works Cited

Levine, Gail Carson. Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly. New York: Collins, 2006. Print.