The Arrow Writer's Handbook, Scholastic Inc., 2000
Short book (32 pages) for children packed with tips on writing. I particularly liked the tips on how to get more details into your writing:
- Use names.
- Think about exact colors, shapes, and sizes.
- Use comparisons.
- Notice all the details, even those that might not seem important at first.
- Use all five senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
Also, they gave this tip for spelling:
I before E except after C or when sounding like A, as in neighbor and weigh.
They explained some “Frequently Confused Words:”
- affect/effect
Affect is usually used as a verb and it means to impress, to influence, or to change something.
Her illness affected her skin for weeks.
Winning the match will affect Sarah’s mood.
Effect is usually used as a noun and it means the result of an action.
The disease had a bad effect on her skin.
The effect of the new rules is that everybody is now very quiet in the hallway.
In the section, “Fun with Words,” they discussed verbs:
Always try to use one stronger verb instead of a “wimpier” verb and an adverb.
Instead of: Try:
walked slowly dawdled
sang badly crowed
did really well soared
Lastly, avoid using cliches in your writing.
Whenever you find them in your writing, try to replace them with something original and fresh so that your writing doesn’t sound predictable and boring. Here are some common cliches to avoid.
slow as molasses
green with envy
big as a whale
quiet as a mouse
hungry as an ox
at death’s door
depths of despair
grinning from ear to ear
one in a million
in the same boat
easier said than done
weigh a ton
on cloud nine
to make a long story short
cried her eyes out
busy as a bee
white as a ghost
once in a lifetime
raining cats and dogs
bite off more than you can chew
Enjoyed this little how-to book! Read it in about a 1/2-hour in the car on our road trip to Oregon. Got it from a Little Free Library, the one by the Spring Park Fire Station.