Non-Fiction Review: TEEN WRITER'S GUIDE: YOUR ROADMAP TO WRITING by Jennifer Jenkins

Teen Writer's Guide: Your Roadmap to Writing
by Jennifer Jenkins

Published by Owl Hollow Press

March 24, 2020

171 pages

Overview: Imagine you had a road map for writing the book you’ve always dreamed of writing—a step-by-step guide from testing your story ideas, to visualizing your characters’ types and voices, to building a world that comes to life, to navigating the publishing industry, and going the distance to reach your writing goals.

As co-founder of Teen Author Boot Camp, one of the nation’s largest writing conferences specifically for teens, and Young Adult author, Jennifer Jenkins has helped thousands of teens travel the world of writing. Teen Writer’s Guide: Your Road Map to Writing is the culmination of years of research and teaching, providing a detailed road map to writing your own story and steering through the detours and pit stops along the way. Perfect for teen writers, their teachers, and anyone who has an interest in breaking down the craft of writing in fun and manageable ways, this book is sure to take you to your final destination—and help you enjoy the journey along the way! 

Review:  Teen Writer's Guide: Your Roadmap to writing by Jennifer Jenkins is a great resource for beginning writers of any age to learn the basic principles of how to write a story.  The book includes an example at the beginning of each chapter with a writing sample from Jenkins.  Afterwards, she explains an aspect of the writing process she mentions and gives you some things to consider.  The writing prompts were very useful to help come back to the main aspects of the chapter. I especially liked Chapter Four's focus on plotting.

Jenkins provides a lot of information in this book that beginning writers will need to know before they start writing their own stories.  She also shows potential writing snags that writers may run into and how to avoid them. Multiple topics are covered such as characters, POV, world building, dialog, plotting, editing, getting published and so much more. She even includes a chart that aligns her questions to common core standards for educators who teach writing. 

Overall, this is an excellent resource for all writers who are trying to learn the craft of writing their own stories.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about writing a book or who is currently writing a book but needs direction.  A great addition to your home or school library.  

Rating:  4.5 Hearts!

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Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes by Carla Hoch

Fight Write: 

How to Write Believable Fight Scenes

by Carla Hoch

240 pages

Published by Writers Digest Books

June 11, 2019

Review: Writing a decent fight scene can be pretty difficult. As an aspiring writer myself, I wouldn’t know how to begin.  There is so much to consider that it can be overwhelming. Fight Write by Carla Hoch is a great resource! Writing a fight scene is not just about how to write kicks and punches. There are weapons, fighting styles, injuries, and so much more!  I had not considered many of the things outlined in this book. There is so much to writing realistic fight scenes, such as character motive, weather conditions, where to fight (place), differences in what would kill or just injury someone, weapons and how to use them, etc… 

Fight Write also gives you the vocabulary used to describe the different fighting styles. You learn to think about the Who, Where, and Why of your fight scene for all characters involved. I definitely would recommend this in print because I think it is easier to make notes and tag certain pages! Illustrations would have made this resource even better! A great go-to reference for any author who wants to incorporate believable and realistic fight scenes!

*A DRC was given for an honest review.

Rating: 4 Hearts!
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Writing Without Rules by Jeff Somers

Writing Without Rules: 
How to Write and Sell a Novel Without Guidelines, Experts, or (Occasionally Pants)
By Jeff Somers

Published by Writer's Digest

May 15, 2018

256 pages

Review: Writing Without Rules by Jeff Somers is basically what the title states - how to write without being held back by any particular writing "rules."  Somers uses a lot of his own experiences to help identify with the reader’s insecurities regarding their own writing skills. He pretty much states that if he can write novels, you can write (and finish) your own novels too.  Why? Because is a self-professed legendary “lazy” person and not particularly good with organization. There are lots of “unconventional tips” throughout the book that are actually pretty informative if you are new to writing.  His writing style throughout the book is casual and very conversational.  

Somers’ book is a lighthearted read, and it encourages you not to stress about where you are at in your writing journey.  In his experience, it’s okay to not go by any certain process or feel pressured to write your novel a certain way. It’s okay to fail and/or make mistakes. Somers gives lots of examples of how you can write your book your way, and to be persistent. Somers made tons of mistakes and was not the most organized or structured writer.  Yet, he was persistent enough and eventually became a published author of several books. Overall, this book is mainly for aspiring authors who are just getting started, or who have a manuscript in progress but need that “hang in there, you can do this” affirmation.  

*A DRC was given for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 Hearts!
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