1st Edition
Seize the Story A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write
Do you wish you had a published writer's secrets at your fingertips, ready to help you achieve your goals of publication, success, and the chance to be the next great teen writer? In Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write, Victoria Hanley, award-winning author of young adult fiction, spills the secrets for bringing action, adventure, humor, and drama to stories. All of the elements of fiction, from creating believable dialogue to exciting plots, are laid out clearly and illustrated with examples taken straight from story excerpts by excellent writers. The book is packed with writing exercises designed to encourage teens to tell the stories that are theirs alone.
In addition, other published authors of young adult literature share their insights about the writing life. Teens can gain firsthand advice from accomplished writers T. A. Barron, Joan Bauer, Hilari Bell, Chris Crutcher, David Lubar, Lauren Myracle, Todd Mitchell, Nancy Garden, and many more.
Grades 7-12
Biography
Victoria Hanley's fiction novels for teens are published in dozens of countries in ten languages. Her books have received many honors, including placement on the Texas Lone Star Master List, the Oklahoma Sequoyah Award Master List, the Utah Beehive Award List, and the Colorado Blue Spruce Award List, as well as earning an International Reading Association Young Adults' choice selection, the Colorado Book Award, and a Kallbacher-Klapperschlange Award (Germany).
Written by an award-winning young adult author, Seize the Story is an excellent, comprehensive guide to writing fiction for teens . . . While Seize the Story is written with teens in mind, adults interested in improving their writing skills will also benefit from Hanley's helpful prompts and exercises. This is a solid handbook for the aspiring author that can also be utilized by teachers in their creative writing classes.,Ohio Journal of English Language Arts, 7/14/11
Seize the Story is a really easy book to read, warm, sweet, and funny. It gives you a lot of tips to improve your stories, like for example, creating characters, the name of the characters, what to do when you have a writer's block, the difference between Showing and Telling, and the different points of view that you can choose to write your story, and much more . . . But the best thing, is that when I started reading this book, with all those exercises and those tips, I just wanted to sit at the computer and start writing again. I felt that the door which was keeping my imagination-creativity closed, it opened again. And the best thing is that I feel it will help me to understand better the books I read, and it will improve the reviews I write. Highly recommended.,Idris Sandelis,Throwing Books Blog, 11/9/11
That's the main reason why I really appreciate Seize the Story by Victoria Hanley. Aside from it's really cool illustrated cover, it has some great writing advice in a reader-friendly format. I love that the author didn't try to sugar coat things or “baby” the teen reader. It really just helps take the YA point-of-view and translate it into a finished piece. The author broke things down with cool examples and lists. I really found everything in here - plotting, editing, dialogue, etc . . . It was actually fun to read. I felt like someone was helping me out, rather than telling me what to do.,Naiche Parker,The Book Girl Reads, 1/11/12
