TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Magic Words: An Introduction, and How to Use This Book

  1. Clarity and Connection: Principles of Good Writing
  2. Experience and Emotion: Ages in Children’s and YA Literature
  3. Proficiency and Practice: Using and Developing Your Gifts
  4. Promise and Premise: Crafting a Strong Story Concept
  5. Effort and Flow: How to Write a Novel
  6. Intention and Invention: Identifying Your Points
  7. Identity and Choice: Creating Multidimensional Characters
  8. Interest and Change: Building Bonds Between Readers and Your Characters
  9. Power and Attention: Writing Outside Your Own Groundwork
  10. Structure and Sensibility: The Power of Plot
  11. Obstacles and Negotiation: Seven Ways of Looking at a Scene
  12. Movement and Momentum: Controlling Your Pace and Prosody
  13. Person and Personality: Fundamentals of Voice
  14. Teases and Trust: What Makes a Good First Chapter
  15. Worlds and Wonders: Writing Speculative Fiction
  16. Perspective and Polishing: Considering Charlotte Keene
  17. Vision and Revision: Twenty Techniques
  18. Love and/or Money: Publishing Your Book
  • Recommended Reading
  • Acknowledgments