zu_reviews's review against another edition

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5.0

I thought this book was fantastic read for people in the editing stages of writing. Klein has the perspective of an agent and gives very poignant advice about publishing. Even though the emphasis is in Children and Young Adult books, I think even those writing adult can gain something from it.

The book has lots of tips and advocates finding your best way to write, rather than forcing a universal rule that is some secret to success.

fionak's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.5

I have no idea who recommended this to me but it does not seem different from other such books, except it’s longer. I basically skim read this, all the time muttering, “Yup, absolutely, true dat,” but never discovering anything that was new or revelatory to me. Note to self: stop reading writing guides.

chelsireads2's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

words_with_wendy's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

ashleykwbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

I personally only found 4 chapters helpful. However, I have read a TON of manuscript help books lately. So a lot of the information was repetitive even though it was specifically geared towards children and YA. I highly recommend giving this a read if this is your genre. It’s a lot of lists and exercises which was actually the part I manny focused on and liked, but I am a list person so... 🤷🏻‍♀️

snowkab's review against another edition

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4.0

I borrowed this book from the library, and I intend to buy a copy for myself.

The book is very list-heavy, which may be a turn-off for some readers, but I liked it. There were tons of exercises to do before writing, during, and after, as well as some to do whenever. Lots of examples were given, and I especially appreciated a section towards the end where she annotated an example first chapter and showed where the problems were.

The reason I docked a star is that Klein's focus is heavily, heavily literary. She reads and edits children and YA novels that has a point and a message. She believes that all books should too. She acknowledges once or twice that most readers don't actually care if the book has a message (and in fact, it turns a lot of readers off to have an obvious message), but she still pushes forward with it. There is a single chapter on speculative fiction that points out that most speculative fiction is fun and adventurous and probably not making grand statements about life. That being said, the rest of the book was very useful.

seymadrz's review against another edition

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informative inspiring

4.0

katie_evans's review against another edition

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5.0

This is a book that will serve as a reference to me for years. I don't even know how many pages I dog-earred or lines I highlighted. Cheryl Klein's insight in incredibly helpful and, in many cases, eye opening. I highly recommend this to children's and young adult writers and aspiring writers.

cnorbury's review against another edition

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5.0

A thorough discussion of writing craft by someone who really knows her stuff. Klein uses numerous examples for MG and YA books to illustrate her points and what makes good writing good. Although she primarily discusses writing for children and young adults, ANY writer will benefit from her wisdom. It's all about the craft! You don't need a "gift" --this mystical, magic talent for writing "Bestsellers" whatever those are these days. Butt in chair, learning the craft, the details, how to construct plots, chapters, scenes, conversations, paragraphs, sentences, choosing specific words--this is the craft of writing and it's not divinely inspired. Study this book, work through the exercises, and read, read, read in your genre, and you will become a better writer.

octospark's review against another edition

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4.0

If you are an established storyteller, The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults by Cheryl B Klein will act as a great refresher. Definitely something to mark-up and dog-ear and keep close to you while writing. The book depicts not only children's and YA fiction, but all fiction, I feel. It's quite comprehensive. It's a lesson in the structure and creation of character and plot, of emotion and action.

If you are new to the craft of writing, or to the YA genre, you will glean plenty from this book. Be warned, however: it's a bit of a whopper. It requires focus and time and energy, not only to read but to partake in Klein's many effective exercises. If you are willing to make the commitment, The Magic Words will be very rewarding. If you're lazy, skip this one.

I've been working professionally as an actor since I was a child (for over 30yrs now) and have been through some of the foremost training institutions on the planet, and the stuff that's in this book is the stuff you train in; this is the stuff you take away from it. If you're smart, that is. This intricate building of characters, words, worlds, situations. Specificity is key. The devil truly is in the details. Klein is ingenious at encouraging and enforcing this.

I enjoyed the book when it really delved into some of the more psychological and emotional elements of children's and YA fiction. I'm fascinated by the entire history of this genre--before it was even a "genre". What I took away from it had less to do with craft and more to do with archaeology, but it was apparent to me that there are wonderful things in this book, for all writers and actors and artists, whatever their reasons for reading it.