Have You Ever Wanted to Write a Book?

I always wanted to write a book, but it took me awhile to make it happen. In 2007, we were leaving for a vacation, going up to Glacier National Park (near of Kalispell, Montana) and I heard something on the radio about Disney adding fairies to their princess line to appeal to slightly older girls. My mom, who was along with us on the trip had been after me to write a children’s book for years and she said, “You should write a book about fairies.” I asked my daughters, who were 11 and 7 at the time if they would like it if I wrote a story about fairies and they answered, “Yes!”

The next day we visited an electromagnetic anomaly called “The Mystery Spot” and I got an idea that the “spot” would be a great place for fairies, who traditionally have a way of “hiding” from humans, to come and go from their secret world. All of a sudden, my heart started racing and I got really excited! I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel to go on their computer and research everything there was about fairies. It was right there and then that the story of The Magic Strand began. (You can see pictures of The Mystery Spot and see the whole story at www.magicstrand.com). The Magic Strand is about a human girl, raised in an alternate dimension and returned home to (our) earth as she turns 14 – sort of a reverse Wizard of Oz. The highway between the dimensions is The Magic Strand.

When we returned from vacation, I wrote the character descriptions first, for the heroine, Aurora, also known as Rory, then Andy, Chen, Crier and Stacy. I knew I wanted the heroine to be a girl and for her to be the leader of a group that included boys as well as girls. Then, I jotted down almost the whole plot – except for the last chapter. Most of it it wasn’t even in complete sentences and there were typos all over it; I didn’t care, I just wanted to write what happened. I could tell you more about Rory and Andy here, but I’d like you to try an experiment that will open the secret world of writing to you.

Take a piece of paper and in 5 minutes or less, list the following, Character Description: Boy or girl., Hair color and Description of Hair (Short? Long? Curly?) Height, Body Type, (Athletic? Tall and Skinny? Short and Chunky?) Eye Color, Skin color, (Freckles? Tans Easily?) Race or Culture (Italian ancestors? Chinese? African American?) Religion, Hobbies, Family (Cool Grandma? Dad is an Astronaut?) Unique Characteristic (Eats nothing but Cheetos? Fabulous gymnast? Stinky Feet?). Now, repeat the process one more time for another character.

Now, it’s always best to write about what you know, so take those two characters and put them in a situation you face every day – riding the bus to school, playing a game, a sleepover,whatever. Now ask yourself, how would the two characters you described react in the situation you chose? Make sure you work the quirky little things that make them who they are (like stinky feet!) into the story.Ta Da! You now know the secret of how to get started writing an interesting story – maybe your very own book! That’s exactly what I did for The Magic Strand.

Of course , it’s not that easy to write a book, especially a good one. Being a busy mom, it took a while to write the book and then I had to do re-writes. I did six complete versions of The Magic Strand before I let anyone read it. I even changed the fairies to miniature flying magical beings called “glymps” (as in get a “glimpse” – get it?) because boys think of fairies as being silly and little and my glymps were strong, independent and wild!

Since you did me the honor of reading this far, I’d like to say “thanks” by sending a free copy of The Magic Strand to you. If you email me at MsDiana@magicstrand.com and say you know the secret of writing a story, I will send you a full copy of The Magic Strand for free. If your parents are concerned about you opening a file through email, you can go to the website (www.magicstrand.com – which is really cool) and on the PURCHASE page, PRINT a one page synopsis that will tell your parents everything they need to know. After you read the book, please email me and tell me what you thought and if possible, I’ll post your comment (first name and grade only) on the site for other kids to see! (This is a special offer for “GirlsCan’tWhat”readers).

Rory, Andy and the glymps will return in the next book in the series, which I am writing now, tentatively entitled Mach Magic. It’s important to know that like riding a bike or playing an instrument that you get better at writing stories and even books with practice and you have to be willing to work on them over time. Don’t give up if your first try isn’t everything you wanted. Just keep working at it and you can be an author too!

Find me at: http://www.magicstrand.com