Nancy Lamb

"Some months back I received unbidden a copy of The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children. Looking at the 'for Children' part of the title, I briefly considered it for possible use as a reference for any of my students who might be interested in writing children's books. I put the book on the shelf and forgot about it. Finding myself recently in search of something that might deal intelligently with plot, I picked the book up and gave it the consideration I should have when it first fell into my hands. I found in it not a book for the writing of children's literature, but perhaps the most lucid, accessible, well organized, relevant, complete and credible work on fiction writing in my entire collection of texts on writing. I found my own ideas said better than I can say them myself. What is said in this book resonates with so much validity and clarity that I am sorry that I have wasted so much of my time and my students' time trying to teach without this text. I have corrected that situation by reorganizing the reading materials for my workshops, making The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children a required reading and a central part of our discussion."

"OK, writers, I know the title says children's stories, but it's so much more. If one were to outline this book, it would make a marvelous desk reference for all fiction writers. What works for children will work for any age. The author, a highly experienced writer and teacher, explains the genre; breaks down the various parts of a good story's structure; explains the aspects of its supports (scenes, plot & subplot, characters, point of view, and inner & outer dialogue); describes the necessary ancillary aspects (premise, theme, moral, promise, voice & tone, and settings); and finally, the care and feeding of the writer's spirit.

"This is not theory, but tips on what works well and why. If a writer follows this author's advice, a smashing novel will be the result. We rate this a perfect five hearts!"
"As a college English instructor, I've read a number of books on writing. None of them compare to Crafting Stories, and none of them have affected me so personally. I read Crafting Stories cover-to-cover twice, and both times something magical happened.... There's no way I could have gotten this far -- that fast -- without Lamb's uncanny ability to succinctly describe the intangible."
"It's all here—everything you need to know about writing for children presented with insight and humor... A 'must have' for every novice or professional writer."
"This is a must-read for children's writers."
"For four years, as an instructor of writing for children at UCLA Extension, I have been searching for a book to use as a text book. Finally I have found one—accessible yet packed full of story-structure information—Nancy Lamb’s Crafting Stories for Children.

"Everything is covered in this must-read book, plus suggestions on how to write when you don’t feel like it and ways to nurture your creative spirit.

"It may have taken me four years to find a textbook, but at last I have one I can use for years to come.