A Beginning, a Muddle, and an End
Harcourt, 2008
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Don’t miss the beginning!
if you liked this book, try:
The Right Way to Write Writing
What’s this book about?
Avon the snail and Edward the ant are back for another funny—and philosophical—adventure. This time, Avon has decided he wants to be a writer, only to discover that writing is way more difficult than he ever imagined. He finally gets the word Something written down, but there’s a problem: What to write next? Luckily, his friend Edward is there to advise.
Story Behind the Story
Sitting on my bookshelves is Advice to Writers: A compendium of quotes, anecdotes, and writerly wisdom from…literary lights. (Compiled by Jon Winokur) I don’t look at it often, though it is fun to read. It is full of useful reminders, such as E.B. White’s: “The best writing is rewriting.” Or even, Flaubert’s “Prose is like hair; it shines with combing.” Fitzgerald: “Cut out all those exclamation marks. An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke.”
Reviews
“ … it’s easy to imagine the right child sitting at the dinner table or in the backseat of the car, or traipsing through the grocery store, exhausting the patience of assembled, captive family with a word-for-word account of Avon and Edward’s hilarious exploits.” (Booklist)