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- Story:
Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting
by Robert McKee
- In Story, McKee expands on the concepts he teaches
in his $450 seminars (considered a must by industry insiders),
providing readers with the most comprehensive, integrated explanation
of the craft of writing for the screen.
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-
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- Characters
and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)
by Orson Scott Card
- This book deserves to be on any beginning writer's bookshelf,
although experienced writers may not find the point of view information
useful.
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Christopher Paolini and Eragon:
A Homeschool Success Story
Dateline: 5/25/04
by Barbara Frank
Reprinted with permission from Barbara Frank.
Now that the first generation of homeschoolers is well-established
in society, we're hearing a lot about how well these young people
are doing. They are running businesses, excelling in college
and homeschooling their own children. One has even written a
best-selling novel.
Christopher Paolini is the 20-year-old author of Eragon, a fantasy novel that jumped to
third on The
New York Times bestseller list just a few weeks after
it was published.
Christopher's journey to fame began when he was fifteen. He
finished high school and was accepted to a college but decided
not to go right away. Instead, he set out to write a novel for
his own entertainment.
Like so many homeschoolers, Christopher tackles projects by
educating himself. He read several books on the
craft of writing*, and then devised a plot for the "Inheritance
Trilogy", three books that would follow the adventures of
Eragon, a teenage boy who is befriended by a dragon named Saphira.
He spent a year writing Eragon, the first book in the
trilogy, and another year editing it.
Christopher and his sister Angela developed three languages
for the characters in the book, basing one on Old Norse and making
up the other two. Christopher drew all the maps in the book,
and illustrated the original cover.
When Christopher's parents read the book, they were astounded.
As owners of a small publishing company, their high opinion of
the book was based on more than just parental pride. They published
Eragon, and Christopher spent months promoting it all
over the Northwest U.S. He even designed a program around it
that encouraged school children to read, and spent over a year
presenting that program in schools all over the western U.S.,
starting with his neighborhood's high school.
The Paolinis had sold over 10,000 copies of the book before
it was discovered by author Carl Hiassen, who showed it to his
editor at the New York publishing company Alfred A. Knopf.
Soon, Christopher was offered a mid-six-figure contract for the
trilogy; not long after, Eragon was optioned for a
movie.
Christopher's story has been featured in many major magazines,
including Time, Newsweek and People, and
he has also appeared on the "Today Show." Although
his public appearances are intended to promote his book, he is
also promoting homeschooling, because he is just one more example
that proves that homeschooling works.
Note: if you have a budding writer in your family, these resources
may be helpful:
*Books Christopher used to teach
himself how to write a novel:
Read more about Christopher Paolini in the March 2004 issues
of The
Writer and Writer's Digest, which are probably
no longer on newsstands but are available at public libraries
[And on the internet]. You can also access several interviews
with Christopher by going to Teenreads.com.
An interesting commentary on how a member of the media described
Christopher's writing ability as occurring "despite his
lack of formal schooling" can be found at Eragon:
Do Try This at Home.
© 2004 Barbara Frank
Barbara Frank is the mother of four homeschooled-from-birth
children ages 11-20, a freelance writer/editor, and the author
of "Life
Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers". Visit her web site,
The Imperfect Homeschooler.
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- Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers
by Barbara Frank
- This book is a compilation of all the practical things you
wish you'd been taught in high school. Now you can make sure
your teenagers are ready for life "out of the nest."
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- Teen
author wins readers book by book
By Yvonne Zipp | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
A lot of writers prefer to remain above the actual business of
selling books. Christopher Paolini is not numbered among those.
In fact, the young author has gone to great personal lengths
to get his book into the hands of as many people as possible.
A
Home School Dragon
Boy child produced the most fantastic clay dragon. That's it
pictured. At the same time as doing a dragon project at school,
we are reading Eragon, as a Monday and Friday home school activity
around Dragons. He loves the book and talks, talks, talks about
it. Somebody gave him a Dragon book for his birthday recently
and Dragons are the order of the day.
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Books in this article
- Brisingr
Inheritance, Book 3
- by Christopher Paolini
- This title will be released on September 20, 2008. Pre-order this item now and you will receive an additional 5% off at checkout. Also, if the Amazon.com price decreases between your order time and release date, you'll receive the lowest price as well as the 5% pre-order discount.
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- Eldest
Inheritance, Book 2
- by Christopher Paolini
- Surpassing its popular prequel Eragon, this second
volume in the Inheritance trilogy shows growing maturity and
skill on the part of its very young author, who was only seventeen
when the first volume was published in 2003. The story is solidly
in the tradition (some might say derivative) of the classic heroic
quest fantasy, with the predictable cast of dwarves, elves, and
dragons--but also including some imaginatively creepy creatures
of evil.
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- Eragon
Inheritance, Book 1
by Christopher Paolini
- Hardcover Edition
- One boy
One dragon
A world of adventure
- When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he
thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps
it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone
brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon
a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple
life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world
of destiny, magic, and power.
-
- Audio
CD
- Signed,
Collectors Edition
- Library
Binding
- Audio
Cassette
-
- Writers
Inc : A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning
by Patrick Sebranek
- If you like to write, you'll read each page over and over
until you are saturated with the wonderful ideas within, and
even if you hate writing, you'll appreciate the conciseness and
clarity of this book.
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