Writing a Letter to an Author

This exercise, writing a letter to the author of a book you've read, is a way to practice writing -- in concrete, detailed form -- about the way a book can affect our lives.

Assignment
Write a letter of up to 500 words (grades 4-7) and up to 1000 words (grades 8-12) to the author of a book you especially liked.

Process
Tell the author how reading his or her work (name the title) somehow changed your way of thinking about yourself or the world around you. Make a connection between yourself and a character or an event in the story. Did the book mirror your life in some way? What questions did the author force you to ask yourself or others?

Do not summarize the plot of the book. Why? Because the author wrote the story and already knows what happened. What the author doesn’t know is the way the book affected you. Be honest, personal, and conversational. Exploring why you react the way you do to literature is a valuable lesson because it teaches you about yourself.

(See the winning entries in the Letters About Literature Contest for a series of examples.)

Writing Workbook

Multiple Skill Levels

• Dictation Exercise
• Writing About Place
• The Dictionary Game
• Exercises in Discovering a Subject, Storytelling, and Nature Writing
• Masked Writers at Mat-Su Alternative School
• Poetry Scavenger Hunt Exercise

Elementary

• Animal Body Exercise
• Books vs. Bytes Exercise
• Imaginary Zoos
• Creative Writing Exercise -- Anchorage Reads Program
• Newspapers in Education -- Writing About News Photos
• We Make Masks!
• Weavers of Words: Mask and Legend Exercise
• Writing Myths
• Write About a Pet
• Four Elementary Bilingual/ESL Exercises
• Creating a Newspaper Book Report

Middle School

• Important Things, Classroom Book Project
• Newspapers in Education -- Middle School Writing

High School

• Creation Myth Writing Exercise
• Newspapers in Education -- High School Writing
• Book Report Exercise
• Justice and Freedom Exercise
• Exercises on Writing With Empathy

Reading Workbook Index