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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Anne's experience, and the experience of other writer's she knows, how easily does plot structure come?
(a) Not easily at all.
(b) It is like a Gulf stream going through a straw.
(c) Easy as pie.
(d) It tends to come like the development of a Polaroid.

2. What is the question Anne's students always ask?
(a) How do you know when you are done?
(b) How can you put an octopus to bed?
(c) How can I write like Dr. Suess?
(d) What happens when a character changes?

3. What is the way to hold a reader's attention?
(a) Dialogue.
(b) Good plots.
(c) Drama.
(d) Pictures.

4. What was Vonnegut's comment on writing?
(a) When I write, I feel like an armless legless man with a crayon in his mouth.
(b) I write with crayons, it is prettier.
(c) When I write, I shoot for the stars and end up somewhere on the moon.
(d) Writing is an extension of the soul onto a blank canvas in sheer poetic movements.

5. How does Anne define perfectionism?
(a) A mean, frozen form of idealism.
(b) The only way to write.
(c) Chewing gum will relieve it.
(d) An abundantly jealous form of writing.

Short Answer Questions

1. How else does Anne say you might you know you are done?

2. What does Anne tell her students the reason to write is?

3. What two qualities are needed to communicate effectively according to Anne?

4. What does Anne say you have to get over, or you will not go far in your writing?

5. In Part 1, Section 6, Polaroids, who was the self-proclaimed "cool man?"

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Anne suggest we can free ourselves from perfectionism?

2. Alice Adams suggests the ABDCE formula for writing a short story. How can formulas be a great way to get us started?

3. How does Anne suggest writing about school lunches be beneficial for a writer?

4. In Part 1, Section 12, Plot Treatment, Anne had been working on a book for over two years that still was not acceptable to her editor. How does she describe the plot treatment she wrote, which was accepted by her editor, and gained her the last of her advance?

5. What does a bad first draft provide a writer, according to Anne?

6. When Anne was writing food reviews, how did allowing herself to write bad first drafts help her?

7. How does the one-inch picture frame on Anne's desk put her in the mind to write a short assignment?

8. How do you know when you are done, according to Anne?

9. According to Anne, how are we able to see the underlying essence of a person?

10. With every work there will always be more that you could have done. What does Anne warn us against with this thought?

(see the answer keys)

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