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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does knowledge of your characters emerge, according to Anne?
(a) Like a sunrise, full of beauty and splendor.
(b) Like a Polaroid, it takes time to know them.
(c) Quickly and easily.
(d) Characters come after you finish a good outline.

2. At what age did Anne start writing?
(a) Eight.
(b) Thirty.
(c) Five.
(d) Eleven.

3. What is Anne's first suggestion about writing dialogue?
(a) Copy conversations you hear in public.
(b) Always write in dialect.
(c) Read your words out loud.
(d) Secretly record your friends talking and use their words exactly, without asking permission.

4. What advice did E. L. Doctorow have about writing?
(a) "Writing makes me paranoid. I don't recommend it."
(b) "Writing a novel is like making dinner. If you do prep work, the cooking comes easy."
(c) "Writing a novel is like taking a horse to water, but then he does not drink."
(d) "Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

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

6. How did Anne feel after the basketball game?
(a) Like she could write all day.
(b) Depressed and hungry.
(c) Thankful for what she and her son had.
(d) Joyful.

7. According to Anne, what is one thing that can make a book very tiring to read?
(a) Dialogue written in dialect.
(b) Dr. Suess.
(c) Dialogue written without any dialect.
(d) Serif font.

8. Aside from talking to people, what are other ways to gather ideas for set design?
(a) Going to visit and reading books about the set your are trying to design.
(b) You need only to look to the plot for your set design.
(c) Take a nap and dream about it, or watch a movie.
(d) Reading a book on the subject and then meditating.

9. How does Anne tell her students to train the unconscious to kick in?
(a) Listen to classical music.
(b) Phone an off-putting friend, that will get your creative juices going.
(c) Drink wine and eat chocolate, then write.
(d) Sit down to write at approximately the same time every day.

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

11. How does plot fall together?
(a) As you conform your characters to the plot in your outline.
(b) As you listen to jazz music and drink wine.
(c) As you listen to your characters and watch them move.
(d) Piece by piece, like a puzzle.

12. What does Anne say good writing is about?
(a) Telling the truth.
(b) Outlines, plots, and themes.
(c) Dialect.
(d) Spelling everything correctly.

13. What is Ethan Canin's idea of the most valuable thing about writing?
(a) Good dialog.
(b) A likeable narrator.
(c) Using a sanserif font.
(d) A strong plot.

14. What is at least half the battle Anne faces in her daily writing?
(a) Having enough paper in the printer.
(b) Quieting the critical voices.
(c) Writing a bad first draft.
(d) All the characters talking at one time.

15. What is on Anne's desk that reminds her of short assignments?
(a) A pair of shorts.
(b) A one-inch picture frame.
(c) A short stubby pencil.
(d) A ruler.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Anne's second suggestion about writing dialogue?

2. What does Anne say perfectionism will block?

3. According to Anne, what is the way to "nail" a character?

4. When will you know your characters, according to Anne?

5. What is the question Anne's students always ask?

(see the answer keys)

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