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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 working on set design for your book, what does Anne suggest you imagine yourself as?
(a) A butterfly flitting around a room.
(b) An operating room nurse, getting utensils ready.
(c) An architect for a building.
(d) Set designer for a play or movie.

2. What do we want out of important characters, such as a narrator?
(a) For them to manipulate us.
(b) For them to be reliable.
(c) For them to entertain us every step of the way.
(d) A good plot line.

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

4. What is Anne's response to her students question about knowing when they are done?
(a) When characters evolve.
(b) "You just do."
(c) When the octopus is snoring.
(d) When Dr. Suess eats the broccoli.

5. What was the image from a medieval monk, Brother Lawerence, that helped Anne come to terms with the residents in the nursing home?
(a) We are all dust in the wind.
(b) Treat others as you would want to be treated.
(c) Do not worry about tomorrow, today has enough worry for all.
(d) That we, like trees in the winter, have nothing to give, but are there to be loved unconditionally.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does a writer end up with a good second draft or a terrific third draft?

2. What does Anne say that there is ecstasy in?

3. Ten days before Pammy died, she went shopping with Anne. On this excursion Anne figured out what Pammy's essence was. What was it?

4. Where does plot grow from?

5. How does plot fall together?

Short Essay Questions

1. Another of Anne's stories stems from the movie Stripes. The line is "Hey, lighten up Francis." How is this story helpful to her students?

2. Where does Anne find out something about false starts?

3. How does Anne warn against writing towards a climax or destination?

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

5. What does Anne suggest can help when you sit down to write dialogue?

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

7. How did Anne accomplish a very believable gardener in her novel, when she cannot even keep a houseplant alive?

8. How does Anne state dialogue affects a reader?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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