Neon Words: 10 Brilliant Ways to Light Up Your Writing

by Marjorie White Pellegrino, Kay Sather

Neon Words is a book that will illuminate the writer in you. By using the tools and activities here, you'll connect the word-organizing part of your brain with your free-ranging imagination--and you'll love what you've captured on the page! It's an exciting, confidence-boosting, and deeply satisfying experience.

Whether you want to be a writer, or just want to explore what it's like to create with language, you'll discover that playing with words can help you be more present in your life and, best of all, it's lots of fun. Who knew writing could be so enlightening?

Genres: Nonfiction

112 pages, Hardcover

First published May 21, 2019

Reviews

[Keely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neon Words offers a great collection of writing and creativity prompts for teens, but they work pretty well for adults, too. All its tips and inspiration encourage experimentation with writing, while also incorporating hands-on visual artwork. These are ideas to get you into your body and make your creative work more concrete. They include things like blackout poetry using a journal page or old book page, ekphrastic writing in response to visual art, and also making mini books or posters to display and keep writing work. It's pretty cool. There are exercises in here that I'll share with my creative colleagues at work, but I think this book would be at its best and most useful in the hands of a young writer/artist just starting to explore and expand their creativity.

[Mary L · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm clearly not the target audience for Neon Words. This book is perfect for tweens who are interested in writing poetry, and the book has okay strategies for dealing with difficult emotions; unfortunately, I'm an adult who is not interested in writing poetry, and I need a more complex strategies to cope with some of my emotional issues.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent books for anyone who is interested in writing, whether you want to write poetry, fiction, or non-fiction. If you are stuck and need inspiration, this is the book for you. It even has instructions on making your own books. The authors share their love of words in creative and fun ways.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am continually delighted by the number of high school students who tell me how much they enjoy writing, how they spend time writing in journals, writing poetry, writing stories. Each writer approaches their craft with a different perspective, but one thing that makes writing sparkle is a personal connection. Pellegrino and Sather take readers through different writing exercises and techniques, but they shine most as they speak directly to the reader in an approachable voice. Instead of coming across as English teachers setting a task before students, Pellegrino and Sather come across as "real writers" who are sharing their own experience with young writers.

[Emmy]

My local library had this shelved with the adult non-fiction, but I definitely think the target audience is younger. Some fun ideas for making little booklets, etc., but all in all, the book didn't feel exactly like the type of writing guide I thought it would be. To that end, I did not finish reading. It was very flashy and exciting, but not at all helpful, I'm afraid.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many quick writing exercises that definitely spark the writing process and make it fun , engaging and entertaining. I think it may be geared towards a younger audience but I got a lot out of it . I especially like the first one where you use this phrase "my ( ___) is like a (___) and then write out a few lines and rearrange the words for your poem .

[Elizabeth Hassinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part art, part writing! This book is meant for those looking to tap into their creative side. If you think you don’t have a creative side, there are plenty of examples here for you to try out. Looking forward to trying some out soon!