The author of Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine, has written a how-to-guide for students 10 and up.  Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly. Newsweek says,

“The book’s advice covers the basics: add a mixture of narrative and dialogue; don’t solve all the problems until the end; pay attention to details. But Levine makes it fun, with suggestions like ‘make your hero suffer’…and with exercises that asks kids to ‘turn someone you dislike into an animal’. She encourages kids to write things they’d enjoy reading - and not to listen to naysayers.

In conclusion, Newsweek’s Karen Springen says, “Levine’s followers may not end up writing the next great American novel, but they should have fun while trying. And that, parents can agree, really is magic”.                                                                            Newsweek, September 25, 2006 - p. 11.