Drawing on her experience as a librarian and writer, Sarah Ellis has assembled a fun collection of anecdotes, tidbits, and activities to inspire and inform the young writer. She describes how Robert Louis Stevenson found inspiration for Treasure Island in a bowl of porridge, and encourages readers to plan their own island adventure. She shows how to put new life into correspondence (even thank-you notes) by studying the letters of the great writers of children's literature. Keeping a dream journal, cutting out intriguing clippings, starting a story file, and rewriting a fairy tale are among the inventive activities in The Young Writer's Companion.