THE WRITER'S TOOLBOX

THE WRITER'S TOOLBOX is an attempt by the self-styled "Author's Advocate" to create a workshop experience using recorded audio. She does this with the pedagogically sound use of dialectics--questions and answers between a student and teacher. Unfortunately, the dialogue is forced, in the style of 1950s educational films. The packaging is confusing: Labels on half of the tapes appear only on the "B" side of the cassettes, and are labeled as Tapes 2, 3, 4, and 5, without any explanation of what happened to Tape 1. There's plenty of useful advice and helpful lessons in this "toolbox," topics that include character, voice, beginnings, and plot, but these lessons are marred by awkward performances. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB / MAR 03]