Amazing Writing Machine inspires kids to write by making it easy for them to publish their own creations. For those with a case of writer’s block. Spin mode offers finished documents with phrases kids can alter by selecting predefined phrases or typing their own. In Write mode, more-creative kids can start from scratch on their own essay, letter, story, poem, or lockable journal
Each option has tools for layout, drawing, painting, editing, adding electronic rubber stamps and rebus symbols, encoding text — even having robots read it aloud! Noisy Typing — sounds that parents will be relieved to find can be turned off — gives fun, audible feedback for the junior user.
A Bright Ideas tool offers quotes, jokes, trivia, and topical word lists; Bramstorm gives prompts to spark ideas.
The Goodies menu is a goody. It includes an InfoSaurus to help kids find rhyming words, a rubber-stamp editor, and an address book with an extensive built-in database of people and organizations willing to receive letters from children. Kids can add their friends’ addresses easily.
Amazing Writing Machine makes use of your existing TrueType fonts and Kid Pix stamps. You can import graphics in PICT form, but there are limitations in placing them, especially in some specialshaped layouts.
Although Amazing Writing Machine offers several print options, we couldn't always get the selection we wanted. The program insisted on printing a journal cover, for example, even for a single entry. And despite its colorful on-screen graphics, Amazing Writing Machine can't print text in color.
Minnick, Dave; Minnick, Robin. (June 1996). Amazing Writing Machine and Alien Tales. Macworld. (pg. 56).