Darcy Pattison
High-Concept Non-Fiction for Teens
My interview with non-fiction author, Carla McClafferty is now up on the Wow-Women on Writing website. Carla answers questions about how she develops her non-fiction trade books by using the idea of high-concepts.
AR Teen Book Award, Gr.7-9, Opening Lines
I hail from Arkansas and until now, we’ve been known for the Clinton Presidential Library, the US’s only diamond mine (Crater of Diamonds State Park), and the headquarters of Wal-Mart. But this year we’ll be known for the Arkansas Teen Book Award, established by Arkansas Librarians. (Facebook page.) The reading list was announced in December, [...]
Opening Lines
12 Ways to Start a Novel
First lines. We all obsess over our novel’s first lines, and rightly so, because from it the rest of the story must flow naturally and without a pause. Here are 10 strategies to use on first lines for your novel. I’ve illustrated them with the “100 Best Lines from Novels,” [...]
More on Skype an Author
Connect with Authors Through Skype
One site that quickly gained popularity this year is the Skype an Author, a Wetpaint site, billed at the key to Virtual Author Visits in Your Library or Classroom. Set up by Sarah Chauncey of the Grandview Elementary School Library in Rockland County, NY schools and author Mona Kirby, it [...]
Online Author Chats
Online Author Chats – A New Learning Experience
Guest Post by Catherine Balkin
Author Appearances Down. I’ve been arranging author appearances in schools and libraries for about 20 years and, a few months ago, I was sitting at my desk, lamenting their recent slump. With the economic downturn, school and library budgets have been cut right and [...]
Friday Tips
Friday Tips
Sometimes small thing accumulate and there are small tips to pass along. Here are a couple.
Read the editor’s letter CAREFULLY:
Because I’m in between novels and not-yet-committed to the new one, I’ve been doing some freelance projects to fill the time, earn a bit, and look for new opportunities. I’ve had one editor interested [...]
Revise: Remember the 4 Sources of Conflict
Conflict, the type that motivates and moves a plot, comes from four sources.
Yesterday, an editor asked for revisions on a very short piece which was meant for a kindergarten or first grade audience. The editor didn’t like the competitiveness between siblings. But when she contemplated taking out that conflict, she correctly understood that the story [...]
The Lonely Brainstormer
Searching for the Right Ideas
Brainstorming, created by advertising genius Alex Osborn, is meant to be a group activity, a way to encourage everyone to participate. It’s usually set up with rules that encourage ideas, even if they are wild, while discouraging any negative comments which might stem the flow of ideas. What it encourages is [...]
Enrich a Story Plot
Last week I was wondering if I could combine two plots into one. One idea was for an Event and one for Characters. While I still think they could have meshed, the character story took off on it’s own into a short story.
Now the question is what to do with the Event idea, how to [...]
Copyright Questions Answered: copyright.gov
Do you have copyright questions? Go straight to the horse’s mouth.
Copyright.gov has Resources to Answer Questions
The US Copyright office tries to make it easy for you to understand the sometimes-complicated issues of copyright in the US. Here are some of the circulars (free pdf downloads about a certain topic).
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- 30 Days to Stronger Characters
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- 30 Days to a Stronger Novel
- Novel Diagnosis Series
- 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book
- Psychology of Revision