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7 Children’s Picture Book Manuscripts in 7 Days I’m taking the 7 in 7 picture book challenge. Report on 7 in 7 for the first week of May, 2009 Overall: This was an interesting exercise that I’d like to repeat in a slower month, not May. Why is the Nanowrimo in November and this had [...]
10 Ways to Start the Process of Re-Envisioning How do you start revisions? You’ve got a great draft, and it’s pretty settled in your mind that this is how the story happens. BUT, readers aren’t thrilled with it. Editors and agents pass it by with a nice personal letter. Great, you think. There’s something here, [...]
I’ve been catching up reading the blogs of others, mostly those who labor to create novels, picture books and stories for kids. Here are a few interesting posts: The Crazy Blond writes a poignant post on mothering a foster child. Is it true? 7% more adults are reading literature? Even young adults are reading novels? [...]
There is such unexpected power and exhilaration about seeing any child taking so much joy from a book. It never grows old.
Criteria for choosing scenes to include in your novel:
Creative writing tips, courtesy of the season: Peppermints! When you add sensory details to a story, the most common is visual details. The two most neglected are olfactory (smell) and gustatory (taste). Flavors of the season are peppermint, cinnamon and cloves. Gifts! Give your character something to hold in his/her hands. It’s one of the [...]
NaNoWriMo is in full swing! That means over 50,000 writers are slugging out 50,000 words, working on the first draft of a novel, in the 30 days of November. But I’m thinking ahead to December when that first rough draft needs revision. Here are 3 things to keep in mind as you’re writing that first [...]
Distinguished American Fantasy 10/15/2008 update: The Underneath has been nominated for a National Book Award for Young People’s Literature! Winners will be announced on November 19, 2008. There has been much discussion of The Underneath by Kathi Appelt as a possible candidate for the Newbery Award this year. I believe it’s a strong candidate because [...]
After you’ve written the first draft of the picture book, let it cool off a week. While it’s cooling off, I’ll cover a few other things about audience and dealing with illustrations. Then, we’ll get to the fun part, revising the picture book. The Child as the Audience Remember that the audience for picture books [...]
When do you start revising your novel? I start by revising the first draft of my novel’s plot outline, synopsis or treatment. Revise Early and Late As soon as I’ve written the first sketchy outlines of a novel, I’m revising. I’m looking for many things: Does the climax resolve the setup? Are the main characters [...]
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