Fiction Notes

Tag: first

  • Choose the Right Point of View

    It’s a basic question: what is point of view and when do you use which point of view (or POV) in a novel? Point of view refers to the basic outlook of your story, who narrates it. First-person POV is firmly in a character’s head and told as if the character was narrating the action. […]

  • 9 Tips on Opening Lines & Opening Chapters of Your NaNoWriMo Novel

    If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month, you’ll be starting at midnight tonight or first thing in the morning. You’ll be opening your story with a great scene, right? Here are resources for those first lines, opening chapters of your novel. 10 Opening Line Strategies, illustrated with the top 100 opening lines of […]

  • Dummies and Prairies

    YA for Dummies and Prairie Storms What sounds does a ground hog make? An earless lizard? A burrowing owl? Six months ago, I had no idea! When I decided to create a book trailer for my forthcoming book, PRAIRIE STORMS, I knew I wanted something fun and useful for kids, parents and educators. We know […]

  • Mentor Texts: Novels to Learn From

    I’m finally — after two major life events, a grandchild and my daughter’s wedding — ready to start a new novel. I’ve found two mentor texts that I’m hoping will show me something about how to proceed. Novels to Imitate and Learn From Educators often use mentor texts when teaching writing to kids. The idea […]

  • First Contract Advice

    Last weekend, I was in Chandler, Oklahoma, a sleepy little town on the old Route 66. I didn’t get much sleep, though, because I was there to teach a Picture Book Retreat. Here are reports from Sara, Susan Meyers, and Leeth. Also, check out the Okie Book Woman, who added lots of photos of the […]

  • Write the First Draft of a Picture Book

    Write a Story To write the first draft of a picture book text, just write a story. That’s is. Just like you would normally write any story. Keep in mind that you want it to be short and you’ll leae visual details to the illustrator, but, otherwise, write the story. Don’t Worry About These 3 […]