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Never Visited a Place? You Can Still Writing About It – Here’s the Secret!
Two years ago, I wanted to write a story set in Campinas, Sao Paolo, Brazil. I had never been there. I only knew the name of two people who lived there. Yet, I could convincingly write about the setting. Here’s the secret. Google Earth The free app, Google Earth, is immensely helpful to writers. I […]
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Revising a Picture Book: Length, Common Core, Details and Research
I just did a quick revision of a picture book that’s in progress. Shorter. One goal was to shorten the story whenever possible. I cut out an entire page, and an entire sentence. Doesn’t sound like much? At only 700 words, the story is as streamlined as I can make it. Well, no. I just […]
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NonFiction Picture Books: Research Required
How much research do you need to do for a children’s nonfiction picture book? Tons! Nonfiction means that you have the facts straight, ma’am. 3 sources agree. Traditionally, writers look fora at least three sources to back up each piece of information. This means the content isn’t just a personal opinion or a poorly researched […]
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Where Did the Summer Go?
Where did July and August go? Computer Woes. First, my server has been wonky for the last two weeks–apologies. If you have any difficulty getting to pages, please send me an email so I can straighten it out (darcy at darcypattison dot com). Travel. For me, this summer included a great two-week trip to China. […]
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Envelopes for Acts
Searching for Plot Events I’m evaluating the outline for my WIP novel and realize that I need more events. It takes place at one big event that spans 98 hours. Within that time period, though, I need some exciting things happening. I’ve sorta mapped out the emotional changes (Wow, what a change for me!), but […]