Pitch Wars is here! The excitement is spreading through social media as hopeful mentees ignore their laundry, home-cooked meals, and the clock as they get their manuscripts ready. Mentors are also getting ready by putting on their reading glasses, grabbing their red pens, and stocking up on coffee and tea. The lucky mentor-mentee pairs will work together to get the full manuscript ready for the … Continue reading Let’s Meet the Pitch Wars Mentors!
Welcome to a bonus Master Your Craft post! We’ll still have our regular post Wednesday, and in the meantime… Chapter endings are like fish hooks. A hook alone can catch a fish, but it’s easier with a worm. So what lure can you use to entice readers to take the bait and keep turning pages? Two good options are “contagious” emotions and the sometimes-misunderstood cliffhanger. In Jonah … Continue reading MYC: Chapter Endings, The End is Only the Beginning
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss writing a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Now we’re working on what to do once you’ve actually finished your book. Get caught up on last week’s post on researching agents before you check out … Continue reading MYC: Querying Strategy
Thank you to all the brave souls who entered this month’s Four on 400 contest! Sharing your writing takes courage, and we appreciate your enthusiasm for our contest.Below, we’ve posted the first 400 words from this month’s winner, along with feedback from at least four of our members. We also encourage our readers to share their (constructive) suggestions and encouragement in the comments section below. MG Fantasy, JAMES … Continue reading Four on 400 November Contest Feedback!
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series with an introductory post on research. This week, we’ll share our thoughts on digging into historical research. For years I was haunted by a dream of a young woman walking through long grass. I couldn’t see her face, … Continue reading Writing Historical Fiction, or, Notes from a Time Traveler
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. (For more information, see last week’s intro post.) This week, I’ll discuss The Big Idea. So you’re ready to write a novel. You’ve got a character, maybe a scene, a vague idea of the plot…you’re ready to sit down and start writing, right? … Continue reading Master Your Craft: The Big Idea
Cross-pollination: the transfer of pollen from one type of plant to another type of plant of the same species, often by insects or wind. When you’re working really hard on a writing project, tunnel vision can creep in. It makes sense. Your life is busy, the publishing industry is slow, and you need to finish your book yesterday. So if you have time to do … Continue reading Creative Cross-Pollination
We are thrilled to have on the blog today Julie Leung, a debut author whose middle grade novel releases on October 4th. MICE OF THE ROUNDTABLE: A TAIL OF CAMELOT is an epic new middle grade series in the tradition of Redwall and Poppy, based on Arthurian legend and told from the perspective of Camelot’s most humble creatures: mice. Young mouse Calib Christopher dreams of becoming … Continue reading Author Interview–Julie Leung
Thank you to all the brave souls who entered this month’s 8 on Eight contest! Sharing your writing takes courage, and we appreciate your enthusiasm for our contest. If your name wasn’t drawn from the Triwizard cup this time around, keep an eye out for when our next contest window opens at 8 PM on August 31st. Below, we’ve posted the first 8 lines from … Continue reading 8 on Eight: August Contest Feedback
Laurel joked on Twitter, “I kind of hate to tell other writers that our @WingedPen CP’s are #PitchWars mentors. I mean, they’re a trade secret!” I agree! But they are so generous to donate their time and wisdom to helping other writers get through a major manuscript revision. So, all of us at The Winged Pen want to make sure everyone knows how awesome they … Continue reading Meet The Winged Pen’s Pitch Wars Mentors
Some fellow Pennies and I recently attended the New England SCBWI Conference. New England’s is the largest SCBWI regional conference; this year there were 699 attendees. Despite its size, the conference had the feel of a family reunion, punctuated with many shrieks of recognition and tackle hugs. When individual members were honored with awards, the collective joy and pride in the room was palpable. In … Continue reading Wisdom from the New England SCBWI Conference
