Does life ever get in the way of your writing? It does for me, and never more so than during my recent move from Georgia to Canada. With all of the logistics that came with moving a family internationally, I was forced to set aside my writing for a period of more months than I care to admit. It wasn’t until after we were settled … Continue reading Coming Back After a Writing Hiatus
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 on revision with Dynamic Dialogue. This week, we’re diving in to how to revise your world-building. Building a world is a lot like building a life. There are a lot of ways to do it. For me, … Continue reading MYC: Revising A World
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 on revision with Editing the Big Picture. This week, we’re diving in to crafting dynamic dialogue. Are your readers complaining of stilted dialogue, too many monologues, or not enough “voice” in your characters’ spoken words? If yes, you … Continue reading MYC: Dynamic Dialogue
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 talked about the importance of Writing with Emotion. This week, we’re stepping back and looking at the Big Picture. One thing this MYC series has taught me over the last few weeks is that there is no one way to write … Continue reading MYC: Editing the Big Picture
We always talk about genres in novels, but what about in picture books? Are there any? Are they the same as for novels? Is it even helpful categorizing picture books into genres? It seems to me that picture books can definitely fall into the adventure, mystery, sci-fi, horror (monster books), and fantasy genres, even though we don’t usually do this. Instead, we think of them … Continue reading Are There Genres in Picture Books?
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 talked about the importance of Pacing and Tension. This week, we’re looking at emotion. I don’t know about you, but this topic brings out a lot of emotion because it is so closely tied to the phrase writers love to hate: show … Continue reading MYC: How and When to Write Emotion
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 talked about the importance of letting your manuscript sit. This week, we’re talking about pacing and tension. Pacing and tension are the drivers that have us flipping through the pages from the first chapter through to the last one. … Continue reading MYC: Pacing and Tension: The Heartbeat of Your Story
Failure is not a word I would associate with Pixar. Over the last couple of decades, the animation pioneer has created some of my family’s favorite movies, including Up, Finding Nemo and Toy Story. Not a bad track record! But when I read CREATIVITY, INC. by Ed Catmull, one of the founders of Pixar (with Amy Wallace), failure was one of the recurring themes. Catmull says early on … Continue reading Pixar, CREATIVITY, INC., and Learning How to Fail
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 looked at two Pennies’ thoughts on revising while drafting. This week, we’re talking about the very first step in revising your novel: letting it sit. Congratulations! You’ve written the first draft of your novel! Yay you! Now what? You … Continue reading MYC: Letting it Sit
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 looked at the saggy middle. Today we’re tackling a somewhat controversial subject: revising while drafting. Two of our Pennies sat down and discussed their different approaches to revising your manuscript while you’re still drafting it. Richelle: When I say … Continue reading MYC: Two Opinions on Revising While Drafting
Three gutsy protagonist, three continents, three different time periods. How’s that work? Well, you won’t have to wait much longer to discover how middle-grade author Alan Gratz weaves these interconnecting stories together in a way that Kirkus Reviews has called a “feat nothing short of brilliant.” REFUGEE hit bookstore shelves in July 2017 and made it to the NYTimes best-sellers list for middle grade fiction twice … Continue reading NYTimes Author Alan Gratz talks about REFUGEE and BAN THIS BOOK
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 covered Facing the Blank Page. This week, I’ll discuss the “saggy middle”. Note: Handy list of Master Your Craft topics so far. The “saggy middle” happens to the unsuspecting at any time. Some are struck down during plotting … Continue reading MYC: Two Steps to Make the Saggy Middle Berry, Berry Good
