How We Read & What’s On My Nightstand
Ahhhh, the dog days of summer. Heat like syrup. Thunder rolls. Falling into the soft, ink-scented comforts of a good story, told well. If you’re anything like me though, summer rolls through your life with the speed of a locomotive, and your only chance to slow it down is to throw a beach towel across the tracks and derail that sucker. Still. Every year, I … Continue reading How We Read & What’s On My Nightstand
Sophie’s Squash Go to School! (An Interview with Pat Zietlow Miller)
Fans of Pat Zietlow Miller’s picture book, Sophie’s Squash, will be thrilled to hear that the sequel, Sophie’s Squash Go to School, releases on June 28th. Today, Pat, my friend and former neighbor, joins us to talk about her work. Pat, welcome to The Winged Pen! Sophie’s Squash is a humorous but poignant story of friendship and devotion. Tell us about Sophie’s Squash Go to … Continue reading Sophie’s Squash Go to School! (An Interview with Pat Zietlow Miller)
Untangling Your Characters
I love character motivation! When done right, it gives stories depth and texture and makes the characters seem like real people. I also hate character motivation! Sometimes I just want to get my characters from point A to point B in my story without having to worry about why. But if you want to write books with characters that people hate to part with, then … Continue reading Untangling Your Characters
Summer School is Cool!
Today I am THRILLED, THRILLED, THRILLED, to tell you about summer school! WHAAAT? Summer school? Yep. Summer school for KidLit writers. I’m proud to say that I’m a third year, so I know my way around. I can tell you what to do if you forget your homework and, even better, how to win prizes. Yep, I won a nice prize pack last summer, a half-dozen lovely books. … Continue reading Summer School is Cool!
The Setting Thesaurus Books Are Here: Help Becca And Angela Celebrate!
Today we’re excited to host a guest post by Angela Ackerman! There’s nothing better than becoming lost within the story world within minutes of starting a book. And as writers, this is what we’re striving to do: pull the reader in, pull them down deep into the words, make them feel like they are experiencing the story right alongside the hero or heroine. A big … Continue reading The Setting Thesaurus Books Are Here: Help Becca And Angela Celebrate!
Kids Talk Back: The Book Police
Last week, author Kate Messner wrote about being disinvited to a school talk in Vermont because the content of her book THE SEVENTH WISH — a story dealing with the impacts of drug addiction on a family — was deemed too difficult to discuss with the students. In an update on her blog, Messner reports getting an email from a school librarian who canceled the school’s … Continue reading Kids Talk Back: The Book Police
Write Believable Heroes, Villains, and Emotions with The Positive/Negative Trait Thesauri and The Emotion Thesaurus
Rebecca: The Emotion Thesaurus has had its own special place on my writing desk for so long, I had to look on Goodreads to see when I’d first read it. January 1, 2014. I’ve been using it for a while. When I first started using the book, it opened my eyes to conveying emotions through actions. Well, okay, I used the easy ones all the time. … Continue reading Write Believable Heroes, Villains, and Emotions with The Positive/Negative Trait Thesauri and The Emotion Thesaurus
Why You Need to Try Writing Prompts
I’ve never really been one for writing prompts. Like everyone else, I am busy, and so have always felt the writing time I had needed to be as productive as humanly possible. If I wasn’t adding to my word count, I was wasting time. It will probably come as no surprise to those of you who have been writing for a while that I got … Continue reading Why You Need to Try Writing Prompts
8 on Eight: June Contest Feedback
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 June 30th. Below, we’ve posted the first 8 lines from this month’s winner, … Continue reading 8 on Eight: June Contest Feedback
5 YA Novels Exploring Graffiti Art
Graffiti or street art is often a misunderstood medium of self-expression and public dialogue. This is true maybe because traditional art is often portrayed as a mysterious world that few people have access to or can afford. With street art, the gallery is in the street and it is wildly accessible. It is a medley of cultures and a medley of rough, passionate expressions. Because … Continue reading 5 YA Novels Exploring Graffiti Art
Write a KILLER BOOK PITCH!
So you’ve spent a bazillion hours writing the GREATEST NOVEL EVER. Every word is spelled correctly. Every comma has been checked. Every em dash is used appropriately. You’ve filtered for over-used words. And, of course, you’ve crafted a Killer First Line. Your book is ready to sell! Congrats!!! Pitch it to me! If you’re like me, your tongue goes dry, you start to shake, and … Continue reading Write a KILLER BOOK PITCH!
The 8 on Eight Contest Window is Open!
Fellow writers! The 8 on Eight contest window is OPEN! Q: I must have missed the announcement. What is 8 on Eight? A monthly contest that provides one lucky kidlit writer with feedback on their opening eight lines! As part of our ongoing mission to support writers, we’ll give a PB, MG, or YA writer feedback on their work from at least 8 of The Winged Pen’s contributors. … Continue reading The 8 on Eight Contest Window is Open!