September 28 – September 30, 2018, I spent the weekend at the SCBWI Carolinas “Word and Line” conference. The weekend was filled with craft, networking, and catching up with fellow writers and Pennies. But you know the feeling you get after spending a week or weekend at a workshop or conference filling your mind with ideas, tips, inspiration, and motivation? It’s a little exhaustion, a … Continue reading Conferences – Sharing What I Learn
Laurel Decher is an author and writer for The Winged Pen. We are very excited to share her story, TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, learn about her writing process, and decision to self-publish. When you’re 15th in line to the throne, it’s hard to make a name for yourself. The youngest princess of Cochem still needs a christening and she’s ten. She can’t get a word in … Continue reading Laurel Decher Talks TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS and Self-Publishing
Writers frequently hear that one of the most important things they can do to improve their craft is to read. Read in their genre. Read broadly. Read critically. Today I’m going to ask writers to consider going one step further. Don’t just read, but to serve as a judge for a book award. Judging a book award forces you to read A LOT over a … Continue reading 6 Reasons Writers Should Judge a Book Award Such as the CYBILS [Updated 2020]
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. Last time, we posted some tips for drafting a query. This week, we’re tackling the dreaded synopsis. Numerous resources exist for how to write a synopsis. Any writer … Continue reading MYC The Dread Pirate Synopsis: Into the Shallows
So you’ve finished your book, polished and pruned and read it through a few million times. What do you do now? The Winged Pen’s Master Your Craft (#WPMYC) Series is back to guide you through all the hard work that comes after you finally complete your novel. Next week, we’ll be tackling the very first question you should ask yourself when you’ve revised as much … Continue reading It’s BACK! Master Your Craft Returns
I’m working on revising one novel and pre-writing another, and one thing keeps coming up with both projects: friendship. I have two teen daughters, and I can tell you that EVERYTHING revolves around friends. And I remember that from my own teenage years – friendships were all-consuming, intense, up and down, and central to my daily life. So as I’ve worked on these two projects, … Continue reading The Magic of Friendship
I’ve been writing love letters to books that shaped me, as a person and as a writer, and for this month, it’s Karen Foxlee’s Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy. I so enjoyed this book, a dreamy and beautiful retelling of the Snow Queen. What I want to talk about today, though, is how it influenced my writing. I write contemporary fantasies, and love to come … Continue reading Dear Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy
We spend a lot of time writing our own thoughts here at The Winged Pen. But there are a ton of other blogs and sites we visit for inspiration. So we wanted to give a shout-out to some of the informative, motivating and moving articles we’ve read in the last few weeks. Join us on our first-ever blogosphere road trip! On Craft Tips on writing … Continue reading Road Trip!
For the last couple of years, every time one of my writer pals would ask me what I was working on, the answer was the same breezy, “Oh, I’m still plugging away on that rockstar mom book I told you about ages ago.” I’m pretty sure that more than a few of them wondered if I shouldn’t just give it up and move on to … Continue reading How to Survive Your Toughest Draft
The end of the year is close. When I changed the calendar from October to November, I felt as if I wasted the entire year. Of course I spent too much time on social media, binge-watched several TV shows, and stood for what seemed like hours in front of the coffee machine waiting for the cup to fill, but as far as writing, what exactly … Continue reading What Did I Do in 2017?
Welcome to The Winged Pen, Kara! Thank you for taking the time to talk with us about Writing About Native Americans. I know many readers/writers in my circle are eager to learn more about this topic. Tell us a little about yourself and your passion for Native American Literature, especially for children. Kara: I’ve been a Literacy Coach and Reading Specialist in the public schools … Continue reading Writing About Native Americans: A Diversity Conversation with Kara Stewart
