Tag: Writing Tips

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

Tasting Your Words: Writing with Your 5 Senses

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 Ten Steps to Tightening. This week, we’ll discuss Tasting Your Words: Writing with Your 5 Senses. We are physical beings who experience life on this planet through our five senses. It’s true that our minds love to time-travel, … Continue reading Tasting Your Words: Writing with Your 5 Senses

Karin Lefranc3 Comments
Master Your Craft

MYC: Tightening

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 Sentence, Paragraph, Chapter, and Story Length. This week, we’ll discuss Ten Steps to Tightening. One of the important steps in the revision process is tightening. This is a multi-level, multi-step process, but oh so important to make your … Continue reading MYC: Tightening

Michelle Leonard1 Comment
Author, Creativity and Craft, Interviews, Writer's Life

A New Writing Podcast! MOM WRITES: THE DIRTY LAUNDRY ABOUT WRITING WITH KIDS

I subscribe to Jennie Nash’s newsletter and read her blog posts. She’s an instructor at the UCLA Extension Writing Program; the founder of Author Accelerator, a book coaching company; and generally a smart lady. So when I read that she was involved in a new writing podcast I wanted it to know what it was about. Mom Writes: The Dirty Laundry about Writing with Kids … Continue reading A New Writing Podcast! MOM WRITES: THE DIRTY LAUNDRY ABOUT WRITING WITH KIDS

Rebecca J. Allen1 Comment
Creativity and Craft

Coming Back After a Writing Hiatus

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

Jessica VitalisLeave a comment
image shows middle grade and young adult fiction books open with text face out
Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

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 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

Julie Artz1 Comment
Creativity and Craft

Are There Genres in Picture Books?

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?

Karin Lefranc2 Comments
Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Pacing and Tension: The Heartbeat of Your Story

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

Karin LefrancLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Creativity and Craft

Pixar, CREATIVITY, INC., and Learning How to Fail

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

Richelle Morgan5 Comments
image shows middle grade and young adult fiction books open with text face out
Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

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 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

Richelle Morgan3 Comments
Book Recommendations, Creativity and Craft, Interviews, Middle Grade, Writer's Life

NYTimes Author Alan Gratz talks about REFUGEE and BAN THIS BOOK

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

Michelle Leonard1 Comment
Creativity and Craft

8 Tips for Writing Picture Books

Writing picture books is hard. It doesn’t matter if you’ve written one or one hundred, just ask Jane Yolen or Mo Willems or John Klassen. But good news is if you keep writing and reading picture books, you will get better! Don’t think your way into your story–feel your way in. Instead of seeing your characters as separate, become your character. For example, if you’re writing … Continue reading 8 Tips for Writing Picture Books

Karin LefrancLeave a comment
Master Your Craft
Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Setting as a Character

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 research with Notes from a Time Traveler  This week we are talking about setting, but not just as a background for your character. We’re going to look at setting as a character in itself.We move … Continue reading MYC: Setting as a Character

Halli Gomez1 Comment