Darcy Pattison's blog has a bit today from an ebook called Nail Your Novel (just in time for NaNoWriMo). It's about how to read the rejections you get from editors.I loved this line: Persistence. The publishing world is full of tales of how our biggest literary stars just plugged away until they got their break.... Continue Reading →
Does writing scare you?
Every so often I come across a blog post or essay that changes the way I think about something. This bit from Wordplay: the Writing Life is one such example. Before reading this, I used to be afraid of feeling afraid--and it was one of those things that made it really hard to start writing... Continue Reading →
Great interview with Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo is author of several wonderful books. Among them: the Mercy Watson series, Because of Winn Dixie, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and The Tale of Despereaux. She has a new book out called The Magician's Elephant (and she was just at the Seattle Public Library).Cynthia Leitich-Smith interviews her at her blog, Cynsations.... Continue Reading →
Then what? Carrie Jones essay on Hunger Mountain
Hunger Mountain is the literary journal of Vermont College, and it's a really enjoyable read for the likes of us. Check out Carrie Jones's essay on why she writes fantasy: It’s all Bigfoot’s fault. I wanted to find him. Every day when I was a kid, I’d rush through my homework, breeze through a call... Continue Reading →
Cheryl Klein on characters
Cheryl's blog has a great list of things we need to think about when we're building characters. It comes from Joan Bauer, and includes: ESSENCE1. Facts-- Gender-- Age-- Ethnicity-- Sexuality-- Basic family situation+ Who's in the immediate family+ Their socioeconomic status?-- Where they live+ Rural, suburban, urban?+ Region and country2. Internal Qualities-- Personality traits-- Ethics/morals/values--... Continue Reading →
Meg and Allyson: story sleuths
Meg Lippert and Allyson Valentine Schrier have launched a new blog that should be really helpful for all of us trying to figure out what makes a great book tick:Story Sleuths Goes Online! What happens when you mix two children's writers with the books they love to read? Story Sleuths--where Meg Lippert and Allyson Valentine... Continue Reading →
Word count for novels and children’s books
Chuck Sambuchino has what he calls the definitive post on word counts for children's books and novels. The most important thing here is to realize that there are always exceptions to these rules. And man, people love to point out exceptions - and they always will. However, if there is one thing I remember from... Continue Reading →
Darcy Pattison’s retreat wrapup
Darcy Pattision writes: "At the AR-SCBWI fall retreat this weekend, Alexandra Penfold, Associate Editor of S&S took us through a discussion of first pages of our novel mss. She commented on the pages, then opened the discussion for other comments or questions. Here are some observations on the discussions (Note: these should in no way... Continue Reading →
Another take on novel revisions
Jennifer Jensen has a sensible approach in her article on Suite 101: - focus first on the structure- move to the supporting elements- hone in on details and line-editingThe full story is here.Thanks to Gail Martini-Peterson for the link.