Things That Make Editors Cringe | Writing for Children 231
Release Date: 01/23/2021
Industry Insider Tips with Hannah Holt | Writng for Children 244
Writing for Children
In this rebroadcast, we talk with Hannah Holt, a children’s author with an engineering degree. Her books, The Diamond & The Boy (Balzer+Bray) and A Father’s Love (Philomel) weave together her love of language and science.
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Four Ways to Learn to Love Nonfiction | Writing for Children 243
Writing for Children
Many writers view nonfiction as less: less creative than fiction, less fun than fiction, less interesting to kids than fiction, and definitely something they want to do less often.
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Launching a Story from a Title | Writing for Children 242
Writing for Children
Chances are you fall into one of two camps when it comes to titles: You either love creating them or you dread it. Thanks to Jan Fields, today we’re going to have some fun creating titles. So much fun your new titles just might launch a new story.
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Top 3 Narrative Nonfiction Missteps | Writing for Children 241
Writing for Children
Nonfiction is basically broken into two broad types. Expository nonfiction describes, explains, and informs. Narrative nonfiction uses story elements to convey a factual experience. Narrative nonfiction tells a story through carefully researched, factual recounting. Not all nonfiction books are strictly expository or strictly narrative. Some in fact contain both, but for now, Jan Fields has given us a lead on common missteps when writing narrative nonfiction.
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Why Entering Contests Helps YOU | Writing for Children 240
Writing for Children
In this rebroadcast, we interview frequent ICL contest judge and longtime instructor Nancy Coffelt. As well as being a multi-published picture book author and illustrator, Nancy is a fine artist and has been showing in galleries across the country since 1984. Her work is included in personal, public and corporate collections around the world. Nancy also writes and illustrates books for children. Her books include Catch That Baby, Fred Stays with Me, and The Big Eclipse.
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8 Tips for Your Writer Website | Writing for Children 239
Writing for Children
Every author needs a website—yes, even if you're not published yet. In the Internet age, your website acts as your online business card for readers and even prospective agents and editors.
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5 Questions About Author Platform | Writing for Children 238
Writing for Children
A while back I sent out a one-question survey. Writers could submit any one question about author platform and marketing. I learned a ton from reading all the questions that were submitted, but there were definitely some common themes. Today, we’re diving into the five most common questions writers have as they start building their platform.
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Interview with Victoria Bond | Writing for Children 237
Writing for Children
Victoria Bond is a writer and professor. Her novel, ZORA AND ME, co-written with T.R. Simon, won the John Steptoe/Coretta Scott King Award for New Talent and was nominated for an Edgar Award in the category of Juvenile Fiction.
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Finding Your Childlike Voice | Writing for Children 236
Writing for Children
Voice is the number one thing that can make or break your children’s story. Readers love dialogue. It lightens the page, making the whole story feel easier to read. It allows us to hear the characters directly, helping us to know them. And it is often the best place to sprinkle in some tasty humor. Unfortunately, it's also one of the quickest ways to lose the reader. In this rebroadcast, we're discussing three ways to find your character's childlike voice.
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Authentic Kid Voices | Writing for Children 235
Writing for Children
A while ago on the Institute's Facebook page, someone was asking about dialogue, which made me think again about this important writing tool. Readers love dialogue because it makes a scene and a character come to life. Dialogue puts us into a specific moment within a story and that's a powerful thing for readers. But many writers struggle with dialogue and with making it feel lively, purposeful, and real. So what should you do first in the pursuit of good dialogue?
info_outlineTHINGS THAT MAKE EDITORS CRINGE
Nobody wants to make an editor (or anyone) cringe when they read your manuscript. Inspired by a post from Jamie K. Schmidt, we’re covering 10 things that make editors cringe with tips to avoid them. Be sure to head to writingforchildren.com/231 to download the show notes because many of these tips will be easier to see in writing.
Everybody knows to use spellcheck or Grammarly when going over their writing. However, the following mistakes aren’t generally caught by these two programs. And if you want to stop an editor’s eyes from rolling to the back of her head, you should check your writing for the errors we're talking about today.