Looking for a good book about the craft of writing? You’ll probably find one on my book shelves. Geez, I’ve collected quite a library of how-to books. You’ll note that some of these titles aim to improve writing conventions; some are geared to the researcher; some are geared to fiction; others are geared to the… Read more »
I recently submitted a NF manuscript to a few agents. Twenty-four hours later, a new worry crept into my mind. I hadn’t included an Author’s Note with my submission. I had followed the agents’ guidelines, keeping my query and cover letters to one page. I certainly didn’t want to add word count and pages to… Read more »
In a previous post, I mentioned the importance of having a fresh angle when writing nonfiction picture books. You might think historical subjects like George Washington, Charles Darwin, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, and Frida Kahlo have been “overdone.” Here are a few titles that remind us of the remarkable and little known chapters… Read more »
What inspires your stories? Our imaginations are constantly bombarded, yet it takes but one little fact to grab us, holding us hostage until we pay it’s artful ransom. When that nugget of inspiration strikes, we must listen. When truth pulses as a nucleus, our job is to take dictation, building a form around it as… Read more »
Pictures + Story = Picture book. Sounds easy, right? Writers hear it all the time.” Show don’t tell.” Paint images with your words so that the reader visualizes the characters, the setting, the detail. There’s nothing better than picking up a novel or chapter book with such vivid language that the reader feels he/she is… Read more »
So far, in this blog series, I’ve explored some distinct challenges facing nonfiction picture book writers including word count, language/word choice, and focus/angle. But that’s just the beginning. The more I study nonfiction titles in the pursuit of helping my own writing, the more I recognize the importance of theme. In his best selling book,… Read more »
DEAR READER, THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL FIND SOME POSTS THAT WERE WRITTEN MORE THAN A DECADE ACO. REMEMBER THAT MY EXPERTISE HAS CHANGED IN THAT TIME, INDUSTRY STANDARDS HAVE CHANGED, AND BOOKS HAVE CHANGED, TOO. IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO READ MORE CURRENT ARTICLES ON CRAFT AND USE… Read more »
Nonfiction picture books are written with great intention. By that, I mean that everything from the illustration to word choice paints a picture that truthfully depicts something about the subject. A life fully lived is fraught with a roller coaster of human experiences. It makes sense that the particular focus or angle a writer chooses,… Read more »
For the past nine months or so, I’ve dug deeply into the structure, tone, focus, and storytelling techniques of hundreds of nonfiction picture book biographies. Picture book writing is itself an incredible challenge, but telling a true story in a compelling and creative way, with very few words, is a unique art. I thought it… Read more »
Our Austin SCBWI chapter has gone through some radical and exciting changes of late. One such change is my new role as critique group coordinator. Though we’ve tried to put people together in the past, this is a new, more formalized program. My first line of business has been to establish suggested guidelines and tips… Read more »
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