From Theme to Story: Turning Abstract Ideas into Specific Stories
Themes are the big ideas that give stories depth and meaning...
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Mining Childhood Memories for Story Gold
The best picture books resonate because they capture universal truths about childhood. One way to tap into these truths is by mining...
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What If? The Golden Question for Picture Book Ideas
One of the best tools for developing picture book ideas is the question "What if?" This simple phrase unlocks endless possibilities for...
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Backstory Basics
Backstory can be essential to understanding a character and his/her journey. It can deepen conflict, reveal motivation and elicit sympathy for a...
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Manuscript Mentoring: The Children’s Lit Fellows Program
“What I need is someone who will make me do what I can.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Would you like to finish a...
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Is it YA or Middle Grade?
Many aspiring children's book authors are confused about the difference between young adult (YA) and middle grade novels. Aren't all teens and...
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Secondary Characters
Whether your manuscript is a picture book or novel, it can be tempting to create a wide variety of supporting characters to...
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Editing with a Jewelers Loupe
I had the privilege and pleasure of interviewing middle grade and YA author Maryrose Wood last night for our Wednesday night Writers...
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Pay No Attention to That Writer Behind the Curtain!
One of my favorite speakers at the 2013 SCBWI winter conference was Mo Willems. No surprise, he’s also one of my favorite...
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The Series Series, Part 5: Tracking Settings
In the last post, we looked at building, developing and maintaining the continuity of characters within a series. Now let’s look at...
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