'Children’s writing' Category
SCBWI Blog Prompt
The Facebook group, Fans of SCBWI, has started offering blog prompts to assist and encourage kidlit writers who blog. Naturally, I consider this both a game and a challenge. Here’s the first prompt: Pick a successful writer/illustrator, whether you like their work or not, and write a blog post about what other writers or illustrators [...]
WriteOnCon
At last! “Attend a writers’ conference,” is advice given to successful, unsuccessful, and wannabe kidlit authors. I’ve attended conferences in GA, PA, NY, OH, OR, and who-knows-where-else. For three years, I helped organize conference events for our Alaska region of SCBWI (that’s the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). Conferences for our region are [...]
Literacy: Off the Beaten Path
A puzzle book filled with natural history facts, jokes, and images of Alaska. The Share a Story, Shape a Future theme today is Literacy Your Way, Literacy My Way. As the theme suggests, there is more than one path to literacy. Reading with kids may be the expressway, but there are scenic byways that offer [...]
The Cybils
The 2009 Cybils winners were announced on Sunday. The Cybils are Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards. The reading public nominates books, and the bloggers choose the winners. Cybils winners automatically go on my Recommended Reading list. I tend to think these are the real cream of the crop, that of all the kidlit [...]
New Ambassador Announced
Jon Scieszka completed his two-year term as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature yesterday. I’ve oohed and ahhed and sighed over Jon Scieszka here before. I love his Math Curse and Science Verse books, in particular, and appreciate the sophistication he gets away with in his work for kids. He knows kids are smart, he [...]
Plotting Along
A couple of days ago, while I was pulling out pieces of the NaNo novel and seeing how they might fit together, I attempted a plot outline. A simple big-picture sort of thing. I made several attempts at similar things throughout the month, with poor to moderate success. All of a sudden, this time, the [...]
AK Puzzle Bears Holiday Offer
We got a call today from our friend, Fred, in PA. (Yes, that’s DBL Fred for friends who know him.) He was holiday shopping and wanted to give the Alaska’s Puzzle Bears book to two of the kids on his list. Since these are only available in choice Alaska souvenir shops, and since we can’t [...]
No Mo NaNo
Sigh. It’s over. November has become one of my favorite months, and it’s all because of NaNoWriMo. Yes, I could do the same thing on my own any time of year, and to some extent I do. I even have writing friends who play the silly novel-writing game with me year-round. It doesn’t matter. I [...]
BeNaNoWriMo Update
The BeNaNoWriMo word count goal is officially raised from 25,000 to 35,000. You see, Becca’s getting some help.While Becca’s at work all day, Ninja is home whispering clever dialogue and plot twists into the magic Wizard’s hat. When Becca puts it on to do her writing, Ninja’s ideas leak into Becca’s head and out her [...]
NaNo How-To
Writers rave ad nauseam about the writing process and how amazing and powerful it is, how stories and characters take on lives of their own. I admit I get sick of hearing about it. But, dang, I am loving what’s happening as I NaNo. The ideas and characters, the discoveries, the occasional insight, it’s all [...]
, by Ellen Ruppel Shell
, by Elizabeth Strout.
