Tag: reading

Tips for Children’s Books

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[found on dummies.com]

“At some point after you have a solid draft of the children’s book you’re writing, you must begin the editing process. Here’s a quick overview of the salient points to keep in mind.

    • If a sentence doesn’t contribute to plot or character development, delete it.
    • Make sure your characters don’t all sound the same when they speak.
    • If you have a page or more of continuous dialogue, chances are it needs tightening.
    • When changing place or time, or starting a new scene or chapter, provide brief transitions to keep your story moving smoothly.
    • Make sure to keep the pace moving from action to action, scene to scene, chapter to chapter.
    • If you find yourself using a lot of punctuation (!!!), CAPITAL LETTERS, italics, or bold, chances are your words aren’t working hard enough for you.
    • When you can find one word to replace two or more words, do it.
    • Be careful with changing tenses midstream. If your story is told in the past tense, stick with it throughout. If present tense, then stick with that. Be consistent.
    • Watch excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and long descriptive passages.
    • After you choose a point of view for a character, stick to it.
    • If your character hasn’t changed at the end of your story, chances are he isn’t yet fully fleshed out.
    • If your character talks to himself or does a lot of wondering aloud, he needs a friend to talk to.
    • If you’re bored with a character, your reader will be, too.
    • If you can’t tell your story in three well-crafted sentences: the first one covering the beginning, the second one alluding to the climax (the middle), and the last one hinting at the ending — you may not have a complete story yet.
    • If you find yourself overwriting because you’re having trouble expressing exactly what you mean, sit back and say it aloud to yourself, and then try again.”
[found on http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/writing-childrens-books-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html]

How trained are your writing muscles?

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“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”

– Jane Yolen

Is writing hard work? Or magic?

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“People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.”

– Harlan Ellison

Poetry Tools

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Even writers of novels will run across the need to write a poem. Take J.K. Rowling for instance—how many poems and lyrics lace the pages of her hit series Harry Potter?

Here are some quick links to help poets on their journey:
  • RHYMES: Perhaps, you need to find a rhyme that has three syllables, and rhymes on the last two? Even if you just need a quick rhyme for a simple word—this tool is what you need: RhymeZone.
  • THESAURUS: Have you been searching for a different word, it’s on the tip of your tongue, but you just…can’t…reach it? An online thesaurus is what you need: Thesaurus.
  • DICTIONARY: Do you suddenly wonder if that word means what you think it means? Inconceivable! Use an all-encompassing online dictionary: MoreWords.
  • ACROSTIC: Poe used poetry that was mathematic, and shaped. He used acrostic form to a new level. The typical definition is “a series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, etc.” Poe used this form to hide the names of his mistresses within his art.
    • Here is a dictionary to find certain letters within the words you need (i.e. you need a seven letter word, and the fourth letter has to be an R): Acrostic Dictionary.
    • Crossword Cheats can be used in reverse to build an intense acrostic: Crossword Reverse. 

Hero Character? Or Hapless Victim?

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[found on 5writers5novels5months.com]

“Why Do We Torture Our Heroes?

There are three big problems with a hapless victim as protagonist.

Problem #1: Repetitive Agonizing
Over-tortured, victimized characters tend to express their constant frustration. After all, the author has to give these poor sods something to say, and when a character with a life-threatening disease, whose true love recently dumped him just after his dog was run over by a car, falls off a cliff and into a gigantic waterfall after being chased by evil aliens … well, let’s just assume the first words out of his mouth after he hits the water will not be, “Wow! What a beautiful waterfall.” How many readers want to spend a whole book with a constantly anguished or angry protagonist? We all want someone to root for, not just feel sorry for.

Problem #2: Boredom
Being in a pickle is not inherently exciting. Giving a protagonist a ton of problems to worry about and suffer from does not automatically create conflict and tension. A guy sitting in solitary confinement in a prison cell has big trouble, but watching him pace the floor and mark the days off on the wall is not interesting. Or even tense (for the reader, at least). Why? He can’t solve his problem. All he can do is be miserable. And misery without conflict, action or interaction is kinda boring. (In case Papillon comes to mind as an exception, that was Henri Charriere’s memoir and, arguably, the exciting parts were the escapes, not the scenes where he spit out his rotting teeth in a filthy cell.)

Problem #3: Miraculous Victory
“The Perils of Pauline” told classic damsel-in-distress stories. Sending in some outside force to rescue the protagonist is one way to get him, or her, down from the tree. But if you’re not (intentionally) writing melodrama, you have to figure out a way to have your hero find his own way down from the tree. If you’ve beset your protagonist with continuously mounting (and unsolved) troubles through the whole book – your character is going to have to morph from hapless victim to unstoppable Superman in the last act to get out of the mess by himself. (Okay, Papillon is certainly a breathtaking example of this … but if it hadn’t been an autobiography, who would have believed it?)

So, what does the “up a tree” dictum really tell us to do? This is something we discussed at length in Whistler, and my own personal epiphany was about the purpose of giving your protagonist troubles. It’s not to make him a miserable, complaining victim. It’s to give him something heroic to do. To put him in action. Only by the protagonist’s reaction to his troubles can we get to know what he’s made of.

Ding … the lightbulb went on for me. Give your hero problems he actually can do something about. Then let him show his stuff. Do we really care about a hero who sits up in that tree kvetching and waiting for miracle? No, we want him to be visibly overcoming his fear of heights, planning his escape, throwing apples at the baying dogs below, weaving a rope out of twigs or something … anything! The tougher the problem, the bigger the hero. But if the protagonist is not well matched with the problems to be solved, the writer may have to cheat and resort to miracles or magic, and that could actually diminish the hero.”

[found on http://5writers5novels5months.com/2013/07/01/why-do-we-torture-our-heroes]

Hear MY WRITING roar!!!!

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[found on us4.campaign-archive1.com; by Rachelle Gardner]

“Those Annoying Exclamation Points!!!

By Rachelle Gardner on Jul 01, 2013 09:34 pm

Exclamation point

Over many years of editing books, it seems I have become a heartless eliminator of exclamation points!!! Seriously, I developed a hatred for them! People tend to WAY overuse them! Not to mention italics and bold, and that oh-so-effective use of ALL CAPS!!!!!!!

Here’s a hint to avoid coming across as amateur: Use the above devices sparingly in any writing intended for publication. (I’m being specific here, because in blog writing and emails, you’re free to go crazy. I do.)

If you tend to use a plethora of exclamation points, do a search-and-replace in your manuscript and put a period in place of every single one of them. Yep, every one. Then you can go back and add an exclamation point here and there if you really must. But I’m not kidding: VERY . . . SPARINGLY.

Same with other means of artificial emphasis: italics and ALL CAPS. Your writing should be so effective by itself that the emphasis isn’t necessary.

As for bold, don’t ever use it in running text! (It’s OKAY for headers!)

Isn’t THIS irritating??!!”

[found on http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=cde4992358f2badd71896ea0b&id=016b5771a7&e=325ff0e8d3]

I’m a poet, but I don’t know it.

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[found on writingforward.com]

“36 Poetry Writing Tips

    1. Read lots of poetry. In fact, read a lot of anything if you want to produce better writing.
    2. Write poetry as often as you can.
    3. Designate a special notebook (or space in your notebook) for poetry writing.
    4. Try writing in form (sonnets, haiku, etc.).
    5. Use imagery.
    6. Embrace metaphors but stay away from clichés.
    7. Sign up for a poetry writing workshop.
    8. Expand your vocabulary.
    9. Read poems over and over (and aloud). Consider them, analyze them.
    10. Join a poetry forum or poetry writing group online.
    11. Study musicality in writing (rhythm and meter).
    12. Use poetry prompts when you’re stuck.
    13. Be funny. Make a funny poem.
    14. Notice what makes others’ poetry memorable. Capture it, mix it up, and make it your own.
    15. Try poetry writing exercises when you’ve got writer’s block.
    16. Study biographies of famous (or not-so-famous) poets.
    17. Memorize a poem (or two, or three, or more).
    18. Revise and rewrite your poems to make them stronger and more compelling.
    19. Have fun with puns.
    20. Don’t be afraid to write a bad poem. You can write a better one later.
    21. Find unusual subject matter — a teapot, a shelf, a wall.
    22. Use language that people can understand.
    23. Meditate or listen to inspirational music before writing poetry to clear your mind and gain focus.
    24. Keep a notebook with you at all times so you can write whenever (and wherever) inspiration strikes.
    25. Submit your poetry to literary magazines and journals.
    26. When you submit work, accept rejection and try again and again. You can do it and you will.
    27. Get a website or blog and publish your own poetry.
    28. Connect with other poets to share and discuss the craft that is poetry writing.
    29. Attend a poetry reading or slam poetry event.
    30. Subscribe to a poetry podcast and listen to poetry.
    31. Support poets and poetry by buying books and magazines that feature poetry.
    32. Write with honesty. Don’t back away from your thoughts or feelings. Express them!
    33. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Mix art and music with your poetry. Perform it and publish it.
    34. Eliminate all unnecessary words, phrases, and lines. Make every word count.
    35. Write a poem every single day.
    36. Read a poem every single day.”
[found on http://www.writingforward.com/writing-tips/poetry-writing-tips]