5 Essential tips for writing picture books
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Author, Speaker, Song-and-Dance Man
It’s no secret that kids love to laugh. (Adults, too.) And as a consequence, funny stories always rank high on editors’ “must have” lists. If you possess a knack for writing humor, you’re well on your way to winning editors’ (and readers’) hearts.
But say you’re not the world’s greatest joke writer — in fact, you think …
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Dear Writer Guy,
How do you know when you’ve hit on the right first line for your story?
Thanks,
Martha B., Seattle
Dear Martha,
For me, it’s a feeling. When the first line clicks, you feel it. It leads you into the rest of the book, it establishes the voice and character attitude right away, and most of all, it …
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The writing life is rife with opportunities for disappointment. Our human condition can’t avoid it. We construct hopes for ourselves and our work, knowing there are plenty of rocks and boulders ahead in the rushing waters of the marketplace.
This is not just in our professional lives, of course. It’s there in every other aspect of …
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Never say anything bad about a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. By then, he’s a mile away, you’ve got his shoes, and you can say whatever you want.
Like a joke (even that one), a story doesn’t work properly without set-ups. What are set-ups? Just the crucial planting of key information in …
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Okay, so you’ve completed a full draft of a picture book manuscript. Now what? Revisions, of course! As we all know, it’s unusual that a first draft (or even a tenth or eleventh) be ready right off the bat for submission. Writers should embrace the revision process. And while I’m no author, I do get …
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