Why Poetry?
Poetry has an intense flavor that prose generally doesn’t manage, and that intensity can make poetry valuable for a number of reasons in your writing.
List Poems
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > List poems have an off-hand quality, as though they’re not even poems but casual jottings like a grocery or birthday list. That makes them particularly accessible and welcoming for readers to enter, and their unassuming quality keeps them…
5 Poetry Practice Playtime Activities
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Poetry, like any art form, is improved with practice. The more you do it, the better you’ll become at it. But there is something very special about poetry: the more you practice…
What Sits Beyond the Reach of Language
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > It’s National Poetry Month, and with the chaos of coronavirus that’s unsettled us and our need to stay as close to home as possible, now, more than ever, is the perfect time to delve into poetry for the…
Children’s Poetry for Magazines
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > 6 Hot Tips Finding a market for poetry can be tough. It’s not that children don’t enjoy poetry. In fact, many young children love verse. The even meter and the rhyme make…
Imagery in Narrative Nonfiction
Narrative nonfiction writers need to describe people, places, objects, and events in imaginative but also accurate ways. Enter imagery. Follow these 3 tips.
Top Three Narrative Nonfiction Missteps
Narrative nonfiction is popular with kids, teachers, and publishers. Here are the top three missteps to avoid when writing narrative nonfiction.
The Writer’s Voice and Narrative Nonfiction | IFW
The content of your piece is the what of your writing. How you say it is the voice. Let’s talk about how to develop your author voice in your work.
Picture Book Biographies
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > One of the most common forms of narrative nonfiction is the biography. Biographies can be found in long form novels, long-form highly illustrated books, chapter books, early readers and picture books. Picture…
Using Creative Nonfiction Techniques in a Memoir | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” Those familiar opening lines from Charles Dickens’ novel David Copperfield are…
Narrative Nonfiction and Magazines
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > If you’re interested in trying your hand at narrative nonfiction, there are options beyond massively researched full-length books. Some children’s magazines buy narrative nonfiction in the form of biographical sketches, profiles of contemporary figures, and anecdotal stories of…
Using Quotes in Narrative Nonfiction
IFW Instructor Victoria Sherrow shares how to effectively use quotes from historical figures and experts when writing narrative nonfiction novels and articles.
Narrative Nonfiction
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Melissa Stewart, writer and nonfiction evangelist, fills her Twitter feed with books and bits to help writers and buyers better understand nonfiction. She’s made nonfiction her life. And she explains that nonfiction is basically broken into two broad…
The Appeal of Narrative Nonfiction
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Just the facts, ma’am.” These oft-repeated words are associated with Sergeant Joe Friday, a character in the 1950s TV police drama “Dragnet.” Friday’s actual words were “All we want are the facts,” but the point remains: Investigators need…
The Perils of Picture Books
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing a publishable picture book is hard. It simply is. The competition is incredible. And your book must do so many things well. It needs to sing. It needs to speak to every reader, whether child or adult.…
Verb-Perfect: 7 Tips to Fuel Your Writing
Verbs play a key role in building effective sentences, so pay close attention to them as you revise and polish. These 7 writing tips will make your story shine!
How Do I Tell Where I Fail?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > According to Dr. David Dunning, a psychology professor at Cornell, we are not good judges of our own competency. In other words, we aren’t very skilled at telling if we’re good at…
The “Feel” of Your Writing
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Everything is in the tone.”—Sherwood Anderson For a well-polished manuscript, make sure you use tone and mood effectively. Tone in fiction refers to an author’s attitude toward the characters and events in the story. The tone helps to…
Picking the Right Word
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Polishing a manuscript involves both big picture corrections, such as plot issues or motivation issues for your characters, and incredibly small, picky bits where you’re really bringing out the shine in each…
Time for a Sound Check?
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Hearing” your manuscript with a reader’s ear As you polish your manuscript, you will likely review it numerous times, looking for ways to improve the content, style, and presentation. Some experts suggest reading a hard copy in addition…