Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Submit yours … perhaps you’ll win! We all have stories about trips gone awry. C’mon, admit it. You’ve got one. Maybe you were bound for Aruba and your luggage spent a lovely…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Generally the things we put into our work have strong writer reasons for being there. The main character has a sidekick to give him someone to talk to so the scenes have…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Taking the Pruning Shears to Your Manuscript to Lose the Verbiage* Sometimes, in the process of revising, you realize your manuscript is just too darn long. That’s when you have to get…
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 major problems editors encounter when reading picture book submissions is the lack of plot, or even purposeful organization. Many picture books basically start with the character waking up, then…
The way to go about eating an elephant is one bite at a time and so it is for revising your writing. Break down your revision into small steps and get it done.
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > As most writers know, it’s much easier to find the flaws in someone else’s work than to find the flaws in your own. Part of the reason for this is distance. When…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Do you know where to start? “Wait … what do you mean I’m not done?!” I hear this so much from new writers when I mention revision. I swear, revision is like…
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 valuable tools in any writer’s toolbox is the ability to evaluate sources. What is a trustworthy source? How do I know? Should I always avoid Internet sources? Is…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Questions to ask yourself before you put your stories out there. When I first started my career as a freelance writer, I had one goal and one goal only: to make enough money to leave my job as…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Many fiction writers shy away from nonfiction. They are afraid it takes skills they don’t have, or that they’ll be bored in writing it. But good fiction writers already have the skills…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Tips for turning the dream into a reality Getting paid to travel is the ultimate dream of any writer, right? Lounging on white, sandy beaches with the crystal-clear blue sparkling water just…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Nonfiction does many things for readers. Sometimes it tells them a story. Sometimes it informs. But sometimes the whole point of the nonfiction piece is to help and encourage the reader to…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Strategies for good research It’s the moment you’ve been dreaming of—you finally have that dream story idea or maybe you’ve already landed the assignment. You’ve got the coffee brewed, the laptop fired…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Many writers view nonfiction as less: less creative than fiction, less fun than fiction, less interesting to kids than fiction, and definitely something they want to do less often. Some will accept…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Making stories about your life engaging for readers Do you ever feel like every story that could possibly be written has been done already? Well, I am here to tell you that…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Whenever they talk about the most important things in a manuscript, two requests are almost sure to pop up from editors and agents: voice and great characters. Now voice is a conversation…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Haven’t I warned you not to get me started? I haven’t? Hmm … well, that does pose rather a difficulty, doesn’t it? Well, I suppose it’s a little late to caution you…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing a compelling character is often about extremes. The best characters are believable but pressured. The whole point of a plot, in fact, is to apply pressure to a character to make…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > So you’ve decided to write your memoir. Good for you! It’s great that you’re up for the challenge. Before you start amassing stories, beginning from your most traumatic potty-training memory right up…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Some of us struggle with finding names for characters. As I write (on average) 6 to 10 books a year, I have to come up with a lot of names. And if…