Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Over the holidays, as I was putting out the holiday decorations, my daughter and I took time to talk about some the ornaments and other well-loved decorations. Some decorations brought back memories…
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 crippling things a writer can do in the early stage of any book is worry about whether your story (or something like it) has been done before. First,…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > For many people new to writing for children, all children’s books are picture books. If you ask them what they are working on, they’ll say, “a children’s book” as if that is…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The new year will be upon us soon, and it’s a good time to make plans to increase our chances of publication success in 2018. Now, it helps to know what you…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalg > Coming up with a title for your work in progress can be easy or really hard. Sometimes the title comes to you early, and you just always know what you want to…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > If you read a lot of information about writing: essays like this one, discussions like the ones on the Institute’s Facebook pages and in either of our groups, writing books, writer’s magazines, you’ll eventually realize…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing exercises can be fun. They can also help you exercise your writing muscles and break through a block you might be having. So it’s always good to know where to find…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Copyright, because it is an area of law, can be scary for writers, and many new writers worry about their work being stolen; they want to know what to do to protect…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Most people who get involved in writing have some level of hope that it will produce money. As an instructor with the Institute, I had many students who told me they hoped…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The Competition Some book publishers are now specifically asking writers to look at competing books when sending in manuscript submissions, partial submissions, queries, or book proposals. And this request can seem overwhelming…
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 questions writers tend to be asked a lot is “where do you get your ideas?” Of course, two other questions are “can you read something for me?” and “can…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing samples are those bits of writing that we send to educational publishers (and a few trade publishers) who are looking to staff specific projects with good writers. In these situations, the…
How address your lack of time to write in the middle of holiday chaos.
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Some writers write only one sort of book: picture books, mysteries, science fiction, humor, racy romance, etc. But many writers jump around in their careers and tackle whatever project bubbles up in…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > A while ago on the Institute’s Facebook page, someone was asking about dialogue, which made me think again about this important writing tool. Readers love dialogue because it makes a scene and a…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The Secrets to Samples Many of us who write for educational publishers are very familiar with samples. These are the bits of writing publishers use to judge whether you’re a writer who…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Talking about how to end a book or story is a bit harder than talking about how to begin one. The first paragraph of a book doesn’t really count as a spoiler…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Momentum is a delicate thing in writing. Sometimes you start out revving along in a novel, falling in love with your main character, fascinated by the situation you’re creating and cranking out…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing can be a lonely art form. Unlike performance artists, you don’t have audience reaction to rev you up. And sometimes family and friends aren’t incredibly supportive, especially during the early years…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Every story has a beginning. The best beginnings grab our attention and make us eager to read on. The best beginnings give a sense of sort of story we’re going to get…