Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > This week I bought one of those journals where the pages have dots instead of lines, a bullet journal. I did it because my desk has a tendency to become a bunny…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > You might notice that the markets this week are off the beaten path, outside of what we normally think of when we’re considering markets for our work. Today, publishing is a massive…
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 problems with writing is that it’s fairly difficult to complete a project in one sitting. It can sometimes be a bit easier with a picture book where the rough…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I have heard some people argue that good writing cannot be taught. It is innate or it simply doesn’t exist. Sure, they will argue, most people can learn to communicate competently through…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > In-Person Learning For most writers, conferences and in-person workshops are gifts we give ourselves. Often these options aren’t cheap, but they let us get out of our homes and mix with other…
Love of story isn’t the only reason successful writers are readers. Reading is one of the best writing teachers because it teaches us without us even noticing.
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Whenever you get a chance to watch a really good magician, it’s easy to get caught up in the wonder of what they’re doing. But if you’re an adult, and driven by…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Some writers love outlines. They outline everything they write and feel it gives the story order and direction. Some hate outlines and feel that an outline makes a story rigid and lifeless.…
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 > 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…
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 > 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…
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 > 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 > 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 > 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 > 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…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Character creation can be approached in many different ways, but overall, most great characters come about as a mixture. Like a particularly tasty casserole, a writer grabs a pinch of this and…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Judging a contest is an interesting activity because it happens in layers. The first layer is simply removing from consideration all the entries that are not appropriate at all (prose memoirs sent to a poetry contest for young…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > For many writers, especially newer writers, revision is mainly a step for fixing typing errors, spelling errors and grammar mistakes. Some may have a checklist of things to look for such as…
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