I met Jodell Sadler last fall at the Wisconsin SCBWI conference—and loved her amazing presentation on pacing in picture books. She’s here today to talk about five great reads for middle grade and young adult readers (and those of us who refuse to grow up). If you want to write for this audience, read on....Read More

In January, I took a social media fast on a bet with a friend (and we were only drinking coffee)! She chronicled her experience at The Write Now! Coach Blogs last Friday.  You can read about my harrowing journey at her blog, Teamblood. And for those of you who love to play online, today’s tip...Read More

Over the winter holiday, Jocelyn Koehler and I agreed to try a social media fast during January. Even though I had a much tamer plan than Jocelyn, I suffered from withdrawal symptoms almost immediately. You can read about my experience at Jocelyn’s blog, Teamblood. To learn how Jocelyn stayed off the net nearly all day...Read More

Have you heard of, “saidism?” No, I did not misspell sadism. Saidism most commonly refers to the conceptions of Professor Edward Said. But lately, some bloggers have used the term saidism to refer to either the overuse of the word “said” or the overuse of fancy dialogue tags like “exclaimed” or “announced.” Here’s an exercise...Read More

Today’s tip continues our series on writing productivity based on the book Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life: Train Your Brain to Get More Done in Less Time by Paul Hammerness, M.D., Margaret Moore, and John Hane. The first two articles are available on the blog; find the links at the end of today’s article....Read More

Writers, can you remember falling in love with picture books? I do. I have distinct memories of wanting to crawl into the scenes of some of my first picture books and early readers. I thought Pippi Longstocking would make a great friend, and I imagined myself skating on sponges, cleaning the floor right beside her....Read More

Today’s guest blog post by romance author Elizabeth Cole takes a look at how digital publishing may change the length of our books. Read on to learn what you need to know before you write that next novel! Size Surprise!: Digital Publishing and Ereaders Make Story Size Meaningless by Elizabeth Cole. There has been a...Read More

Last summer, when our family visited Shelburne Museum in Vermont, we took in Elizabeth Berdann’s exhibit Deep End. In her miniature portraits, she portrayed “humans as mythological sea creatures.” We were captivated by both the portraits and the stories. As our family talked about these traditional water myths, my son kept asking, “Really?” As in, could...Read More

Writing can be like folding a banquet-sized tablecloth; you can do it yourself, but it’s a lot easier when you can find somebody to help. —Ted Kooser and Steve Cox, Writing Brave and Free, p. 118. I’m an inveterate introvert. I prefer staying home alone—even when I don’t have to trudge through snow to get somewhere....Read More

Last summer, I had the opportunity to teach writing at the Milwaukee Art Museum. As we worked with students in developing characters, we asked them to choose a character from a painting and then create a Facebook profile for that person. Try it. Take a character from your novel and craft a Facebook profile for...Read More