Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 133

Voice and the Research Rabbit Hole

Research can be a dangerous thing. First of all, there is the rabbit hole effect where you go online to look something up and emerge an hour later without that particular fact, but with 15 others. Then there are those moments when you have to listen to a piece of music and it gets stuck […]

The Power of the Denouement

I’ll be the first person to admit it.  In most pieces of writing, fiction and nonfiction, I tend to rush the ending.  I reach the climax, and I am ready to hit the road, on to new places.  That’s because what I’m writing is the ending, not a true denouement. As defined by Writer’s Digest, […]

3 Problems with Antagonists

Last week I stumbled across K.M. Weiland’s 7 Considerations for Your Antagonist’s Motivations.  I’ve been looking askance at the protagonist in the mystery I am currently reading and now I understand why in three simple points. He’s just plain crazy. First of all, this is problematic because mental illness carries such a huge stigma. It […]

3 Things I Learned about Similar Ideas

Recently, I went online at my local library to request Don’t Leave, a picture book by Amy K. Rosenthal.  Not only did my library have that book, they also had another picture book by the same name, this one by Tom Booth. Curious just how similar the two books would be, I checked them both out. Nor surprisingly, […]

Poetry and a Book Give Away

What’s better than tigers? How about a picture book about a tiger? When David Harrison commented on his blog that he still owed his son a poem about tigers, fellow author Jane Yolen responded.  Soon the two were spinning an idea for a poetic picture book about a tiger. The good news is that their […]

Does This Belong in My Story? The Ultimate Test

Recently I read a post on Fiction University, “Learning from the Mistakes of even the (gasp!) Greats.”  In her post, Bonnie Randall discusses wading through a book by an author that she normally loves.  Unfortunately this time around the main character is endlessly, and needlessly, sarcastic.  He has a bad relationship with his son, but […]

4 Ways to Celebrate National Literacy Month

Did you know that September is National Literacy Month?  I assume that if you are reading my blog, you are a book lover but some of the statistics might surprise you.  In 2018, 32 million adults in the US could not read.  In a middle class neighborhood, there are 13 books/child.  In low income neighborhoods […]

Labor Day: Expanding Your Horizons

We didn’t get to spend the entire weekend out of town but we did make a run down to the lake.  I have to say that it was amazing to get out of the city and spend a day without a mask.  I had it in my pocket but we only saw people in the […]

Three Things to Remember about Diaologue in Nonfiction

One of the things that new nonfiction writers find confusing is how they can possibly include dialogue in their work.  It is easy enough if they are writing up an interview, but what about historic pieces that include dialogue?  Here are three things to remember. Dialogue Provides a Connection Whether you are writing a piece […]

Thinking Outside the Box During the Pandemic

I’m going to try this post one more time before I shelve the topic and let myself process it some more.  I’ve been noodling over how now, during the pandemic, is a great time to flex a little and think outside the box.  But this idea didn’t coalesce until I watched the Kid Lit Distancing […]