Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 138
August 13, 2020
Did You Know that There Are Two Types of Scenes?
Writing fiction is a matter of balance. You need to include action, dialogue, and narrative. You also need to include both action scenes and sequel scenes. Not long after I started working on my novel, I tried to find information on crafting sequels. Maybe it isn’t a term that everyone uses, but I failed miserably. […]
August 12, 2020
What You Need to Know About Writing Board Books
Board books fascinate me. I love their sturdy construction. I love the fact that they can tell a story in a minimal number of spreads. And I love how innovative they are, so I was thrilled when I saw my friend Sue Lowell Gallion’s new book online. Our World is a board book introduction to geography. […]
August 11, 2020
3 Things to Remember about Your Protagonist
My all-time favorite antagonist has always been the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. Not the book. The TV version. And I have to admit that really, I loved the flying monkeys. The Witch who is evil for evil’s sake is probably not the best model for an antagonist. I realized this when I […]
August 10, 2020
3 Actions Libraries Are Taking in 2020
Let’s Taco Bout Our Libraries. Can I just say that I love all that the St. Louis County Library System is doing during 2020? I’ll admit it. I’m a huge library geek. When we found out that our county was asking all nonessential businesses to close and people to stay home in March, I had […]
August 9, 2020
RIP Kathleen Duey
In August of the year my mom died, I drug my 3 year-old, husband, and father to LA. We all needed a change of pace and I could do the SCBWI LA Conference while they did the tourist thing. I found my way to the coffee bar and into the vast main hall. I suspect […]
August 6, 2020
3 Reasons to Take a Chance
A Publisher’s Weekly article that I read has had me thinking. In March, Kitty O’Meara wrote a poem, “And the People Stayed Home.” You may have seen it. A friend asked to post it on Facebook and the poem went viral. It was praised by Deepak Chopra, sung by opera star Renée Fleming, and now […]
August 5, 2020
4 Things to Remember When Making a Trailer
Today I used Adobe Spark to make a trailer for my class Writing Nonfiction for Children and Teens. There were things about the program I loved: It is free. Given the fact that this was an experiment (is this something I want to do) free was vital. It is easy to add video segments, called […]
August 4, 2020
Picture Book Writing: How to Leave Room for the Illustrator
Leave room for the illustrator. Those of us who write picture books hear that advice on a regular basis. Although I understood that this meant that I shouldn’t describe what the illustrator should draw, I didn’t understand what that meant. I understood it to mean that I shouldn’t say the character wore a blue dress […]
August 3, 2020
4 Reasons to Read What’s Being Published Now
Recently, I saw a discussion on children’s classics. Basically should we or should we not be recommending classics to young readers. I have to admit that when someone said NO CLASSICS, I bristled. Yes, there are so many amazing new books but there are so many amazing older books as well. Then a friend gave […]
August 2, 2020
3 Reasons to Celebrate Small Successes
Last month, I took part in Camp NaNoWriMo. In this month long challenge, you set your own goal. It might be to outline your novel, reach a certain word count or send out x number of queries. My goal was to add 25,000 words to my draft. I actually managed a little more than that, […]
