Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 145
May 6, 2020
Three Things to Try When Your Voice Feels Forced
Voice. Agents and editors want it but it can be a tricky thing to develop. I’m fairly confident in my voice when I’m writing nonfiction but when I write fiction? Everything will be going well and then . . . what? Why don’t I sound like ME anymore? When this happens, try these three things […]
May 5, 2020
Three Things to Learn from All American Boys
If you are a writer, you probably already know that there is a lot you can learn from reading. I just finished listening to All American Boys by Jason Reynold and Brendan Kiely. For those of you who don’t know the book, Rashad is on his way to a party when he stops at the local […]
May 4, 2020
3 Reasons I’m Thrilled with this Year’s IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Award
Yesterday the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) announced this year’s winners for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. If you aren’t familiar with the award, the goal is to celebrate authors and illustrators who help promote understanding through children’s books and give children access to book with high literary and artistic standards. The […]
May 3, 2020
3 Ways to Get Back into a Writing Project
For the last 10 weeks, I’ve been working on the Trump impeachment book and the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it is time for me to get back into several projects that have been sieting around waiting. 10 weeks. That’s a lengthy time apart. Here are five things that you can do to get back into a […]
April 30, 2020
The Ten Most Challenged Books of 2019
The American Library Association just released their list of the Top 10 Challenged Books of 2019. I’m proud to say that I’ve read all but three of them. The scariest thing to me is why they’ve been challenged. Except for Harry Potter it is all about sex and gender. Americans certainly have more than their […]
April 29, 2020
3 Lessons from Pablo Picasso
Take four minutes and watch Pablo Picasso paint Visage: Head of a Faun. Seriously, it is all I can do to write my own name and . . . well, just watch it for yourself. Watching this, I realized three things: Don’t mistrust the fast draft. When you are young and you make art, you just do it. […]
April 28, 2020
How to Add Layers to Your Picture Book Story
When you write a magazine story for young readers, it can be fairly straightforward. But when you tell a story with the same theme as a picture book, there needs to be more. The reality is that if your story is going to be printed as a picture book, it needs to have enough to […]
April 27, 2020
10 Ways to Write Funny for Young Readers
Recently one of my editors commented that she had just heard from an agent that in adult writing editors want romantic comedy and humor. I have to admit that I’ve expected to hear something like this about writing for children and teens as well. Maybe that’s why I’ve been thinking about humorous writing for young […]
April 26, 2020
6 Opportunities for Writers Looking for Agents
If you are one of the many writers, myself included, seeking representation here are 6 opportunities. One of them may be the right one for you. Raven Quill Literary Agency is a new agency founded in 2020. The agents are: Jacqui Lipton (middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction) Kelly Dyksterhouse Kortney Price (picture […]
April 23, 2020
3 Things to Remember When Writing Inner Dialogue
I may be hip deep in a nonfiction title but my brain keeps drifting towards fiction. I think part of the “problem” may be that I’ve been hanging out in Gutsy Great Novelist Studio, an online writing community hosted by author/writing instructor Joan Dempsey. Earlier this week, Joan posted an article on inner dialogue, one […]
