Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 200

5 Minutes a Day: Premise

One of the things that you need to know before you write your novel is your premise.  Simpley put, your premise is what your novel is about.  Think of it as a mini-outline. This can be a huge help when either you outline your lovel or get to work because you don’t d outlines. Either […]

Tighten Your Text: Cutting Excess Words

Yesterday my post on Writing Nonfiction that Sings appeared on the Muffin, the blog for Women on Writing! One tip involved cutting excess words.  I working on a hard copy.  One reader asked if this really makes a difference. Yes, I really do. Monday and Tuesday I rewrote a nonfiction title, working on a hard […]

Picture Book Writing: Workshop a Mentor Text

Most of you probably already know that I tend gush about mentor texts.  In picture book writing, they are a great way to study pacing, giving the illustrator space to work and more. But getting the most out of a mentor text can be tough.  Sitting there, flipping through the pages, I have a tendency […]

Back It Up: Save Your Bacon

A back up can save your bacon…mmm, bacon. When was the last time you backed up your novel?  Your hard drive?  Your blog? I used to be really good about this but lately?  Not so much.  But as soon as I post this, I’m running my back ups.  My son had a mechanical car due […]

Facts: Get Them Right or Lose Your Reader

This past weekend, my family and I took a road trip.  Three and a half hours there.  Three and a half hours back.   Following the winding, hilly roads in the Missouri bootheel, it is impossible to maintain a radio signal so we listen to audio books.  If I loved this book, I’d tell you what […]

Reading: Why Authors Need to Do It

Lately I’ve been fiddling around with the prewriting I need to do for a cozy mystery.  Although I love cozies, most of the series that I enjoy have been established for a while so I’ve made a point to check out books from some newer series. Last week I picked these books up at the […]

Reading Levels

I have to admit, I have something of a love/hate relationship with reading levels.  In my educational writing, I have to write to a specific level.  It is a great feeling to hit it on the first try which I manage to do at least half the time. And reading levels are helpful when talking […]

First Draft: Slap It Down

This week, I’m writing on deadline.  I have to turn the book in next Wednesday.  That’s 15,000 words due in less than a week.  As I write this, I have something like 10,500 words more or less.  I need to have the first draft done in a day and a half. Is it perfect?  Nope. […]

Diversity: More than Harriet Tubman

Yesterday I read Danene Millner’s New York Times piece, “Black Kids Don’t Want to Read About Harriet Tubman All the Time.” In it, she discusses the fact that books about stand out individuals like Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr are great.  After all, everyone should know about these people.  But black children need to read […]

Writing Habits

Thank you to Jack Milgram who created this infographic about strange quirks and writing habits of famous authors.  Check them out and see if any of them overlap with your own.  I share desk habits with Virginia Woolf and Lewis Carol.  I drink coffee although not nearly as much as Honore de Balzac.  And, like […]