Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 202
February 21, 2018
An Arguement for Plotting
The last couple of weeks, I’ve been getting ready to start writing an adult mystery, a cozy. When I tried to develop my premise, I discovered that I just didn’t know enough. I needed to do more work with my characters. I’ve also been a little iffy on whether or not I wanted to plot […]
February 20, 2018
Fiction coming from National Geographic Kids Books
Yesterday while on the treadmill, a news item about National Geographic Kids Books caught my eye. This fall they are launching a new imprint – Under the Stars. Unlike other National Geographic offerings, this imprint will be fiction. That’s right – fiction! The audience is middle grade readers, aged 8 to 12, and the plan […]
February 19, 2018
Mentor Texts: What ReFoReMo Is All About
I know I’ve written about mentor texts before. A mentor text gives you the opportunity to pattern your own work after some aspect of a published book. You might study a mentor text to learn about how to develop your picture book characters, how to make use of page turns, or how to create a […]
February 18, 2018
Do What You Can
I thought that this year we’d celebrate President’s Day with a bit of advice from one of our Presidents, Teddy Roosevelt. “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” When I give advice to my fellow writers, I hope that they realize that somehow they are going to have to make it […]
February 15, 2018
5 Minutes a Day: Getting to Know Your Characters as Individuals
This week, my 5-minute task has focused on getting to know my main character for the cozy I’m pre-writing. There’s a lot you can do in just five minutes in terms of developing your character. Some of getting to know Clara has also helped me start thinking about the plot. This is a mystery so […]
February 14, 2018
SCBWI: Anti-Harassment Policy
In light of recent news in the children’s publishing world, SCBWI has put a new anti-harassment policy in place. NOTE: Anti-harassment. I’ve seen a few people call it a harassment policy. No. Anti-harassment. The reworked policy holds all faculty, staff, and participants to the same Code of Conduct which states that prohibits harassment which includes […]
February 13, 2018
Office Update: Valentine’s Day Our Way
“Why is your third bedroom an office? You could get a laptop and work anywhere!” Um, no. Let’s just say – no. You may be able to work anywhere and I assume that many people can. Why? Because people seem to think that I can too. But, nope. Not this girl. I have the attention span of […]
February 12, 2018
ALA Awards for 2018: Warm Up Your Library Card
Each year the American Library Association names the winners of a wide range of awards. If you write for children, check out these books. With no further fuss – here are the winners. John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: Winner: Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Publishers). This one looks intriguing […]
February 11, 2018
Revision: Overhauling a Manuscript from Top to Bottom
Rewriting a manuscript is a lot like cleaning out and redo-ing your office. You have to believe that in the end it will be magnificent because before it gets better it will be a disaster. I say this because last week I finished cleaning out the freestanding book-case in my office. My husband and son […]
February 8, 2018
5 Minutes a Day: Working with Your Characters
I thought today’s post would be about creating your premise. You know what they say about well laid plans and all that? For some books, it might be possible to start with premise, but I feel like I need to get to know my characters first. What types of characters might you have in your story? […]
