Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 211
October 11, 2017
How Long Should It Take to Write Your Book?
I’ve been thinking about this since early yesterday when I read Sarah Callender’s post, “Bun in the Oven: The Gestation Period of a Novel.” Sarah wrote about working on her novel for 4.5 years, writing several drafts before she discovered a plot. When I write fiction, I’m a lot like Sarah. I have to write […]
October 10, 2017
3 Places to Turn for Story Ideas
One of my friends and I ended up chatting about idea generation yesterday. I may go a week or so without an idea. But then I have 5 or so in a day. I keep a list, starting a new list each year. So far the one for 237 ideas on it. This morning it […]
October 9, 2017
The Author vs Passive Voice
As you read this, I’m on Day #3 of rewriting a book for Abdo. Teen nonfiction, I’m having to tighten here and add a bit of detail there. I’m also rooting out the passive voice. Why? My editor is not a big fan. Why? Because passive voice is frequently a bit convoluted and wordy. And […]
October 8, 2017
Your Rough Draft: Slap It Down
I’ve been in critique groups with people who fiddle with their first sentence for months. They write it one way and then another, struggling for perfection. Not me. I just slap that sucker down and keep on writing. Seriously. Yes, I know that your first several sentence need to hook your reader. I know they […]
October 5, 2017
Query Letters: What would you want to know?
In about two weeks, I’ll be leading a workshop on query letters. Here is what I’ve pulled together so far: 3 successful letters. One is from a picture book author. The other two are for novels. I’ve put together a list of online resources. I discuss the hook. I compare it to the elevator pitch. […]
October 4, 2017
Novel or Movie: Wonder
Somehow I’ve managed to not yet read Wonder by R.J. Palacio. If you know me, it isn’t any big surprise. I don’t handle bummer books particularly well. But I am apparently writing a middle grade novel. I thought it was a chapter book but my characters are rather obstinate. It is middle grade. So I asked people […]
October 3, 2017
PubforPR: Bid now to help Puerto
Once again the publishing community has come together to help people in crisis. As you all know, the island of Puerto Rico has been devastated by hurricane damage. People are without clean water, communication is down and disease is starting to spread. How can you help? #PubforPr is a group of writing professionals who have […]
October 2, 2017
Infographics: Get It Across Visually
I’ve spent a lot of time lately noodling over infographics. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this phrase, an infographic is a visual means of getting an idea across. According to Erica Boynton on Onespot, there are 8 different kinds of infographics (see their infographic to the right). They are: The Visual Article: […]
October 1, 2017
Ho Hum Boring Words
Especially when your word count is limited, it is important to use vibrant, meaningful language. Why say very hot when you can say molten? But there are just times when your brain gets stuck. What’s a better way to say good or bad? Happy or sad? Author Jack Milgram at the Custom Writing blog shared […]
September 28, 2017
The Flash Essay: The Sparkler of the Essay World
“This is hilarious. You should write it up as a flash essay.” This was the note that I got from one of my editors. She had embarrased herself by bemoaning a family situation with me. I told her not to worry. The situation was all too familiar. She wasn’t sure she believed me so, as […]
