Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 22

3 Types of Story Stakes

The main character in the young middle grade novel that I’m preparing to revise is not human. Nope, he isn’t an elf or an orc either. He is a cat. One of the ways to make an animal character something that readers can identify with is to give the character the same types of stakes … Continue reading 3 Types of Story Stakes →

Research: When Two Sources Contradict Each Other

I’m outlining a new project this week. It is a fairly broad topic so I’m having to do a lot of research. I’m not doing deep, detailed research but I do have to do enough to outline 55 spreads. As so often happens, I found sources that contradict each other. How do I tell which … Continue reading Research: When Two Sources Contradict Each Other →

3 Reasons I Don’t Write Negative Reviews

I used to review books for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I only got to write about one review per month and almost all of them were roundups. That means that I reviewed 6 books in a single article. They might be “6 books coming out in January” or “6 brilliant nonfiction picture books.” And this … Continue reading 3 Reasons I Don’t Write Negative Reviews →

Idea Generation

About two weeks ago, I posted about Storystorm. You can see that post HERE. This is an idea generation challenge. The idea is to come up with 30 ideas throughout the month of January. I have to admit that I love Storystorm. I always finish up with at least 30 ideas. I’d love to say … Continue reading Idea Generation →

Writing Scary: It Is the Details, Not the Setting

I’ve been thinking a lot about something that R.L. Stine said about writing scary books. He explained that he didn’t set stories in European castles or other traditional horror locations that young readers wouldn’t know. Instead, he set stories at school and in their neighborhoods. He set them at home and the places they go … Continue reading Writing Scary: It Is the Details, Not the Setting →

Writing Photo Captions

Earlier this week, a book designer sent me the cover and interior layouts for one of my upcoming books. Working with this particular publisher was the first time I have ever had to caption photos in a book. My first thought was that I could do this. Right? You just say who is in the … Continue reading Writing Photo Captions →

8 Tips for Writing Scary

I have to say that one of the best investments I’ve made is signing up for Master Class. This is my second year and, not surprisingly, one of my favorite lists is Writing Classes. I’m almost done with R. L. Stine’s class on “Writing for Young Audiences.” Although his focus is on writing scary, a … Continue reading 8 Tips for Writing Scary →

One Title: Two Very Different Books

Recently a friend in my critique group was telling a group of us about a class she took on writing scary picture books. As she recommended picture books, I clicked through the library catalogue making requests. I laughed when I got to Poultrygeist. There were two titles one by Eric Geron, which was the title … Continue reading One Title: Two Very Different Books →

Don’t Force a Fit: When Your Piece Isn’t Right for the Market

Recently I agreed to take part in a blog tour. One of the options was sharing your story of rescuing a dog. I truly believe my story is important to share even if it isn’t typical. The short version: My husband pulled into our drive and our neighbor called him over. A huge dog had … Continue reading Don’t Force a Fit: When Your Piece Isn’t Right for the Market →

Work for Hire: Step 1

Before Christmas, I had a chat with one of my editors. He is interested in working from my side of the desk and writing work-for-hire educational projects. We chatted about various things but the one that surprised him was my first step. Whenever I start a new project, the first thing that I do is … Continue reading Work for Hire: Step 1 →