Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 269
July 13, 2015
How Do You Write: Your Writing Process
I recently read a post by Darcy Pattison on her writing process and how rewriting can vary from book to book. Do you have a set process? Do you always outline? Or always draft the entire book before writing? Or do you have to craft a perfect chapter before moving on to the next? I’ve […]
July 12, 2015
Agents: Agents Currently Looking for Authors
If you are at that point in your career where you are thinking about finding an agent, here are several who are in the market for your writing. Linda Camacho with the Prospect Agency is looking for middle grade and and young adult fiction in all areas. She is listed as interested in both picture […]
July 9, 2015
Child Characters
When we create fictional characters, especially children, we have to make conscious decisions regarding whether they will be typical or extraordinary. We have to consider whether or characters will have unusual skills or talents or whether they will be “every child.” Personally, I tend to aim for somewhere in the middle. I do this because […]
July 8, 2015
Blog to Book: Tips on how to blog a book
I’ve been reading a lot lately about how to blog a book. Some of these blog posts detail how to blog a book from the start, meaning that the author has a plan for a book and starts a new blog to build an audience. Other posts involve taking material from a running blog and […]
July 7, 2015
Building a Bridge
One of the keys to writing strong fiction and nonfiction is bridge building. The fact of the matter is that any time you write about something that is unfamiliar, you have to build a bridge. It doesn’t matter if you are writing nonfiction about a unfamiliar time period or fiction about a made up world, […]
July 6, 2015
World Building: Setting and Culture
In the past year, the vast majority of my work has been nonfiction. I’ve been thinking about fiction a lot lately. I have two novels in the works (note: long deserted) and really want to get back to them. They are both fantasy which is going to require a lot of world building. What do […]
July 5, 2015
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Lookie, look! I just found my book cover on the Abdo Publishing web site. A flashing green marker assures me that it will be available SOON. It is so ironic that I find this today because I’ve been contemplating not nonfiction but fiction. Nonfiction is my bread-and-butter but I have two fictional stories that […]
July 2, 2015
Book Design: Cover Art
Whether you are publishing your work independently or packaging lesson plans to supplement your traditionally published book, writers and illustrators alike will benefit from Chip Kidd’s TEDD talk on mystery vs clarity. Not familiar with Kidd’s work? You should be. He is an award winning graphic designer who works for Random House designing a wide […]
July 1, 2015
The Scene: What Is It and What Makes it Work
At its most basic, a scene is a story telling unit. Yeah, I know. That definition has never done a lot for me either. Its the ultimate non-defining definition. A little bit better is that a scene takes place in a specific place at a specifice time. Jump forward a day or change locations and […]
June 30, 2015
Smithsonian Museum: Asian and American Art now available online
One of the many wonders of the internet is that so much art work is available online. No, it isn’t the same as viewing a work in person but it is enough to give you a frame of reference. The Smithsonian has just made the Freer/Sackler Galleries available online. These galleries consist of some 40,000 […]
