Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 269
June 18, 2015
Grant for Writers
Just found out about this one so I am writing it up and substituting this post for the post I had planned for today. Why? Because the deadline to enter is June 21, 2015. We Need Diverse Books has created a grant in honor of Walter Dean Myers. (sniff — I love his books!) The […]
June 17, 2015
Word Count: How Long Does My Manuscript Need to Be?
“How long should my manuscript be?” It’s a common question with a complicated answer. It needs to be as long as is needed to get the job done. Not a very helpful answer is it? In part, the answer depends on your target publisher. Check out their market lisitng or guidelines and see what they […]
June 16, 2015
Punctuation
I’m fully confident using some punctuation marks. I rock periods and commas. But when on earth do you use a bracket vs a brace? A brace. That was a new one to me — I knew the symbol but that is not what we called it in school. Of course, now I can’t remember what […]
June 15, 2015
Mentor texts
In the past when I’ve written about using mentor texts, here and here, I was talking about picture book writing. For those of you who may not remember, a mentor text is a book that you use as a guide or template in your own writing. A recent post by Nancy I. Sanders reminded me […]
June 14, 2015
Body Language
It is amazing how much information people give away by how they behave and they don’t even know that they ‘re doing it. A glance to the side, a shufffle of feet, or a shrug can tell you more about a person or their state of mind than they reveal by what they say. This […]
June 11, 2015
Feedback: Arthur Slade Offers to Critique Your Work
Getting feedback on your writing can be tough. I’m lucky in that I live in a major metropolitan area with a strong writing community. Not only do I know a number of writers who live in my area, I’m connected on line with even more. If this isn’t the case for you, getting feedback can […]
June 10, 2015
Adding Words: What to do When I write too Short
I just turned in Book #5 for Red Line. This one was on WWI Trench Warfare and like most of my other Red Line books needed to be 15,000 words long. The problem was that as I went into draft #5, my manuscript was several 100 words too short. Something like 700 to be honest. […]
June 9, 2015
Science Fiction vs Fantasy
What is the difference between science fiction and fantasy? So many people use the terms interchangeably but they are really two different things. Fantasy stories take place in worlds with magic. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are […]
June 8, 2015
Killing Characters
When can you effectively kill a character? I read a lot — both published books and manuscripts — and I watch a lot of movies. One of the things that I’ve learned is that if I take the time to off a character, I want it to mean something. What I don’t want to go […]
June 7, 2015
Creating readers: The Great Thing about Being a Writer
My son is on the city swim team and doesn’t drive yet so I spend a lot of time sitting at the pool. Yes, I could go home but I only do that if I have a deadline. Otherwise I sit and watch and chat. I had the coolest experience last week. One of the […]
