Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 5

Rejection vs Critique

Yesterday one of my students told me that part of her plan to deal with rejection letters is to carefully read the rejection to glean what it is about her manuscript that didn’t work. The problem is that a rejection letter is not a critique. For feedback on your work, you need to get a … Continue reading Rejection vs Critique →

Idea Generation: Why Keeping a List Pays Off

Anyone else do Story Storm with Tara Lazar in January? For those of you who aren’t familiar, it is an idea generation challenge. Everyone who comes up with 30 ideas in the month of January succeeds. I didn’t quit at the end of January and am still jotting down story ideas. My goal? To have … Continue reading Idea Generation: Why Keeping a List Pays Off →

Twist Endings Picture Book Style

Yesterday I read three picture books that all have amazing twist endings. There are going to be plot spoilers throughout this post, so BE WARNED! If you have a young reader heading back to school, check out EMERGENCY QUARTERS by Carlos Matias. It is all about the emergency quarter mama gives Ernesto each day. That … Continue reading Twist Endings Picture Book Style →

Character Generation

I despise shopping, but when I am forced to shop I see various products and wonder who would buy that? For example, who would buy 6.6 pounds of Nutella? I know it is for commercial use, but imagine the 9 year-old who would save up to buy this. Perhaps it is a gift. Who would … Continue reading Character Generation →

Outlining a Project

Last week, I turned in an outline for a new project which just happens to be an encyclopedia. This means that instead of having to outline 8 or 9 chapters, I have to outline 87 spreads. Each topic can encompass up to 8 spreads. I generally turn in very detailed outlines. This means that a … Continue reading Outlining a Project →

Tell Hard Stories by Focusing on the Small

Recently Lauren Rinalli sent out an email that has really had me focusing on what I read. Do writers really do this? Rinalli described a technique for writing about hard even violent scenes. She had seen it in an Instagram post by Fidan Meikle. You can find Meikle’s Instagram here. The idea was that you … Continue reading Tell Hard Stories by Focusing on the Small →

Pears and New Experiences

I love to learn and experience new things. Maybe this is why I am a natural as a nonfiction writer. Pull out a shiny new fact and watch it attract my attention. It doesn’t even have to be shiny. It can be small and green. We are taking care of the neighbor’s yard long term. … Continue reading Pears and New Experiences →

How to Choose and Install Fonts

Since I am trying to get my book out by the end of the month, I spent some time early this week on book design. I had already chosen fonts, assuming that if I paid for Microsoft Word I had paid for the right to use the fonts even if I self publish something. Although … Continue reading How to Choose and Install Fonts →

Books for Every Reader

Is there a classic book that you have never read and have no intention of reading? I have several but the one that I generally trot out when I need an example is Gone with the Wind. I’ve never read it and I’ve never seen the movie and neither of these things is likely to … Continue reading Books for Every Reader →

Why Would You Want to Write about That?

I’m super excited about my upcoming book! Admittedly, I put off sharing the cover with everyone. Why? Because I have a second book on a similar topic and I wanted to announce them both at the same time. But I’ve waited and waited and the second cover still hasn’t dropped. Honestly I’m not sure I … Continue reading Why Would You Want to Write about That? →