Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 83

Using Secrets in Your Stories

Yesterday I read a blog post by David Corbett on character secrets. It started me thinking about how I use secrets in my own work-in-progress. My story is a middle grade science fiction novel. There is political intrigue and global calamity and not surprisingly the adults have a lot of secrets. They don’t think that … Continue reading Using Secrets in Your Stories →

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you won’t be surprised when I tell you that I picked up THE POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo after I heard about an attempt to ban it. One of my writing friends told me that parents at a charter school had attempted to ban the … Continue reading The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo →

Hooking the Reader with Narrative Nonfiction

When I write a nonfiction book for tweens and teens, chapter one opens with a narrative nonfiction scene that will hook the reader. A book about an ancient culture might start with a daily scene from that culture. A historic battle would focus on a moment in that altercation. In a book about evolution, I … Continue reading Hooking the Reader with Narrative Nonfiction →

Stepping into the Deep End

Last weekend, members of my Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) region met together before the big summer conference in LA. We do this every year before the conference and it is a great way to meet fellow creators from your region. That’s important since my particular region includes both Kansas and Missouri. … Continue reading Stepping into the Deep End →

Starting In the Middle

Don’t start your story too early. That’s the advice most of us have heard. Start your story in the middle of things. Another name for this is starting your story in media res. Most of us interpret this to mean that we need to start with some piece of action. The reader needs to meet … Continue reading Starting In the Middle →

Pitching Your Work in an E-mail

Twitter events and conferences aren’t the only opportunities for you to pitch your work to an editor. Magazines in the Carus publishing group put out theme lists inviting authors to pitch. You can also pitch to any publication or site that is open to queries. When you do, remember to include the following four things. … Continue reading Pitching Your Work in an E-mail →

National Book Lovers Day

Today, August 9, is National Book Lovers Day. I suspect that many writers live as I do, nestled among books. The only rooms with no books in them are the kitchen and the bathroom. That said, I don’t count the kitchen. While not a great room, the kitchen and family room open into each other … Continue reading National Book Lovers Day →

Retain the Spark

You come up with a great idea and you draft a new picture book manuscript. You revise and polish and take it to your critique group. They give you feedback and you rewrite. Then you have someone else critique it. They too give you feedback and you rewrite again. Many of us will keep up … Continue reading Retain the Spark →

How to Avoid Writing a Preachy Picture Book

Name a problem that a kindergartner might face, and there is a right way and a wrong way to tell a story about how to deal with it. Take, for example, the difficulties that a child might have if they have an unusual first name. Possible solutions include: Going along and answering to the wrong … Continue reading How to Avoid Writing a Preachy Picture Book →

Researching a Nonfiction Book

One of the questions I get most often from my students is how much research you need to do to write a nonfiction book. The first thing you need to know is that you don’t do a lot less research for a short book. I just signed contracts for 4 new books. Two are for … Continue reading Researching a Nonfiction Book →