Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 9

Research: The Difference Between Fact and Something Else

I’m currently taking Bob Woodward’s MasterClass on investigative journalism. One of the things that he discusses is when to trust that a source is giving you FACT. Because of the type of journalism he does, not everyone is willing to go on record and attach their name to a specific set of facts. Woodward makes … Continue reading Research: The Difference Between Fact and Something Else →

Meet the Mini-Mammals: The Hook and the Structure

Sometimes the structure of a nonfiction picture book comes from the topic. Biographies and history tend to be chronological. But reverse chronology is another choice. See Before She Was Harriet. Or you could tell parallel stories like Hannah Holt did in The Diamond and the Boy: The Creation of Diamonds & The Life of H. Tracy Hall. … Continue reading Meet the Mini-Mammals: The Hook and the Structure →

Social Media Marketing: Make It Personal

I’m about halfway through the Google social media marketing certificate. Again and again they’ve repeated the fact that social media marketing posts need to be personal. Whether you are an author posting about your book or a teacher posting about your writing class, you need to make the posts about you. One way to do … Continue reading Social Media Marketing: Make It Personal →

Finding Space in the Market

Abraham Lincoln. George Washington. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are people with so much already written about them that you wonder when you see that something new has been released. How do they make the sale? One way to do it is to find a new approach to the topic. My husband and I saw … Continue reading Finding Space in the Market →

Self-Publishing and Fonts

I took a self-publishing class through WOW! Women on Writing. One of Barbara Noe Kennedy’s first recommendation? Check your fonts. They may not all be licensed commercially. I’m not selling my first self-published book, the one on book banning. But I will be selling other books. That may mean that I want the fonts to … Continue reading Self-Publishing and Fonts →

Science Fiction vs Fantasy

These are the kinds of diagrams that get drawn on napkins when my son’s STEM friends try to argue that “science fiction and fantasy are the same thing.” What can I say? Sometimes I picture really does make it easier to explain. The umbrella term for science fiction, fantasy, horror, super hero stories, fairy tales … Continue reading Science Fiction vs Fantasy →

Creating Quirky Contemporary Characters

We’ve all heard the advice. Make your characters interesting by making them quirky. That’s pretty good advice but we also need to remember to make them contemporary. I started thinking about this when my son’s friends came over for the 4th of July. Except for my husband and I, everyone was in their mid twenties. … Continue reading Creating Quirky Contemporary Characters →

Procrastination: 4 Reasons You Don’t Find the Time to Write

I wish that I had time to write. If I had a dime for every time a writer said this to me, let’s just say that I’d have LOTS and LOTS of dimes.  Most of us feel this way at some point. Whether we are in the middle of a move, a busy time at … Continue reading Procrastination: 4 Reasons You Don’t Find the Time to Write →

Hand Exercises for Writers and Crafters

I saw a really good graphic and write up of some hand exercises last week. And you could share them through your WordPress blog. If you registered for X service. And jumped through a number of hoops. My solution? I decided to record a brief video (see above) of some of the hand exercises we … Continue reading Hand Exercises for Writers and Crafters →

4th of July

I hope that all of my readers have a happy and safe 4th of July. I’m going to try to spend some time relaxing but there’s a lot going on here. We have a family wedding at the end of the month and I’m helping with that. We are redoing our kitchen cabinets (paint and … Continue reading 4th of July →