Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 43

Chapter Book: Cliffhanger

A few months ago my husband Jeff and I drove up to our local mountains for a fun day. On our drive back, we pulled over to take photos of the spectacular view.

What feelings do you get as you look at the photograph, standing on this side of the cliff, looking out over the vista.

Nice view, don’t you agree?

Now imagine what feelings you’d have if you were on the OTHER SIDE of that rock, hanging on for dear life so you wouldn’t fall down the cliff to the sheer drop thousands of feet below.

That’s the feeling we want our young readers to have at the end of each chapter we’ll be writing in our early chapter book. That’s why we want to be sure to include a cliffhanger at each chapter’s end.

When I wrote adventure stories for the early chapter book series, The Imagination Station, as I was working on my chapter-by-chapter summary to turn into editorial for approval, I brainstormed cliffhangers for each of my chapters. Since this was an adventure the cliffhangers were as dangerous and exciting as possible!

Here in our early chapter book, and in our mentor text Stink #1, our cliffhangers can be less “adventuresome” but still have that same feeling of, “I gotta turn the page to find out what happens!”

Technically, we can plug in a cliffhanger at any point when we’re working on our manuscripts, but I’ve found it helps to brainstorm ideas now as we’re preparing our chapter-by-chapter summary of where we want our book to go.

So if you’d like to give this a try, go ahead and add cliffhangers to the end of your chapters that you’re brainstorming right now!

Filed under: Chapter Books, Plots

Book Review: Devotions from the Garden

Devotions from the Garden:

Finding Peace and Rest from Your Hurried Life

by Miriam Drennan

Summary

This beautiful, full color book is bursting with photographs of country gardens, butterflies, flowers, birdbaths, and ladybugs. Sigh. What a refreshing and lovely addition to our time with God. Each of the devotional thoughts begins with a Scripture and includes a personal lesson to apply by looking at nature through the eyes of the Creator who made each dewdrop and sparrow to bless and nourish our souls as a reflection of His love and tender care for each one of us. There is a simple prayer at the end.

What I Like

I’ve read devotionals for years. My favorites are MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, STREAMS IN THE DESERT, and CHARLES SPURGEON’S morning and evening devotions. Well, now I have a new favorite! I love, love, love, how these lessons are taken straight from the garden. From harvesting blackberries to waiting for seeds to grow to planting a butterfly garden, each devotion has such a tender and encouraging life lesson for us to learn.

The author’s heart and love for gardens and for God shine through in this wonderful book. But better than that, the heart of God, the love of Jesus, and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit shine through each vivid example of God’s creation and the lessons God wants each of us to learn.

-Thanks, BookLook Bloggers for another wonderful free book in exchange for my honest review!

Filed under: Book Review

Chapter Book: Chapter by Chapter Summary

The next thing I’m doing to learn from my mentor text is to go through each chapter and write down a little summary of it.

Why?

Because then I want to write a little summary of my own book, chapter by chapter.

Why would I want to do that, even before the book is written?

Because that’s the way I’ve been trained to do it. And I’ve learned it really helps build a stronger book from the get-go.

It’s not always necessary to write a book that way. But when one of my publishers flew me back to their publishing house to attend plotting meetings on 3 early chapter books I would be writing for them, that’s what we did…we worked together and then on my own (to eventually get approved) to write a summary of each of those books, chapter by chapter, before the books were even written.

Wow. That experience taught me a lot.

So how about it? Want to learn how the pros write early chapter books?

Go through and examine our mentor text, Stink #1, and write a little summary of what happens in each chapter. Compare it to the plot chart we made for the book.

Then use your plot chart to help you write a chapter by chapter summary for YOUR book.

At 7 chapters, this is very do-able…and a super-great experience for you to learn as a children’s writer.

But if you don’t want to do this all on your own, don’t panic! Next Thursday June 11 I have a surprise for you!

I’m going to teach a teleclass called:

BOOK TALK: STINK #1: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING KID

In that teleclass we’re going to dissect our mentor text including going through a chapter-by-chapter summary of the entire book!

So if you’d like help on this step (plus tons more of exciting stuff that will really help your writing career!) then watch here on my blog for upcoming details about how to sign up for the teleclass.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Faith Building Friday: Cheerfully

Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you [write], as though you were [writing] for the Lord rather than people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward and the Master you are serving is Christ.

-Colossians 3:23-24, NLT

It’s easy to get in a slump as a writer because editors and publishers send us continuous streams of rejection letters. Cheer up! Write your manuscript with a song of joy in your heart. Respond to God’s call to write and write it for Him. He will reward you with a rich inheritance after you complete the task, even if you never see it in print. Leave the prospects of publication in His hands and get back to writing your next assignment from God–with joy.

Dear God, please renew my vision. Give me a new song in my heart as I write. Help me keep my eyes on pleasing You as Your scribe, rather than just trying to land a contract. Amen.

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For more faith-building encouragement as a writer, visit my site, Scribes.

The pocket edition of Scribes: Devotions for Christian Writers is available at Amazon. What a great gift of encouragement to give to your critique group buddies and writer friends!

Filed under: Inspiration

Writing Challenges

Recently my husband Jeff and I attended a local airshow where we watched pilots like this one climb into their plane and zoom off into the skies. What a challenge!

As writers, it’s great to join fun events that challenge us to soar to new heights, too!

So I’m putting together a list of writing challenges that are available out there for us as writers to participate in.

If you’d like to share a one or more writing challenges that you have heard of or that you participate in, just post it here in the comment section and I’ll be sure to add it to my list. Please add the link to its website or e-mail of the contact person if you know what it is so we can find out how to join in the challenge, too.

I’m hoping to post the list soon here on my blog so you can all see it, too!

If you’re not quite sure what I’m talking about, I’m thinking along the lines of Nanowrimo: The National Novel Writing Month that happens each month in November.

Filed under: Networking

Chapter Book: Get Organized

I’ve been carrying around a notebook, jotting down ideas for my early chapter book wherever I go.

I’ve written some actual conversations as my character’s voice is popping into my head.

I’ve jotted down ideas on developing my cast of characters.

I’ve made notes about potential plot points and twists.

So this morning I felt the need to organize all this.

I spread out everything I have so far on my table. My writing buddy Sandman decided to help me since he’s working on an early chapter book, too. His story features a cast of birds who visit our bird feeders every day and taunt him from outside our window.

Then I made file folders and put them in my pocket folder. Here are some of the folders I put in already:

A folder for my current manuscript in progress since I’ve already written a couple of chapters as the beginning has started to take shape in my head.

A folder for any general notes I’ve taken. (I rip these out of my notebook and put in here or in the corresponding file folder in my pocket folder.)

A folder for SETTING.

A folder for PLOT.

A folder for TITLE. (I’ll brainstorm ideas for my title and put these in here.)

A folder for MENTOR TEXT: STINK #1. (I put in all the plot charts and notes I’ve taken on this so far.)

A folder for RESEARCH. (I’m putting in research notes here since one of my characters is an animal. I got in a tote bag full of nonfiction picture books on this animal from the library. I read these over the weekend and plan to re-read them and take a bunch of notes.)

Folders I haven’t yet included but plan to make will be TOP SECRET DETECTIVE FILES for my cast of characters, especially my main character and his closest friends. I’ll also include a folder for BACKGROUND CHARACTERS when I get there.

And I also got out my book, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE BEGINNING READERS AND CHAPTER BOOKS and re-read Chapter 7: “Writing Strategies for Beginning Readers and Chapter Books.”

Yes, I do read my own books! Smile. That’s because I switch genres so frequently (I just finished a 190+ page nonfiction unit on FROGS that I posted to my store in Teachers Pay Teachers) that I needed a refresher on the basic elements of early chapter books that are fiction. I recommend you do the same and read that chapter, too!

So if you haven’t yet organized all your notes, I encourage you to do so in the next few days.

Next week here on my blog we’ll be wrapping up brainstorming on PLOT and then we’ll move forward onto CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT in the week after that. Creating a pocket folder now will help you keep all your notes organized!

Filed under: Chapter Books

Chapter Book: Plotting Your Mentor Text

Do you know what the three-act structure is?

Basically, it divides every story into a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Over the years, I’ve developed a worksheet that I call:

Basic Plot Worksheet A. It helps me plan out the plot structure of my children’s stories, both fiction and nonfiction.

You can download and print out this worksheet by visiting my site, Writing According to Humphrey and Friends. Scroll down the page to CHARTS AND WORKSHEETS TO GET ORGANIZED FOR SUCCESS and click on the “Basic Plot Worksheet A.”

As you can see from the worksheet, the beginning takes up about a fourth of the picture book. In the 3-act structure, the beginning is called Act I.

The middle takes up about half of the picture book. In a 3-act structure, the middle is called Act II. There’s a first half of Act II and a second half of Act II.

Then the ending takes up about a fourth of the picture book. In a 3-act structure, the end is called Act III.

In most chapter books, you’ll find this same structure, so if you pattern your story after this structure, it will be stronger from the get-go.

(A note here…if you google the 3-act structure or even read plotting books or articles about the 3-act structure, you’ll find a lot of authors who say they don’t like the 3-act structure and it’s not needed so don’t follow it.)

• HOWEVER!!! And this is a big however!!!!!

• I have yet to meet the EDITOR who says toss out the 3-act structure. Every single editor I’ve ever worked with when it comes to discussing the plot of a children’s story, they say to use the 3-act structure.

• So am I going to listen to those other authors, even if they’re bestselling and popular? Or am I going to listen to the editors?

• You can bet I’m going to listen to the editors. Because that’s who I want to fall in love with my book so much they’ll publish it. Therefore, I use the 3-act structure.)

Let’s look a little bit closer at the Basic Plot Worksheet.

There are 3 significant changes that occur in a story that follows the 3-act structure:

1. You can see that there is a significant change that occurs at the end of the Act I to usher in the middle, or Act II.

2. There’s a significant change that occurs in the middle of Act II and this also occurs in the middle of the entire book.

3. Plus, there’s a significant change that occurs at the end of Act II to usher in the end, or Act III.

As you can see at the top of this post, I went through our mentor text, Stink #1 and plotted its chart with the three-act structure. You can download it and print it out so you have a copy to refer to.

Use it as a guide to plot these basic plot points for the chapter book YOU are working on!

Filed under: Uncategorized

Faith Building Friday: Discernment

My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace. They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble…The Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.

-Proverbs 3:21-26

It’s easy to get caught up in the story we are writing and cross the line into writing about ungodly things. The world’s standards are so loose and muddled these days, that it’s hard to discern what is okay to write about and what’s not. It helps to keep in mind that the world’s standards are set up by Satan, himself. God’s standards, however, are all about what’s best for us as His children. As we write and rewrite our manuscripts, let’s try to write for what’s best. Let’s not settle for second rate regarding godliness.

Dear God, please reveal to me the places in my manuscripts that do not give honor to You and Your ways. Give me common sense as I write–the sense to remember the basic truths and principles You teach in Your Word but that the world seems to have forgotten these days. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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For more faith-building encouragement as a writer, visit my site, Scribes.

The pocket edition of Scribes: Devotions for Christian Writers is available at Amazon. What a great gift of encouragement to give to your critique group buddies and writer friends!

Filed under: Inspiration

Writing Conference for Nonfiction Writers: This will change YOUR writing career!

Can you believe I stood this close to this mountain lion to snap such a great photograph? I was just inches away from him!!! But as you’ve probably already guessed, yes, I was at a zoo and there was a nice wall of glass between us.

I get excited going to places like zoos and museums because it gives me such fantastic ideas and research for my nonfiction stories for kids. I take lots of notes and lots of photos.

And guess what?! I’m especially excited about going to an upcoming conference for nonfiction children’s writers!!!!

This conference is LIMITED to just 40 attendees. You won’t get lost in a crowd like so many writing conferences out there where you’re just one in a sea of faces. You will be HEARD and KNOWN and HELPED.

This conference is GUARANTEED to help jumpstart your career as a nonfiction writer for kids. There’s an awesome faculty line-up of published nonfiction writers who will be sharing their EXPERTISE with you. I’m so excited to be joining the faculty, too!

You and I would get to MEET in person and face to face!!!! How awesome is that?!!!

But guess what? It gets even better…this conference is SPECIFICALLY for BEGINNING writers, or writers who want to start getting published in the nonfiction market. You won’t have to feel like everyone there is a better writer than you are…it’s tailored to meet your needs!

What: NF 4 NF Nonfiction for New Folks Writer’s Conference

When: September 17 – 20, 2015

Where: Rosenberg, Texas

The schedule is jam-packed with opportunity to hone your craft and learn all about writing nonfiction. I’ll be presenting a session on Writing for the Educational Market and an intensive on How to Write a Nonfiction Book in Three Weeks.

JOIN ME at meals for informal time where we can get to know each other better.

SIGN UP for me to give your manuscript a PERSONAL critique.

Plus, it’s gonna be FUN! We’ll be hootin’ and hollerin’ Texas-style! Writers from around the country will be playing together at GAME NIGHT and DANCING at Tex-Mex Night…lessons are provided! There will be critiques and writing time and fun!

GIFT yourself with this conference (or ask your family and friends to pitch together for a special present and MAKE THIS HAPPEN) so you can get away to spend time with me and other faculty members and writers to take your nonfiction writing to the level you want it to be.

CLICK HERE to register today!

Filed under: Conferences, Nonfiction

Chapter Book: Ideas for Your Middle

Let me tell you a story. A true story.

Here’s what happened in the beginning of the story:

My brother and his wife came to visit us a few weeks ago. They planned to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada! I wanted to hike a little bit of the trail with them when they were passing near our house, but there wasn’t really any place that we could connect with them locally in a timely manner. They had to keep moving pretty fast to get north as fast as possible to avoid the desert during the hottest months. So we drove them to the Mexico border where the trailhead is and we said “Good-bye!”

End of Story:

That’s me in the photo at the top of this post, sitting on a couch in the middle of the forest on the Pacific Crest Trail above 8000 feet…because, guess what?!!! My husband Jeff and I got to hike 2 miles of the trail with them after all!!!! (Okay, so I’m not a long distance hiker, lol.)

So your question now is:

What happened in the middle that changed everything so I got to hike with them after all? (And what in the world is that couch doing out in the middle of the woods?????)

So here’s what happened in the middle:

We got a phone call from my brother saying that they got caught in an unexpected snow storm and freezing weather. Even their shoes were frozen! So they had to come off the trail near our house for several days while the snow melted. We drove up to the hotel where they were staying, took them a couple of supplies, and then got to hike with them for a little bit after all. My dream came true! (Oh, and that couch was put there next to a dumpster filled with food supplies by people called “trail angels” who leave supplies to help the hikers who are hiking the trail…but that’s another story!)

THAT’S what we want our middle to be like in the story we’re creating.

We want to think of something significant that CHANGED the character and the action and the story so that the ending could happen.

So go ahead and brainstorm ideas for your middle until you think of one that will really be a gem!

Filed under: Chapter Books, Plots