Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 67

Nonfiction Picture Book: Sample Picture Books

The journey of writing a picture book isn’t just about sitting down in front of a computer to type. This is one major difference from other types of writing such as writing a novel where you might want to type at least 1000 words a day.

In the journey of writing a picture book there are many pre-writing moments to enjoy as well as the joy of actually crafting words on the printed page.

One of the pre-writing activities we get to have fun with is to find other picture books we want OUR picture book to resemble in format and plot structure. Short of taking a class on how to write a picture book, studying picture books that embody the type of genre we are targeting will help us learn and grow as children’s writers.

If you already know your topic that you want to write about, embark on a journey to discover at least one current picture book that you want your book to be like. You’re not going to copy the content of the book, but you will be referring to this book in the days and weeks ahead as we’re building our own plot structure.

And if you’ve decided to write a nonfiction picture book about American History and want to follow along with the books I recommend for various exercises, here are three picture books I recommend you order in from your library (or even purchase if you’re on the lookout to add quality picture books to your own personal library of books).

The Camping Trip that Changed America by Barb Rosenstock

[Just a note: This book isn't pure nonfiction, actually, but most of it is true so it's a good reference to use if you opt at some point to write historical fiction rather than just straight nonfiction.]

Those Rebels, John & Tom by Barbara Kerley

So You Want to Be President by Judith St. George

Nonfiction Picture Book: Brainstorm Ideas

I’m so excited that each of you are eager to hop on board and join in the fun of writing the first draft of an 800-word nonfiction picture book from beginning to end.

Some of you already know your idea. That’s awesome! But for those of you who don’t yet know what you’d like to write about, it’s time to have some fun and brainstorm ideas.

Now, you could be like my writing buddy, Pitterpat, and could go sit in the ice chest and try to brainstorm ideas for your picture book. Or you can brainstorm ideas by looking at OTHER picture books! That’s what I like to do.

As I mentioned, if you already have an idea for your book, that’s super! But if not, consider writing a nonfiction book about American history. American history is hot right now and numerous publishers and agents are acquiring picture books on American history even in today’s tough picture book market.

If you like this idea, I recommend that you purchase or borrow from your library and read the picture book, America: A Patriotic Primer by Lynne Cheney.

The reason this book is so fantastic to help brainstorm for ideas is because it’s chock full of the key highlights of American history that kids learn about in their elementary years. So it’s a perfect launchpad to read to get our brains blasting off into space with ideas for a potential picture book.

After reading this book, choose one topic of American history that you’d like to write about, preferably a topic that is mentioned in this book. Don’t pick an obscure topic such as coal mining in Pennsylvania. Try to pick a “Top 100” topic that would be on a list every kid in elementary should know about American history. You can pick a person’s life such as Ben Franklin. Or you can pick a famous event such as building the Statue of Liberty or the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Also try to pick a topic that has a lot of research books available for it and not just articles on the Internet. You can do a quick search for this on Amazon or your local library online catalog to see if there are many books available for research.

For some silly (yet practical) tips on brainstorming ideas, check out what my writing buddies have to say at Writing According to Humphrey and Friends.

Free Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Janet S. for winning the free giveaway contest held here on my blog last Friday. I’ll be popping those 6 magazines in the mail to you right away!

And thank you to each one of you who registered for the contest. It was fun and it also helped me get familiar with how Rafflecopter works.

And why did I want to figure out Rafflecopter? Because next week, starting on Black Friday and lasting through December 6, I’ll be part of an exciting online scavenger hunt where 31 Christian authors will be hosting a giveaway of an iPad mini as well as a copy of each of our books!!!!

There will be clues to collect, author’s sites to visit, and tons of small private giveaways going on at each site (including mine!) just in time for celebrating the holidays.

So stay tuned for more info coming soon! The #31AuthorHunt will soon be here!!!!

Nonfiction Picture Book: Let’s Get Motivated, Part 2

Accountability is a good way to start getting motivated.

But how can you stay motivated to stick with me here on my blog for the upcoming two or three months and write…ACTUALLY WRITE…the first draft of an 800-word nonfiction picture book from beginning to end?

Not just stay in your chrysalis and never emerge as a butterfly.

Not just read about how to write a nonfiction picture book. Not just think about how to do it. Not just daydream about how to do it. But actually write this manuscript.

The best way to stay motivated is to plan now, plan today, plan this exact moment what you’re going to do to stay motivated so that by the end of the journey you’ll have actually written your picture book.

What are you going to plan? That’s for you to decide. It’s important to choose a method that will actually work for YOU.

Would having another writer join in the journey help you stay motivated for the next 3 months?

Then call up a writer friend and ask her to come along and join in the fun!

Would blogging about it on your own blog help you stay motivated to follow through and write this book?

Then start blogging about it right away and share the progress you’re making with all your readers.

Would a deadline help you stay motivated?

Then get out your calendar and circle January 15 in red and make that your deadline and stick with your goal.

Would a regular calendar help you stay motivated?

Then print out a blank calendar for November, December, and January. Fill it in right now with the hours you are committed to take to write on this project and don’t let anything else fill in those slots.

Would a cash prize help you stay motivated for the next 3 months?

Then put $100 in an envelope and hide it somewhere you won’t be able to get it until you actually finish that first draft. When you’re done, take a well-deserved shopping spree!

The point is this: By planning ahead now to reach the finish line in about 3 months, you can make your dream a reality.

You can write a nonfiction book from beginning to end and actually get it done. And in today’s market where nonfiction picture books are hot, this is a fantastic accomplishment to make as a children’s writer.

So how about it? What are you going to do today to make sure you stay motivated for the next 3 months to write, actually write, the first draft of your 800-word nonfiction picture book? We’d love to hear and cheer you on!

PS. Just a note. With the holidays coming up, you might find extra time to write or you might not have any time to write. I’ll be including lots of blank spaces for those of us who need to take time off from writing during this busy season but these blank spaces will also be perfect for those of us who have extra vacation time to devote to writing. So please don’t feel stressed that this will add one more item to your holiday to-do list…you’ll have plenty of time to finish this first draft on a schedule that works well for you!

Free Giveaway!

There’s going to be a great big fun scavenger hunt coming soon here to my blog and to the blogs of 30 other Christian children’s authors! The GRAND PRIZE will be an iPad Mini and there will be lots and lots of free giveaways of great books for kids!

One of the things we’re going to do is use Rafflecopter to help choose the winners of the different giveaways…which means I need to learn how to use Rafflecopter first…which means I gotta get some help from YOU!

So, before all the fun and games begin in the first week of December, I want to do a trial run with Rafflecopter here on my blog. So I decided to do a mini-giveaway of 6 free copies of a Christian children’s magazine I’ve written for. This will help me see if I have Rafflecopter working correctly AND it will give you a little taste for what’s coming your way!

If you’d like to join in the fun, just click on the link below and follow the instructions. The winner will be announced here on my blog November 19 and I’ll mail you the copies of the magazine! (Contestants must be able to supply a mailing address within the continental US to receive the prize.)

Click HERE to sign up!

Oh, and since this is a trial run, if you’d like to post a comment here to let me know if this worked for you or not, that would also be very helpful!

Thanks a bunch!

Nonfiction Picture Book: Let’s Get Motivated!

It’s been fun to hear from each of you who wants to do a nonfiction picture book step-by-step here on my blog. (And Chris, I won’t forget your interest in writing a fiction story to submit to Highlights…that might be fun to do together next!)

But now! Hip hip hooray! We’re going to go through the process of writing an 800-word nonfiction picture book together. We’re going to have lots of fun plus learn important techniques along the way. And at the end of the journey, whether or not we’ve been able to write the quality of manuscript that can get published in today’s market, we will have grown as writers. We’ll be moving forward in our career. We’ll be actually factually making steps to pursue our dreams as writers.

Now, at the beginning of a new project, I like to make a commitment to follow through until the end. If I approach it with a ho-hum attitude, I’ll never make it to the finish line.

If you’ve never written an 800 nonfiction picture book before, you might not know what’s ahead. Basically, there will be research and chunks of writing and outlining/plotting and chunks of writing and more research and chunks of writing and reading other nonfiction picture books and revising and more chunks of writing.

I’m planning on spending the next two to three months working on this project together with you here on my blog where we’ll each write our own picture book while you follow along with the steps I actually take.

And just for a note of encouragement…you CAN do this. An 800 word first draft can be written in less than an hour. Of course, it will needs lots of research and revision, but that’s how quickly it can be done. Because it’s a first draft.

We’re going to take lots of strategic steps, however, and write our nonfiction picture books in chunks and paragraphs and sections with careful planning. That’s why we’ll be taking 2 or 3 months to do it. But it will still only be 800 words. And it will still be a first draft, so it will still probably be pretty lousy. That’s because it will be a first draft.

But then, after we finish the first draft from beginning to end, I’ll give you some tips on how to edit it and polish it after the first draft is written until it’s the best you know how to write at this point of your writing journey.

Each one of us has different things on our plates and each one of us has different things that motivate us.

So first I want to hear from you. Are you making a commitment to write the first draft of this 800-word nonfiction book from beginning to end? If so, post a comment here and let us know. Accountability is always a good way to get motivated.

New Writing Tips and Strategies

Thanks for joining me in the last batch of posts here on my blog where we went through the journey of writing and submitting a nonfiction article to Highlights. If you followed along and actually submitted something, let us know when you hear back. I’ll let you know, too. Even if we get rejections, it was still a journey worth taking. You can read more about this by clicking here.

I’ve been thinking about what to post next here on my blog. And guess what? This time you get to help me decide! Look over the following topics. Then post a comment here letting me know which one interests you the most. The one with the most votes will be the one we’ll talk about for the next weeks and months here on my blog. Probably through Christmas!

NONFICTION ARTICLE IN A WEEK

Now that we have all the steps under our belt to see what it takes to write a nonfiction article for Highlights, how would you like to jump on the fast track and try to write and submit a nonfiction article to Highlights all in one week from start to finish? Yup!

Why would anyone want to do that, you may ask? Because this pace can be the pace an editor asks you to keep. It happened to me last spring. I was offered 4 nonfiction book contracts on a topic I’d really not done much research. I had 4 months to write them and that boiled down to writing a 700-800 chapter every couple of days complete with bibliography, image log of recommended images, quotes, primary sources, glossary, and more!

By learning how to write and submit a nonfiction article to Highlights in just one week, you’ll see what this pace is like to keep. I’ll let you know hour by hour what I do to accomplish this so you can try it too.

FICTION STORY FOR HIGHLIGHTS

Would you like to walk through the process together of what it takes to write and submit a fiction story to Highlights? Plotting the story arc. Developing the characters. Describing the setting. We can join in this adventure together and see what happens in real time to really write and submit a fiction story for one of the best-loved magazines in the nation!

WRITE AN 800-WORD NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK

Nonfiction picture books are hot right now! And the journey we just had writing an 800-word nonfiction article for Highlights has given us great experience for taking the next step and writing a nonfiction picture book.

Okay everyone! Let’s vote on it! What journey would you like to take part in on my blog in the weeks ahead?

Author Interview: Mary Cronk Farrell

Meet Author Mary Cronk Farrell!

E-mail: MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com

Blog: Author Mary Cronk Farrell

Web site: Author Mary Cronk Farrell

Twitter: @MaryCronkFarrel

Facebook: Author Mary Cronk Farrell

Bio:

Mary is an award-winning author of Children’s/YA books and former journalist with a passion for stories about people facing great adversity with courage. She says, “Writing such stories has shown me that in our darkest moments we have the opportunity to discover our true identity and follow an inner compass toward the greater good.”

Mary’s fiction and non-fiction titles feature little-known true stories of history based on thorough research. Most include an author’s note, bibliography and further resources, but they are not dry, scholarly tomes! Confronting grief, adversity and failure in her own life, enables Mary to write stories with an authentic emotional core.

Her books have been named Notable Social Studies Book for Young People, SPUR Award for Best Juvenile Fiction about the American West, Bank Street College List of Best Children’s Books, and NY Public Library Best Books for Teens. Mary’s journalistic work has received numerous awards for excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists and two Emmy nominations.

Featured Book:

Pure Grit:

How American WWII Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific

Interview:

Q: Describe the journey you took to write and publish this book.

A: When I discovered a group of American Nurses had been held POW for three years in WWII, I knew instantly I had to write their story. Partly, because women’s history has been overlooked, and partly because I was struggling with a difficult time in my own life. I wanted to know how these women survived near-starvation, disease and imprisonment. Surely, if they got through such hardship, I could cope with my problems.

After preliminary research, my agent sold the book proposal to Abrams Books for Young Readers and my efforts shifted into high gear. Altogether, I spent about three-and-a-half years researching the book. A high point was meeting Mildred Dalton Manning, the one nurse still living, though she has since passed on. I interviewed a number of nurses’ daughters and sons and read everything I could find that had been written on the topic, as well as visiting the National Archives to find historical government documents. Oral interviews with the nurses conducted by the Department of Defense became indispensable sources for PURE GRIT.

Researching at the NARA

My first draft of the story was very long and my editor asked me to cut ten-thousand words. I ruthlessly chopped more than seven-thousand and that’s when the story really came together. Photo research for PURE GRIT was an enormous task, as the book includes more than one hundred photographs, some of which have never before been published.

Q: How do you hope to influence today’s young readers through this book?

A: I have so many hopes for young people who read PURE GRIT. First, I hope they will come to admire these women as much as I do, and that they will be inspired by the nurses’ courage and their dedication to put other’s wellbeing before their own. The POW nurses showed me how the bonds of friendship and commitment to a common purpose can help one survive dire circumstances.

I also hope that those who read PURE GRIT will have more understanding and compassion for veterans coming home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and help support benefits to help them readjust to civilian life.

Q: Do you have a favorite children’s author whose stories you like to read?

A: I love historical fiction, so one author I’ve enjoyed for a long time is Katherine Paterson. I have also been a big fan of the Ellie Chronicles by John Marsden. When I was growing up I read every single Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mystery.

Q: Share tips and strategies on how you experience successful school visits.

A: Because my books so far have been hardcover, the price is too high to generate many sales at school visits. Thus, I gauge my success on the experience and knowledge that I provide for students.

My classroom visits are interactive and my goal is to get kids thinking, writing and sharing ideas with one another. I often bring along museum-quality artifacts that help kids gain a practical understanding of life in prior times. And I show historical photos and documents, like newspaper articles. Learning about history through the eyes of those who lived it makes it more interesting and relevant.

Hippety Hopping Down the Blog Hop Trail!

Here comes Peter Cottontail,

Hopping down the bunny trail…

Hippety Hoppety Easter’s on its way!

Remember singing that fun song when you were a kid?

Well…it’s not Easter quite yet.

And I’m not Peter Cottontail,

but there have been so many blog hops going on these days that I feel like singing that song with my name in it…

So come on…sing along with me!

Here comes [put your name in here] Cottontail,

Hopping down the Blog Hop Trail

Hippety Hoppety Authors come your way!

Seriously, though, if you’re reading my blog

and if you’ve signed up to FOLLOW my blog,

chances are, you’re an author.

You’re a writer.

And you probably like to write at least some of the time for kids.

So, if you’d ever like to be included in a blog hop I get asked to join, where I get linked to from somewhere in cyberspace and then I link to 3 or 4 other writers in cyberspace and we all share with our reading buddies and friends in cyberspace, let me know! I’ll put together an e-mail list and invite you to join in the fun one of the next times I get invited to join a blog hop. You can post a comment here or e-mail me at jeffandnancys@gmail.com and let me know you want me to add your name and e-mail to my blog-hop list.

Today, I’ve been invited to hop down the blog hop trail by Sally Matheny! Sally is a homeschooling Southern belle with a heart for Jesus and always an encouraging word for others. She writes for children in places like Clubhouse Jr., Appleseeds, and DevoKids.

For the blog hop, here are four questions I bet you’re just dying to know the answer to about me as an author!

1) What’s the last book you just read?

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I really enjoyed this MG novel. Call me a softie or call me a farm girl transplanted in the big city who will always have a tender heart for animals, I loved climbing inside the head of the sweet gorilla named Ivan. It was a sad read, but ended happy. I love a happy ending.

2) What are your next plans for your garden?

Fall has officially arrived here in sunny California and I’m buying bright yellow pansies by the 6-pack to decorate my yard with. When the trees are bare and most of the flowers are dead, these bright yellow splashes of sunshine brighten my writer’s soul all winter long.

3) What’s playing in your CD player/ipod?

A Child’s Garden of Verses as sung by two unknown singers…a record from my childhood that I still play over and over again. It inspires me to write and think and see the world with a child’s heart.

4) Any marketing strategies in the horizon?

I’ve just been invited to join a Scavenger hunt! So watch for details. There will be a BIG prize for the winner…they’re talking about an iPad mini!!!!…lots of book prizes along the way…clues to gather and authors’ sites to visit…watch for upcoming details at the end of November so you can join in the fun, fun, fun!!!! Online marketing is one way we writers can get the news about our books out…and it’s also a good excuse for us all to join in another celebration in cyberspace.

Here are some blogs I’ve tagged recently, so if you haven’t yet visited them, stop by and say “hi”!

As a nurse, Terri Forehand has a tender heart for kids, especially ones who are dealing with health issues. Learn about the special book she’s written to help bring hope.

And author Carolyn Huston has written a book for children with autism. Find out more about her journey at her blog.

Improving Your Writing Skills

I have 10 nieces and nephews and 15 great-nieces and nephews. Each time another great-niece or great-nephew is born, I like to crochet an afghan, tie a fleece blanket, or sew a quilt. Lately I’ve been making quilts. I just finished the last quilt that you see in this picture when I got the news another great-nephew was on the way! This is probably the tenth baby quilt I’ve made so far.

So I got out my current favorite quilt pattern and made notes about how much yardage to purchase for the 9 different fabrics needed to make this quilt. I got a baby shower invitation and discovered the baby nursery would have a woodlands animal theme. I got my coupons in the mail for my favorite fabric store. I marked on my calendar the date I’d trek the 30 miles out there. I was all prepared.

Then I went to the dentist. Our dentist is out near my husband’s work in a city about an hour away. As Jeff and I started to drive home, we saw my favorite fabric store…right there…by the dentist! I never knew it was there.

We were racing home to get dinner on the table for our kids who were driving in for a special family evening. We didn’t have time to stop. But Jeff suggested we just take a peek to see if this store had the woodlands animal fabric since I’d never seen it in the one I usually shop at.

We screeched to a stop and I ran in only to discover they had a wonderful selection of woodland animals baby fabric that I’d never seen! And they were all on sale!

I didn’t have my coupons. I didn’t know the exact measurements. I didn’t have much time. But I didn’t want to miss this amazing opportunity.

So I whipped through the aisle of nursery prints while Jeff tried to download the coupon app on his iPhone. Within 15 minutes, I picked out all 9 different fabrics, guesstimated the amount I needed of each, and we were back in the car heading home. We made it back in time for a lovely dinner celebrating the one year anniversary of our son and his precious new wife.

Why am I telling you this?

Because picking out the fabric has always been an agonizing step for me. I have spent literally hours trying to coordinate colors and prints for crafting the perfect quilt. Some of my quilts, when they are all done, fall short of that “perfection” and don’t look as pleasing to the eye as I had hoped.

But this time I amazed even myself. I picked out an amazing palette of fabrics and knew just what went well with what. I know this quilt will be awesome!

It suddenly dawned on me. After making 10 quilts, I had unknowingly mastered one of my greatest challenges in quilting.

It’s the same with writing. Many writers struggle with that one precious manuscript and spend years trying to make it perfect. Or they just write one or two manuscripts and feel frustrated with the whole process so don’t really write much any more at all.

I want to suggest something. Make it your goal to just write. Write that next manuscript from beginning to end. Then write another. Then write another. Learn to write a children’s novel in a month. Then write another novel. Then another.

Write a picture book in a month. Then another. And then another.

Finish that nonfiction article you started writing for Highlights. Then write another one. And another one. Make it your goal to write 10 nonfiction articles in the year ahead and submit them to Highlights.

Why? Because you’ll automatically improve as a writer. Guaranteed.

And you just might be surprised to discover one day, just as I was when we stopped at that fabric store, that you have mastered your greatest challenge as a writer.

And that’s a good place to be.