Get the Hook!
No, I’m not talking about pirate captains, or fishing. But I am talking about capturing something – and that is the interest of your reader. As always, with the necessary economy of words in a picture book, the ‘hook’ needs to happen on the first page – ideally in the first sentence or two. You [...]
The Circle of Focus
When Jane Yolen speaks of ‘focus’ with respect to writing picture books, she specifies that it should be sharp and small. There’s an acting term originally coined by the great acting teacher Stanislavski called “Circle of Focus.” During his career as a young actor, Stanislavski often experienced tension on stage. He discovered that he could better [...]
Child-Centeredness
The third word in Jane Yolen’s list of “Ten Words Every Picture Book Author Should Know” is Child-Centeredness. I’ve written about this in previous blog posts, but it bears repeating: the heroes, or protagonists, of children’s books must be characters that young readers can identify with and relate to. Jane takes this notion one step [...]
Compression: Getting Down to the Essence
The second word in Jane Yolen’s list of ‘ten words every picture book author must know’ is Compression. It’s a good word, and can be defined as “the reduction of the volume or mass of something by applying pressure” (an apt description of the editing process!) Among the words I might choose to describe the [...]
Jane Yolen’s 10 Words Every Picture Book Author Must Know
Last week at the SCBWI Winter Conference, the award-winning author Jane Yolen talked about ten words that every picture book author should know: Lyricism, compression, child centeredness, focus, hook, words, ‘illustratability’, motion, emotion and resolution. I found this list particularly inspiring, and thought I would try my hand at riffing on each word, and why [...]
SCBWI Highlights
I had the pleasure of spending this past Saturday at the SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC. Wow! For those of you remotely interested in writing for children, the SCBWI conferences are a must. The information, networking opportunities and resources are invaluable. The venerable Lois Lowry gave a superb keynote on finding ideas (during which I [...]
What’s His Problem? (Your hero, that is)
When writing fiction of any kind, the main question with respect to plot is always this: What is the problem? The problem, also known as the conflict, is the thing, or things, standing in the way of the hero/protagonist getting what he or she wants or needs, and as such, it sets up his or [...]
The Replay of the Children’s Book Writing Q&A Call is Ready!
If you missed last night’s live Q&A webcast/teleseminar on writing and publishing children’s books, you’ll want to hear the replay, as we addressed over fifty questions about all aspects of writing and publishing for children and young adults. There are also slides with links to resources and information mentioned throughout the call. You can click [...]
Trolling for Ideas (or, “Darn! Why Didn’t I Write That?!”)
The ideas for our children’s books are often inspired by my kids. Dumpy the Dump Truck was directly inspired by my son Sam’s love of trucks, and The Very Fairy Princess was inspired by my very fairy princess daughter, Hope. But we have often pulled ideas from other sources as well. Here are a few [...]
Writing Goals for the New Year
I prefer setting goals to making resolutions. Somehow they feel more positive and attainable, less like resolving not to do something and more like committing to a new behavior or action. One of the most powerful ways to get something done is to establish the goal first. The simple act of committing a goal to [...]
