Writing in Rhyme

In a writing group I recently attended, one member followed up with an email to ask why editors did not like rhyming stories. I certainly can’t answer for editors, and since I don’t (and can’t) write in rhyme, my reply is based on the information I’ve heard in workshops and discussions with several editors.

Rhyme does not work when the rhyme is the most important factor. The story reigns supreme and should have an arc with a beginning, middle, and ending, as with non-rhyming stories. The words should read well and be fun to say, and the rhyming words should be exact rhymes. Near-rhymes don’t cut it.

The strength of the story comes from the voice, emotion, plot, character, and resolution/change at the end of the story, not from the rhyme. It’s easy to write bad rhyme (I know because the rhyme I’ve written is not contract worthy), and good rhyme is extremely difficult to master.  

Editors often steer away from rhyme since it is difficult to translate into other languages, making the sales market smaller. 

The manuscript must tell a good story. If you can do that and follow the rules of rhyme, give it a try. Many authors do and are successful.

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Chicken Soup. Christmas and Holiday Collection – 2018. Our next holiday collection will not be released until 2018 but we are already collecting stories for it. People love reading about the winter holidays – from Thanksgiving all the way through New Year’s Day. We want to hear about your traditions and how they came to be. We want to hear about your holiday memories and the rituals that create the foundation of your life. We love to hear about the funny things too: the ugly holiday sweaters, the gingerbread house that kept falling down, the re-gifting embarrassments and the fruit cake disasters. Please be sure your stories are “Santa safe” so we don’t spoil the magic for any precocious young readers. The deadline date for story and poem submissions is October 31, 2017.

 Submission guidelines at http://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topicsSubmission guidelines at

 Nancy Kelly Allen has written 40+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK. Check out her blog at www.nancykellyallen.com

Picture Book Revision, part 1

           Whew! The first draft is finished looks more like a lump of coal than a polished gem, but coal is good. The revision process starts now. Here are some “coal” hard facts:

The manuscript needs structure with a tight arc that clearly defines the beginning, middle, and ending. Many picture books suffer from an ending that’s too short or a beginning that’s too long. Writers accomplish this with a setup of three obstacles the character must face, each obstacle increasing in difficulty and leading toward a climax. Ideally, the beginning is about 20% of the manuscript, the middle is 60%, and the ending is 20%.

Here’s a burning question I always ask myself: Does the character accomplish what s/he sets out to do and without intervention by an adult? If not, rethink the plot.

Condensed writing. Keep the story less than 600 words, under 500 words is preferable with many publishers. The key to tight writing is to cut, cut, cut words. If the words don’t promote the plot or develop the character, axe them. Every word must help tell the story. Chop words that don’t paint pictures: it, there, just, that.

Allow illustrations to work for you. Since I’m not a writer, I have to constantly think about what can be shown with art. Facial expressions, color of clothes, etc. Think visually.

Burning question number 2: Have I communicated a particular idea? If so, it doesn’t need to be repeated, unless I’m using a repetition phrase intentionally for the purpose of rhythm and storytelling.

In my next blog, I’ll continue with more tips on how to polish that lump into a gem.

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE. Highlights for Children is a general-interest, advertising-free magazine for children up to age 12. Stories for younger readers (ages 3 to 7) should have 500 words or fewer and should not seem babyish to older readers. Stories for older readers (ages 8 to 12) should have 800 words or fewer and should be appealing to younger readers if read aloud. Frequent needs include humor, mystery, sports, holiday and adventure stories; retellings of traditional tales; stories with urban settings; and stories that feature world cultures. Payment $150 and up. Rebuses should have 120 words or fewer. Pays $100 and up. Nonfiction pays $150 and up.

Submission guidelines at https://www2.highlights.com/contributor-guidelines

Nancy Kelly Allen has written 40+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK. Check out her blog at www.nancykellyallen.com

Creating Scenes

Let’s look at other elements needed in scenes.

Action. The sooner the action, the sooner the reader is drawn into the story. The momentum of action carries the reader forward, turning the pages. Remember to keep the action true to the character. A girl might run away from home, but she is not likely to intentionally place her younger sister in harm. One effective beginning is to start a novel with an action scene without explanation. Jump into the action. Backstory is unnecessary as a novel opening and is best revealed and scenes unfold.

Add conflict, tension, or suspense. I began my children’s novel, Amazing Grace, with two mysteries. As the scenes unfolded, the first mystery was revealed. A few scenes later, I introduced the second mystery. Failure creates conflict, tension, and suspense. Allow your character to fail and fail again. Through failure comes learning, experience, and change—elements needed so the character can grow and succeed. Failure is a motivator. It’s what keeps the character determined to continue the quest. Failure and learning creates an emotional growth for the character, as well.

Consider how each scene takes the character to the goal or solution to the problem, the end result. If the scene doesn't do that, scrap it. Save it for the next book.

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

Cuckoo Chronicle is a bi-annual online literature journal for young writers aged 15-21. We like innovative, original work by young writers, and aim to both support talent development and showcase high quality work. We accept poetry, short fiction, flash fiction, excerpts from longer fiction (providing they make sense as a stand alone piece) and creative non-fiction (not reviews). We also love to receive audio/ video/ film- so send us your songs, performances and illustartions too. We’re also interested in illustrations too. BE CREATIVE.

We also offer a Cuckoo prize of £50 for the best submission of every issue!

All submissions are read by our Editorial Committee made up of young people, also aged 15-21. They decide what goes into Cuckoo, edit pieces and decide on the editorial direction of Cuckoo Chronicle.

Submission guidelines at http://chronicle.cuckoowriters.com/submit/

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

2016 SUNDAY TIMES EFG SHORT STORY AWARD.
Writers from around the world are invited to enter the 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. The winner will receive £30,000 (US$46,500), making this the most valuable prize for a single short story in the world. The prize is for stories up to 6,000 words in length and there is no entry fee. Stories can be either unpublished or published. If published, the work must have first appeared after 1 January 2015. Writers can enter regardless of their nationality or residency but they must have an existing record of publication in creative writing in the UK and Ireland. Deadline September 24, 2015.

Submission guidelines at http://www.booktrust.org.uk/stefg/entry-form

Writing a Middle Grade Novel/Call for Submissions

This week, I’m continuing my focus on scenes. 

What was the last book you read that you couldn’t put down? You felt an urge so compelling to stop working, pick up the book, and discover what was happening to the character that your mind wandered back to the story time and again. Yeah, that’s the kind of story writers want to write.  

Those stories have more than interesting characters and compelling plots. They have an emotional intensity that draws the reader into the action. Emotion intense scenes are those that have high stakes for the character, critical events that are life changing. Keep the audience in mind. If the reader identifies with the problem, empathizes with the character, or envisions himself/herself in a similar situation, an emotional investment is made. 

In children’s novels, the characters’ situations should reflect what is appropriate for each age group. The plot focuses on external events with less focus on thoughts and feelings of the main character. Young adult novels focus more on internal conflict and less on events happening around them. Of course, there are many exceptions to this and in varying degrees.

Each scene needs a beginning, middle and ending. As one scene ends, transition into the beginning of the next scene. Longer scenes are needed for major events and shorter scenes for less significant actions. Scene by scene, build your story and make it sparkle. 

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

Starsongs Magazine. You are the future, and Starsongs wants to hear your voice. Our intention is to inspire and promote the creativity of youth. Starsongs is a general market magazine interested in work by writers, artists, and photographers ages 9-19. Please keep this age range in mind and focus your work to a PG rating level. We are open to fiction or non-fiction and “as told to” stories.

Submission guidelines at http://kidspublished.blogspot.com/p/starsongs-guidelines.html

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Youth Imagination is interested in creative fiction stories by teens as well as by adult authors. Make the stories awesome, inspiring and engaging. Our goal is to publish the best writing for and by teens. We particularly love stories exploring the issues, such as bullying, drugs, romance, school, parental issues, teacher issues, etc., as well as about the grit and character of teens and young adults.

We accept most genres of fiction, including modern, urban or classical fantasy, as well as sci-fi, slipstream, literary, action-adventure or suspense.

Submission guidelines at http://www.youthimagination.org/index.php/submission-guidelines

Writing a Middle Grade Novel/Call for Submissions

Today, I’m continuing the series, Writing a Middle Grade Novel.

Learn from published authors. Find a book you love in the genre you’re writing. The first time you read the book, read for enjoyment, then reread to analyze why you enjoyed the book. Make notes. 

Did the first line of first paragraph have a hook that immediately drew you in? How did word choice at the beginning make you want to keep reading? 

Did you like the structure of the story? Was it told in a fast pace, slow and easy, or some of each? Was it told by one character or more? Were the chapters unusually short, especially long, or somewhere in-between? Did the sentences vary in length? 

How were character traits revealed? Did the author provide a detailed description of the character or just a trait or two and the reader has to imagine the rest?  

Is the dialog snappy? Humorous? Pay attention to the amount of dialog vs. narrative. Is the dialog interesting? Dialog serves two purposes: to carry the story forward and to develop the character. Did the dialog stay true to those purposes? 

How was the setting described? Did the setting play a role in the plot? 

Next week, I’ll continue with this series. 

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Another Realm, an ezine. The stories may be science fiction, fantasy or horror only. Our maximum word limit is 5,000 words. Submissions are accepted year round.

  Please send in an e-mail in "plain text" format.

  Do not center titles.

 

  We know when to set most text to italics. If you want italics for anything other than titles or thought, indicate start and stop places as follows: For italics, *****words you wish italicised***.

  Please include your name, both real and as you wish it published.

  Your address, both email and physical, so we know where to send the check and how to contact you.

  Please include a word count.

Submission Guidelines at http://anotherealm.org/FAQ/faq.php

Writing a Chapter Book, part 7/Calls for Submissions

           This article is the seventh in the series: Writing a Chapter Book.

 Try these tips: 

Avoid the sagging middle. When we begin a chapter book, we usually have a definite beginning and ending in mind. We want the ending to solve the problem or reach the goal that the character confronts at the beginning of the story. But by chapter three, the story begins to slowly fizzle out. What can we do to keep the excitement of the beginning as we develop chapter after chapter?

 

Offer new insights into the character. What does the reader learn about the character that had not been revealed earlier? Maybe s/he has a learning problem or a phobia that comes into play at this point. 

Introduce a new character that will add a new problem or cause greater conflict. I once heard a speaker in a workshop describe it this way: treat your character badly; then treat your character worse. Add more conflict. Conflict is story and without conflict there is no story. Add barriers to prevent the character from achieving the goal or solving the problem during the middle of the story. Conflict is the motivation that keeps the character plugging along. 

Move the plot along. Don’t dwell too long on one scene. By adding conflict and depth to characters, the plot moves forward. Allow the characters to learn new bits of information that alters their viewpoints or decisions.

Next week, I’ll continue with chapter book tips.  

 

Call for submissions for young writers:

Writing at Sea Competition. Enter the Marine Society and Nautilus Telegraph’s new creative writing competition and you could walk away with a £1000 or a Kobo Aura and Kobo gift vouchers. The competition is open to serving and non-serving seafarers and is free to enter. The competition theme is Life at Sea and you can enter your poem (maximum word limit 80 lines) or short story (maximum length 3,000 words). Deadline December 31, 2013. The Marine Society Prize will have a sole winner. The Short Story and Poetry Prizes will be awarded in the following categories: Seafarers, Non-seafarers, Under 18’s.

Details at http://www.marine-society.org/writingatsea

Call for submissions for adult writers:

   Ask. ePals Media, 70 East Lake Street, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60601. Ask is the Cricket Magazine Group’s magazine of nature, science, the arts, and the world at large for ages six to nine. Each issue focuses on a designated concept, question, or theme related to the natural, physical, or social sciences, technology, math, history, or the arts. It is published nine times a year and has a circulation of 36,000.

    The nonfiction in Ask is always engaging, and not overtly educational or textbook-like in tone or perspective. Articles should be concrete but narrative, and relevant to the interests of the young readers.

    Query according to theme by email to ask@caruspub.com, with Submissions in the subject line, or use Submittable, at https://cricketmag.submittable.com/submit/20689. Include an article overview, including scope and treatment, references/resources, an opening paragraph, and for writers new to Ask, a résumé, and an unedited nonfiction writing sample of at least 200 words. Articles, 1,200 to 1,600 words, including sidebar. Photoessays, 400 to 600 words. Humor, profiles of people, inventions, events, the arts, 200 to 400 words. Upcoming themes: Dropping Things or gravity (September 2014 issue), query by December 15, 2013; Fairy Tale Science (October 2014 issue), query by February 1, 2014; Chemist in My Kitchen (November/ December 2014 issue), query by March 15.
Details at www.askkidsmag.com

 Check out more contests on my blog: http://nancykellyallen.blogspot.com/