The question I’m most often asked at book signings and school visits is how do I write, with pen and paper or computer. The answer is both. If I’m away from my computer, and I think or hear of an idea or phrase, I write on whatever is available. If not, I’ll forget the little gem of a keeper.

When I conducting research, I usually write by hand. For me, it’s more convenient to curl up on a sofa to read and write in a notebook. Sometime I also try out phrases or variations of the narrative as I happen upon some research that tickles my fancy. I usually play around with the structure of the story by longhand, especially when writing nonfiction.

I usually transfer the notes to a computer file. I’m less likely to lose it if it’s stored in cyberspace rather than in my house or car. Whether I write with a computer or on paper is really about convenience more than anything, the practical element. I always keep a notebook handy so if I’m traveling, I can jot down an idea while I’m out and about.

My drafts are done almost entirely on a computer. The beginning of a manuscript undergoes so many starts and insertions, I can keep my train of thought better by using a keyboard where the changes can be made quickly with the delete key or cutting and pasting to rearrange text. I print the drafts and revise on written copy. It’s easier for me to catch mistakes if I’m reading ink as opposed to a computer screen.

The best way to write is to figure out what works for you and follow your own path.

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

One Teen Story. A monthly publication from the editors of One Story. This publication features teen writers and is available in print as well as via Kindle and other e-reading devices.

Submission guidelines at http://www.oneteenstory.com/index.php?page=submit

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Boy’s Life. A general-interest, four color monthly, circulation 1.3 million for boys 8+ published by the Boy Scouts of America since 1911. Buys first-time rights for original, unpublished material. Fiction runs 1,000 to 1,500 words. Payment is $750+. All stories feature a boy or boys. Uses humor, mystery, science fiction and adventure.

Submission guidelines at http://boyslife.org/contact-us/readers-page/

 

The Emotional Connection

When I wrote the first draft of my picture book biography, Barreling Over Niagara Falls, an editor said she enjoyed the story and thought the manuscript was marketable, but she had trouble connecting with the desperation of the character, the emotional connection. The editor asked me to address the following:

Why would a woman risk her life by riding a barrel over Niagara Falls?

What was the character feeling?

How did her behavior reflect her feelings?

Back to the drawing board for me. I read and reread every article and book I could find on Annie Edson Taylor to grasp her need for choosing the life of a daredevil when the most dangerous thing she had ever done was cross the street.

As I explored the literature, I found a woman who had been accustomed to a comfortable lifestyle so facing the poorhouse, a facility for the indigent, would be devastating emotionally. I also found a woman who wanted to make a name for herself, to be known far and wide, and to become financially stable, maybe rich, as well as popular. All those emotions were at play and it was my job to unveil them throughout the story.

The emotional element answers the WHY of a character’s actions and makes a more compelling read.

Call for submissions for Young Writers

Sprout. We accept all creative media pertaining to social issues.

• POETRY: We accept both individual poems and collections. Individual poems will be reviewed as stand-alone pieces whereas a collection (limited at five poems) will be reviewed as a coherent piece.
• OTHER LITERATURE: No more than 5,000 words. 
• STATIC VISUAL: 1 to 10 images in a collection.
• MISCELLANEOUS PIECES: Pieces such as spoken word, music, and cinematic work can be no longer than ten minutes in length.

​We request that you send only one submission per email.

Submission guidelines at http://www.sproutmagazine.org/submission-rules.html 

Call for submissions for Adult Writers

Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Blended Families. Are you part of a blended family, enjoying stepchildren, stepsiblings, etc.? Blending two families after a second marriage can be a real joy… and sometimes a challenge too. Tell us about your own blended families. How did you make it work? What advice do you have for other families? We are looking for true stories about all aspects of blending families—stories that will make us laugh and cry, nod our heads in recognition, and give us great advice. Tell us about your kids if you’re a parent, your parents if you’re a kid, your pets, whatever you think would enlighten and entertain someone else in the same situation. The deadline for story and poem submissions is June 30, 2016.

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

Taking Risks

I’m a rule follower, not a risk-taker. Taking risks slings me way out of my comfort zone, but as a writer, following rules is not always the best route to publication. Editors refer to risk-takers as those who take chances on making a mistake, those who explore unique voices and are not afraid to use them. Not afraid? Hummmmm. When I first began writing children’s books, back in the last century, I tried to emulate a particular type of writing style of an individual author. Imitating another author, called stylized writing, is a good activity to learn how to develop a plot and characters and unfold an ending. After imitating a variety of authors, it was time for me to move on to MY own style that works with MY stories. It was time for me to develop MY own literary voice.

I began to write in a way that was comfortable to me. After writing the piece, I store it away for a while, at least a month, and move on to a new project. Writing new manuscripts is the best way to forget a previous one. Later, when I revisit the stored manuscript, I reread with fresh eyes and ask myself, if my targeted age group would enjoy reading it.

Of course, before the manuscript is stored, it undergoes numerous revisions and after I look at it with fresh eyes, more tweaking is needed. Almost all of my work includes a bit of humor, even serious stories and biographies. That’s just MY style.

Write to engage your audience, but first, write to engage yourself. When you do that, you have developed YOUR own unique style.

Call for submissions for Young Writers

Chicken Soup for the Soul.

College Student Stories
Calling all college students! We are working on a new book to be written entirely by you about your lives in college and outside college, including stories about kindness, respect, compassion, expanding your horizons, and embracing differences.

We are looking for true, non-fiction stories of no more than 1,200 words from current college students up to age 24. You can be enrolled in two-year, four-year, or technical college—any post high school educational institution.

We would like to share with you five free stories specially selected from Chicken Soup for the Soul: Campus Chronicles, our previous book for college students, as examples of the kind of stories we publish. Please go to http://www.chickensoup.com/featured/8883 and scroll down. The five stories will be right there for you to look at!

The deadline date for story and poem submissions is July 31, 2016.

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

Writing Beginning/Middle/Ending

For practice, try rewriting the beginning of some popular picture books and see if you like your work better. Do the same with the middle and again with the ending. This is good exercise to develop you skills. Learning to write beginnings, middles, and endings is not an innate quality we possess. This skill has to be learned. In picture books it is vital to look at both what is being said in the narrative and dialog and also what is NOT stated. Figure out what was omitted to allow the illustrator to show it in the artwork.

Some authorities (whoever they are) state that writing is 10% science and 90% art. The science is the learned part that includes the rules of writing. The art is everything else, such as remembering what you enjoyed, disliked, wanted, needed, and thought as a child. It’s the writer’s natural talent, the ability to choose words and string them together to create an individual, unique voice. The art also comes from days-of-our–youth daydreams. Yes, daydreaming is work for an author.

The rules of writing can be learned from a number of methods. Reading a variety of books is one way to master the art of storytelling on paper. Another is to read how-to books on writing. There are countless excellent resources for writers: books, Internet sites, newsletters focused on the craft of writing for children, workshops, conferences, and local writing and critique groups.

Call for Submissions for Young and Adult Writers:

Skipping Stones: An international publication for readers 8-16 that celebrates ecological and cultural diversity and facilitates a meaningful exchange of ideas and experiences by publishing essays, stories, letters to the editor, riddles and proverbs, etc.

Submission guidelines at http://www.skippingstones.org/submissions

Reading Books by a Variety of Authors

Reading books in the genre in which you write offers a view into the different styles, voices, and approaches to subjects that you cannot find any other way. Immersion into a wide variety of books broadens a writer’s skills. As you read ask yourself why the author chose the style and approach? Question the word choice. Did the story make you feel an emotional attachment to the characters? Analyze the story by rereading some of the paragraphs to figure out how the author drew you into the story and held your interest throughout. Did some parts entertain and some seem less than interesting. Was there a part of the story you did not like? Would you change any of the text if you had written the story? If your interest is picture books, were the stories fast paced? Most picture books are.

By reading a variety of authors, we develop a sense of how to craft a story, develop a character who is presented with a problem, and against all odds, takes the challenge and finds a suitable solution. This is no easy task with an economy of words and 14 double-page spreads. As you learn from reading the works of others, you can apply and adapt the knowledge to your own piece, such as the different ways to express narrative and dialog. Reading books by a variety of authors is inspiring and stretches a writer’s creativity, which will be evident in the next story written.

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

Young Poets Anthology. Poems must be submitted by a parent/legal guardian, or a teacher. Teachers may select at most two students per year and submit on their behalf, with the assurance to us that you will be able to provide a parent’s signed permission prior to publication. Please remember that we will be choosing our favorite 52 poems from thousands submitted—try not to get anyone’s hopes up prematurely.

The author of the poem must have been age 15 or younger when the poem was written, and 18 or younger when submitted. The poets may use their whole name, first name, or a pseudonym at their parents’ discretion. We will not publish any contact information.

Upon acceptance, a parent or legal guardian must sign a release allowing us to publish the poem.

Try to send several poems as opposed to a single piece, but no more than four in a submission—and again, make only one submission per child of up to four poems in ONE document. Include the parent's contact info in the file.

For this category only, feel free to make additional submissions any time in the future, if the child writes new work. We only publish one anthology per year, and a year is along time to wait. 

 Submissions at https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/34387

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Chicken Soup Stories about Cats.
We are working on and collecting stories and poems for another wonderful book about our cats. We love stories about our cats and the amazing and magical things they do. We rejoice in their simple absurdities, funny habits, and crazy antics. Our cats make us smile and laugh every day, but sometimes they really outdo themselves. Whether they came up with the idea themselves, or you put them in a situation that caused them to do something unusual, we want to hear about it! We know you'll have many great stories for us about your cats. Stories can be serious or humorous... or both. Tell us what your cat did. The deadline for story and poem submissions is October 31, 2016.

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

 

The Importance of a Picture Book Dummy

I had a request for a blog about the importance of creating a picture book dummy. Here’s my take on the subject:

Picture books should be written with page breaks in consideration. Most have 32 pages but with front and back matter only 27-28 pages are used for text, sometimes less. That leaves about 13-14 double-page spreads of illustrations and text.

When writing, take advantage of the page breaks. Possibility ways to use them is to surprise the reader when the page is turned. Vary the action so each double-page spread has a different scene and new action. One way I do this is to write the story; then divide it into 14 scenes. Of course, I have to revise, revise, revise to get the pacing I need within the story segments. Some scenes may have too many words. My goal is to write 600 words or less for fiction.

I also make a book dummy by folding 8 sheets of computer paper in half and stapling it. Front and back, the pages number 32. I print my completed manuscript, cut it with scissors and tape the text into the appropriate pages. The dummy helps me “see” where the story does not work, where I need to rev up the surprises on page turns, and the pace of the story. Maybe it’s too slow in some parts.

I never submit a dummy or a manuscript with page breaks to a publisher unless it is specifically requested by the editor. Most publishers want standard format for submissions.

So, envision your manuscrpt as a picture book by creating a dummy and get one step closer to a contract. Page turns can make or break a story.

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

Parallel Ink. An international online literary and art publication for and by students from 12-18 years old. Seeks creative and critical work that can be represented in digital forms: poetry, music, art of any medium, narratives, essays, book/song/movie reviews, multimedia, etc. Their staff is comprised of over twenty teen editors, translators, illustrators, and technology assistants around the world.

Submission guidelines at http://parallelink.tumblr.com/submitwork

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Babybug– A monthly (except for combined May/June and July/August issues) listening and looking magazine for infants and toddlers ages six months to two years published by the Cricket Magazine Group of Carus Publishing. Looking for very simple and concrete stories, 4 to 6 short sentences maximum; rhythmic and rhyming poetry, 8 lines maximum. Allow 6 months for reply.

Submission guidelines at http://www.cricketmag.com/20-Submission-Guidelines-for-BABYBUG-magazine-for-babies-ages-0-3

To Editor, with Love

February. Love is in the air.

How important is it to love the words you write? If you’re a writer, you want your readers to love your characters, but first, you must love those literary protagonists. Create interesting characters, even the antagonists. Have fun watching them grow in depth and complexity. Developing interesting characters is like meeting new people: some become friends, some mere acquaintances, and others you might prefer to avoid.  

Interesting characters have flaws, just like the people we are and those we meet. Flaws and weaknesses lead to poor decision making and that leads to strong plots. Readers identify with character frailties and build hopes that the character will overcome the obstacles and succeed.

We begin manuscripts in love with the idea of the story. As the manuscripts progresses and becomes difficult to write—the place where I am now with a dual biography—the sweetness turns a little sour, the fun evaporates, and I’m left wondering what happened to the love. It's still February, after all.

Today, I’m going for the gusto. I’m going to play with the words and have fun. The worst that can happen is that I delete every word, but at least I’ve had fun. I’m going to reignite my passion for the story, reach out and try to grab some of the love February floats, and spread it throughout my manuscript—my Valentine gift to me.

Call for submissions for Young Writers

Rookie is an American online magazine created by fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson in 2011, then aged just 15, with Jane Pratt (founding editor of Sassy) and Ira Glass (This American Life) among its many high-profile supporters. The site has monthly themed content, with updates three times every weekday, and once a day on weekends, and every school year the editors compile the best from the site into a printed yearbook  There are no restrictions on the age of contributors and all written pieces should be at least 800 words long (except poems). Rookie’s April 2015 theme is ‘Both Sides Now’.

Submission guidelines at http://www.rookiemag.com/submit/

Call for submissions for Adult Writers

Brilliant Flash Fiction is all about having fun. The editor is looking for stories that are fun to read, and that are maybe even amazing. Springtime Fiction Writing Contest
Theme: The Future

Word limit: 500 – 750 words, excluding title
Deadline: MARCH 15, 2016
Submission guidelines at  brilliantflashfiction@gmail.com