The Challenge of Writing for Children–Part 1: Boardbooks

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Many writers want to write a children’s book because they think it would be fun. Writing for children is fun, but fun does not mean easy! In fact, the more you learn about writing for children, the harder it gets. Most writers think of the standard 32-page picture book when they consider writing a children’s book, but there are other sub-genres within the genre of children’s literature that writers need to be familiar with.

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Beyond the Movie in Your Mind

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Hello! Maureen Pratt here with another blog post about the craft of writing. I’m typing this just before I leave to see one of the "blockbuster" movies coming out during this holiday season. Many films are timed to open during the next couple of months so that they can be eligible for award consideration, so the selection these days is varied and abundant. Anticipating seeing "Lincoln," (my movie of choice today), I thought I’d talk today about fiction writing and a very specific way of filtering that "movie in the mind" to better hone story telling and characterization. The concept…

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Dissecting Your Novel – Part I

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  Happy November from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailmartin.com They say "Better late than never" and for some reason my blog didn’t publish on the right day so here I am again. Late but at least here. Editing your own work is difficult, because in our minds, each sentence was a gem when we wrote them, but stepping back and looking at your work with new eyes, often means doing some dissecting Sometimes we need to tighten a novel for the publisher’s word count,and always, we know the process improves our writing and gives us a better story. If you…

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New Approaches to the Study Guide

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With the advent of e-readers and tablets, and more people comfortable with downloading from the internet, there are more options available when considering the Study Guide as a great tool for engaging your audience. Here are a few ideas currently rocking the publishing world. Which one best suits your next project?

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The Power of Positive Prose

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  Hello! Maureen Pratt, back again, for my monthly CAN Blog post. I’m very happy to be blogging today about the craft of writing and, specifically, the huge difference "writing positive prose" can make in describing characters, painting pictures, and conveying the heart of a story, be it fiction or non-fiction. What do I mean by "positive?" Given two possible ways of writing the same sentence, the more positive can be the strongest one to choose. Consider this description: "Amy didn’t necessarily think she was beautiful, but she couldn’t believe that the casting director put her in secondary roles that…

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Why?

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Greetings from Ava Pennington in sunny Florida. I’ve always been a curious person, and today I’d like to start with a question or two… Why do we write? Why do we market our books?

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PUGS Pointers #15

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Hi! I’m Kathy Ide. In addition to being a published author, I’m a full-time professional freelance editor. For CAN, I’m blogging about "PUGS"–Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling … tips for writers based on the most common mistakes I see in the manuscripts I edit. Each blog post will have one tip for each of the four categories. (For more PUGS tips, check out my website, www.KathyIde.com, or get a copy of my book Polishing the PUGS (available through the website or at the conferences where I teach). If you’re interested in working with a freelance editor (or know someone who is), e-mail me…

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Characters and Talking Without Words

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Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailmartin.com. I hope you had a wonderful summer and are ready for the beauty of autumn with cooler weather and burnished colors in the trees. Did you ever think how much you say without saying anything at all? Body action tells the truth more than words spoken. It can get people in trouble as easily as what they say. As you write fiction, keep this thought in mind as you bring your characters to life with action beats. Don’t neglect this effective tool to deepen characterization and emotion and add greater conflict to your stories.

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PUGS Pointers #14

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Hi! I’m Kathy Ide. In addition to being a published author, I’m a full-time professional freelance editor. For CAN, I’m blogging about “PUGS”–Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling…tips for writers based on the most common mistakes I see in the manuscripts I edit. Each blog post will have one tip for each of the four categories. (For more PUGS tips, check out my website, www.KathyIde.com, or get a copy of my book Polishing the PUGS (available through the website or at the conferences where I teach). If you’re interested in working with a freelance editor (or know someone who is), e-mail me through the…

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Texture In Writing. What Is It?

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Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailmartin.com who has been traveling in Europe, but who is here through the magic of the Internet. I always enjoy sharing some writing tips with you. The question, “What is texture in writing” was asked in one of my writing groups, and many floundered to answer it. Texture is something desirous and yet it is one of those illusive craft details that most people can’t define. They just recognize it when they see it, but editors look for it and readers relate to it so texture is something to understand and develop in your…

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