Children's Writers eNews
August 2, 2012
"The Write Words to Read"
The Institute of Children's Literature
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com1-800-243-9645
Editor: Jan Fields --
jan.fields@forums.institutechildrenslit.com--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Kids are living stories every day that we wouldn't let them read."
-- Josh Westbrook
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
1. News For You
2. New: "Writing, Storms, and Rainbows"
3. Vintage: "Stories Teens Want to Read"
4. August Workshop: "Biographies -- Telling True Stories"
5. Chat Every Tuesday!
6. What's New At Kristi's?
7. Market Help
8. Webtastic Goodies
9. How Readable is Your Nonfiction?
10.Good News
11.A Note for our users.
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1. Workshop NEXT WEEK: Biographies!
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2. "Writing, Storms, and Rainbows" by Michelle Miller
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/ws03/storms.shtmlEveryone hits hard spots in life, but how you deal with them can help you avoid being derailed for too long.
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3. "Stories Teens Want to Read" with Deborah Vetter
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/tr01/dvetter2010.shtmlTeens look for something very different in fiction than younger kids do -- this transcript helps identify the core need of enjoyable YA fiction.
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4. Writer's Retreat Workshop
August 8-10, 2012 "Biographies -- Telling True Stories" with Barbara Kramer
in the Writer's Retreat
http://institutechildrenslit.net/index.phpHow can a writer bridge the gap between nonfiction and storytelling? By writing the story of real people and their lives. Learn about Biographies from an experience biographer.
Barbara Kramer began writing biographies for children after following the advice of another author who said, “Write what you like to read.” Since then, she has penned 22 biographies for children and young adults as well as two collective biographies. Her subjects include historical figures such as George Washington Carver and Mahalia Jackson and people in the news including Neil Armstrong, Oprah Winfrey, and Michael J. Fox. Her current project is a young adult biography about Beyoncé Knowles.
For an explanation of how workshops work, check out
http://institutechildrenslit.net/index.php?topic=10549.0-------------------------
5. Join us for Live Chat...
Every Tuesday we gather in the chat room to talk writing, selling, marketing, weather and bunnies! Whatever you want to chat with your fellow writers about -- come and have some fun!
http://institutechildrenslit.net/entry.htm3-4PM Atlantic
2-3PM Eastern
1-2PM Central
Noon -1PM Mountain
11AM - Noon Pacific
Every Tuesday come and bring any writing questions you might have...or just hang out with people who share your same dreams.
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6. This Week at Kristi's
Kristi Holl's Writer's First Aid is so good -- it's like getting extra special writing advice in every visit.
http://institutechildrenslit.net/Writers-First-Aid-blog/Tuesday, July 31: "Your Writing Time Budget"
I had slowed down due to health issues and picked up some bad time (mis)management habits. It was time to get control of my writing hours back! Here's how.
Friday, July 27: "Before You Go Off the Deep End: Social Networking in Balance"
Before you jump into the deep end of marketing and social networking--and drown--I want to insert a voice of reason.
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7. Young Adult Story Contest
http://www.thechildrenswriter.com/af627/Take a sneak peak at the newest Children's Writer Contest -- entries due at the end of October.
Word Count up to 1500 words.
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8. In Praise of Ripening
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2012/07/guest-blog-post-in-praise-of-ripening.htmlIn our world of impatience and hurry, some things just take time and work to become their best.
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9. HOW READABLE IS YOUR NONFICTION?
Sometimes, in the process of stringing facts together, writers can slip into prose styles that lose young readers. This is especially easy if you are relying on a lot of published adult nonfiction for sources – scholarly nonfiction, in particular, rarely seems to strive for readable prose. Children are information sponges, but even their thirst for knowledge lags when prose is dull or confusing.
The easiest way to test the readability of your writing is to read it aloud. Often, upon reading my prose aloud, I find awkward sentence structure that I would have missed in a silent reading. Examine closely any sentence that you stumble over or any sentence that "just doesn't sound right." Sometimes a single word choice can completely change the sound of your writing. Although it is true that most magazine nonfiction might never be read aloud, but we should write as though it might be. Euphony is the quality of having a pleasing sound. Strive for euphony in everything you write. Writing that sounds bright and exciting when read aloud, will carry those same traits in the mind of the silent reader.
The second test I suggest for any prose you are preparing to send to a publisher is to have someone read it aloud to you. This is usually much more helpful than having the person read it and tell me what he thinks. Diplomacy occasionally requires that friends and family lie to you; however, a reading aloud can be very informative. Listen for places where the reader hesitated, or stumbled over your prose. Watch the reader's face. Does he look perplexed? Does he stop reading and start over on a sentence, trying to figure out where he read it wrong? Make note of problem places and change them.
As your piece is read aloud, listen for word echoes. Most of us tend to echo a word occasionally. For example: All the lions always ate all the food they could hold. When the echo stands out as the piece is read aloud, it becomes too distracting and the echo should be changed to a different word.
Now take your manuscript firmly in hand and apply a few tests to it.
Look at all your pronouns. Is it obvious who the antecedent is? Can the reader easily tell whom all the he, her, they and it words are talking about? If you have two men in your article, do we always know whom you're talking about when you say "he?" Try to avoid sentences that have the same third person pronoun identifying two different people in the same sentence. So don't say, "He shook his hand," unless you mean the guy had something stuck to his hand and was trying to shake it off. Also, don’t allow any pronouns with no identifiable antecedent such as “They say every cloud has a silver lining.” Who says it? Don’t insert mystery pronouns.
Are your verb tenses consistent? I suggest setting your nonfiction in past tense. I have never seen a beginning writer who could handle present tense well and consistently throughout an entire piece. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's tough and the writing life is hard enough without pursuing extra difficulties. When an article is written in past tense, any event that is referred to that occurred in the distant past is written in past perfect tense. For example: The mare ate the hay that had been lying in the barn floor for many weeks. The eating is part of the set timeline of the article so it is written in simple past tense. However, the leaving of the hay occurred previous to the eating so it is written in past perfect. In general, you should try to use the simplest verb construction possible, but don’t simplify at the expense of meaning.
Another use of past perfect tense is to transition into and out of flashbacks. Nonfiction that includes anecdotes or similar “story” elements sometimes involve flashbacks. In order to enter and exit a flashback smoothly, past perfect tense is often used to flag the entrance and exit. Let’s look at an example:
Franklin hoped his diplomatic efforts would produce positive results, but he had seen much disappointment with his past attempts. Neither France nor the United States had been willing to see beyond their own needs. Newspapers in the United States even hinted that Franklin’s diplomatic efforts were cover-ups for embezzling. Franklin had considered abandoning his efforts but he couldn’t abandon what he still considered a worthy cause. Though hurt and confused by public reaction, he sailed again for France.
You can see that the narrative enters a brief flashback with both a transition word past and the flash back transition tense he had seen…. This helps the reader know that he is entering the flashback and the events that follow had happened earlier. We exit flashback mode with a return to past perfect tense “Franklin had considered abandoning his efforts but he couldn’t abandon what he still….” The word “still” moves us into the “present” time of the narrative followed by a return to normal past tense. Thus the reader smoothly travels backwards and forwards in time without confusion.
Now look at your participial phrases. A participial phrase is one that begins with an -ing word. Participial clauses are modifiers. They modify the first noun they meet. For example, in the sentence "Clapping wildly, the audience rose to their feet." It is the audience who is clapping wildly. The phrase must modify the first noun it meets. This can lead to some comical constructions: "Clanging in the morning air, Ben rang the heavy bell." Poor Ben is clanging.
Also the action implied in the participial phrase must be simultaneous with the action in the sentence. Don't use participial phrases when the action is sequential.
RIGHT: Smiling brightly, Cathy accepted the award.
WRONG: Storming across the room, Joe grabbed Pete’s jacket.
Implies Pete took the trip across the room in Joe's grasp.
BETTER: Joe stormed across the room, grabbed Pete, and shook him.
However, I warn you, this sentence construction can become too intrusive very quickly. Don't begin more than two or three sentences per page with a participial phrase. Many writers have allowed participial phrases to become pet constructions and thus their sentences become repetitive. Never allow your writing to become predictable.
Beware of too many nots. For example, don't say: He was not often on time. Say instead: He was usually late. Don't say: He did not think painting was an appropriate use of one's leisure time. Say instead: He thought painting was a waste of time. Always look critically at the sentences that contain "not" to see if they might be better rewritten without the not.
Don’t be obvious. Example: He put his shoes on his feet. Does he usually put them someplace different? It was a dangerous and unsafe road. Redundant, dangerous and unsafe are synonyms. She was a three-year-old little girl. Most three-year-olds are little.
Sometimes we add words that are actually implied one of the other words we have chosen. For example, He shuffled slowly down the hall. (slowly is implied in shuffling.) He stood up to recite his poem. (up is implied in standing – in fact, small adverbs like down, up, out, over are often implied in the verbs and should be looked at critically to be sure they are needful.)
Sometimes we use unnecessary time transitions. Verb actions are assumed to occur sequentially when presented in the same tense. Therefore, we don’t need to say, “He stood, then cleared his throat, and began to recite his poem.” Instead the sequence is still clearly understood when written, “He stood, cleared his throat and recited his poem.” [note: it you intend to interrupt his recitation with some action or event, then the word “began” is needed, but if you intend for him to recite the poem without incident, just leave out “began.”]
Our brain is always searching for patterns. Therefore, we automatically match words together and want to use all of them. Patterns in meaning: That man is just grouchy and mean. The girl is sweet and kind. Patterns in sound: The soft silky silence slid over them. May I say that my day was okay? Patterns of repetition: Each student should read each question carefully. Therefore, we shouldn’t necessarily try to avoid writing these things, since to do so might cause our writing to become self-conscious and stilted. We should, however, be aware that these are problems common to most humans and watch for them in our edits.
Finally, check all sentences for parallel structure. When you are naming items in a series, each item must be the same grammatically as the other items. For example: Not Today I plan to write letters, house cleaning and shopping.
Instead say Today I plan to write letters, clean house and shop 'til I drop. Or Today I have planned letter writing, house cleaning and shopping.
Another issue of parallel structure can occur in picture books that are written in a kind of refrain on each page. For example, suppose you had written:
On Monday morning, Kate made a mobile of pretty shells and dollies. On Tuesday morning, Kate washed tiny bibs and bonnets. On Wednesday morning, Kate made booties of the softest yarn. The baby came on Thursday and Kate was so happy. On Friday morning, the baby woke and smiled a baby smile.
You can see that the structure pattern is broken by the Thursday event. You might choose to break a pattern to give one event extra emphasis, but many new writers begin a pattern in order to better organize their article and then simply forget they did so. Then the piece begins a new pattern unexpectedly and unrelated to content. If you break pattern without reason, your reader will be left uncomfortable by the awkward and glaring change.
Clear, lively prose requires careful attention during revision – but it will definitely pay off in readers who gobble up the words we write.
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10. Good News
Amy Senter: My article "Do I Have a Volunteer?" is out on DFW Child's new website. Check it out at:
http://dfwchild.com/showarticle.asp?artid=518Shelly Pollock: My first children's ebook, The Big Box of Blocks, is now available for the Kindle and other ereaders.
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Box-Blocks-ebook/dp/B008E3HCGUMargaret Fieland: My tween/YA science fiction novel, "Relocated," is now available from MuseItUp Publishing, and the book of poems I wrote to go with the book, "Sand in the Desert," is now available in print and on kindle from Amazon.com
Raven Howell: My poem, an action rhyme titled Silly Sea Creatures, has been published in the July/August issue of Ladybug. Another poem, Piano Playing, can be found in the June/July Stories for Friends magazine.
Penny Estelle: My MG/tween story Billy Cooper's Awesome Nightmare is released and available at
http://www.amazon.com/Coopers-Awesome-Nightmare-Wickware-ebook/dp/B0088HTJ9U What's Your Good News? Send to
jan.fields@forums.institutechildrenslit.com------------
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