craft Archives - Page 6 of 44

the bricks
and mortar
of a zero draft
are

reading,
thinking,
and writing

When I was teaching writing at the university, I asked all of my students to read 100 picture books in a month. That’s five picture books a day, Monday through Friday, for four weeks.

Why?

You can’t write a picture book if you’re not reading them.

This is true for any book format or genre.

Each book format and genre has its own language. A rhyming picture book for preschoolers doesn’t sound the same as a nail-biting horror novel for adults. Immersing yourself in the language of the books that you want to write is essential.

Snippet:

If you don’t have the time to read,
you don’t have the time or tools
to write.
~ Stephen King

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Stephen King (Author)

Booktalk: King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999–and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Like the clouds
in the sky . . .
the story in a zero draft
changes
from day to day

What does this look like in real life?

Last week I sent a new column idea to my editor at Booklist. (I’ve been writing for Booklist since 2004.) What usually happens is a discussion of that idea and what she wants to see for next month’s column. After our discussion, I work on the column for a week and send it in. Two more weeks go by and then the article is published.

Not this time.

My Booklist editor wanted this column to appear now . . . and she asked me to write it for their blog, something I had never done before. She put me in touch with the Booklist blog editor and after a discussion of the idea with the blog editor, I wrote the article that day and sent it in. She published it on the blog the next day:

Creating Makerspaces at Home

Whoosh!

When I sent the article in, I asked the blog editor if she was interested in events that started on March 23. She said yes. I wrote another resources article for her:

Creating Makerspaces at Home: Part II

This coming week, I’ll write up the NEW idea for my April column that emerged after our discussions. One idea led to another and things changed.

And as you may have noticed, I’m not sharing #kidlit booktalks on this blog everyday now either — something I have been doing for more than a decade to support my writing students. In these changing times, I’m going back to basics for just a bit. (The NEW plan is to share writing tips from March 21-31, and resume #kidlit booktalks in April.) With a growth mindset, we can meet these challenges:

Snippet:
“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work–brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” ~ Carol S. Dweck.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
by Carol S. Dweck (Author)

Booktalk: After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset–those who believe that abilities are fixed–are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset–those who believe that abilities can be developed.

Read this library book online with Overdrive

Category: craft

The bricks and mortar of a zero draft are reading, thinking, and writing

Stories are always changing, even in the zero draft stage