writing advice

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How reading picture books will make you a better writer

I write picture books. And I love doing so. But many of you probably know my day job is being a corporate editor. I turn jargon into conversational language and try to make complicated topics simple. While the two roles may not seem similar, there’s actually a lot of overlap. …

Critiquers not Critics: Insights On Writing Groups

I do not possess an MFA. I can count on one hand the number of formal writing workshops or classes I’ve attended as a student. I’m sometimes confused on the more complex parts of speech and still can’t easily spout the definition of “second person.” I’m a voracious reader of …

Sculpting a Picture Book (& A Double Giveaway!)

I’ve wrestled with my fair share of picture book manuscripts. A “brilliant” idea at 9 a.m. that falls apart by noon. That wonderful first sentence that pops up while making coffee, only to fade to confusion an hour later in the shower. An entire book theme that carries through perfectly, …

DAD AND THE DINOSAUR dazzles — for readers and writers

Recurring elements are one of my favorite features in picture books. Picture books are shorter affairs, so the writer has to fit a plot into a tighter-than-normal space. To make the story hang together and feel like a coherent whole, there often are words, phrases or themes that repeat throughout …

Create Your Own Genius Hour

During a school visit a few months ago a teacher commented that my upcoming picture book, The Inventor’s Secret, would be the perfect title to kick off a school Genius Hour program. Well, not being much of a genius myself, I had to admit to her that I’d never heard of Genius …

Twenty Year Anniversary (and Book Giveaway!)

I’m deviating from our usual kind of post to mark a personal milestone of sorts. Twenty years ago this month, I quit my job at UCLA to write children’s books. Not exactly something I’d recommend—the quitting your job part—especially since I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. But …

Engagement in One Sentence

It’s killing me, it’s genius…Patricia MacLachlan wrote a perfect nonfiction picture book using only one sentence. Well, technically there’s two question marks, but still…The Iridescence of Birds is a biography of Henri Matisse that manages to convey most of his childhood environment, his relationship with his mother, his interests, his personality …

Tag: writing advice

How reading picture books will make you a better writer

Critiquers not Critics: Insights On Writing Groups

Sculpting a Picture Book (& A Double Giveaway!)

DAD AND THE DINOSAUR dazzles — for readers and writers

Create Your Own Genius Hour

Twenty Year Anniversary (and Book Giveaway!)

Engagement in One Sentence

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