Writing for Children

AN INTERVIEW WITH HANNAH HOLT In this rebroadcast, we talk with Hannah Holt, a children’s author with an engineering degree. Her books, The Diamond & The Boy (Balzer+Bray) and A Father’s Love (Philomel) weave together her love of language and science. When not reading or writing, you can find Hannah running marathons and hiking mountains. We talk about Biggest misconception writers have about getting an agent and/or a book deal Advice for prepublished writers Hannah’s surveys: what she learned, how she used the input. How she created and researched a picture book about her grandfather Questions about “bare bones” publishing, indie, and traditional publishing.

FOUR WAYS TO LEARN TO LOVE NONFICTION Many writers view nonfiction as less: less creative than fiction, less fun than fiction, less interesting to kids than fiction, and definitely something they want to do less often. Some will accept the possibility of writing a little nonfiction to break into publishing, but do not like the idea of doing it steadily. For many, they want to do the important work of fiction.   But nonfiction is important. Especially now. Kids love nonfiction, and it's an important teaching tool in support of school curriculum. And nonfiction can offer children something that can help them long after the book is closed: an appreciation of the value of well-researched, accurate facts. That's why we're bringing this rebroadcast to you today.  

LAUNCHING A STORY FROM A TITLE Chances are you fall into one of two camps when it comes to titles: You either love creating them or you dread trying to think up something clever that will catch a reader’s eye. Thanks to Jan Fields, today we’re going to have some fun creating titles. So much fun your new titles just might launch a new story. This is Katie's last episode of the podcast, but not the last episode of the podcast. We're working to bring you new episodes in the coming months with the same high standards of teaching we strive for with our courses.

TOP THREE NARRATIVE NONFICTION MISSTEPS Nonfiction is basically broken into two broad types. Expository nonfiction describes, explains, and informs. Narrative nonfiction uses story elements to convey a factual experience. Narrative nonfiction tells a story through carefully researched, factual recounting. Not all nonfiction books are strictly expository or strictly narrative. Some in fact contain both, but for now, Jan Fields has given us a lead on common missteps when writing narrative nonfiction.

INTERVIEW WITH A CONTEST JUDGE In this rebroadcast, we interview frequent ICL contest judge and longtime instructor Nancy Coffelt. As well as being a multi-published picture book author and illustrator, Nancy is a fine artist and has been showing in galleries across the country since 1984. Her work is included in personal, public and corporate collections around the world.  Nancy also writes and illustrates books for children. Her books include Catch That Baby, Fred Stays with Me, and The Big Eclipse. 

TIPS FOR YOUR WRITER WEBSITE Every author needs a website—yes, even if you're not published yet. In the Internet age, your website acts as your online business card for readers and even prospective agents and editors. In this rebroadcast, we discuss tips for keeping your website user friendly and keeping them coming back for more.  

5 QUESTIONS ABOUT AUTHOR PLATFORM A while back I sent out a one-question survey. Writers could submit any one question about author platform and marketing. I learned a ton from reading all the questions that were submitted, but there were definitely some common themes. Today, we’re diving into the five most common questions writers have as they start building their platform.

INTERVIEW WITH VICTORIA BOND Victoria Bond is a writer and professor. Her novel, Zora and Me, co-written with T.R. Simon, won the John Steptoe/Coretta Scott King Award for New Talent and was nominated for an Edgar Award in the category of Juvenile Fiction, as well as being a Junior Library Guild Selection. Victoria holds a MFA in poetry. The occasional essayist on issues both personal and political, she teaches first year writing at John Jay College, The City University of New York. WE TALK ABOUT How Victoria and her co-writer start working together How they created the series together What’s based on reality and what did the authors invent How much reality should one use when writing historical fiction How far can you go when creating new information based on someone’s actual life

FINDING YOUR CHILDLIKE VOICE Voice is the number one thing that can make or break your children’s story. So, let’s see how to find a childlike voice that appeals to your audience. Readers love dialogue. It lightens the page, making the whole story feel easier to read. It allows us to hear the characters directly, helping us to know them. And it is often the best place to sprinkle in some tasty humor. Unfortunately, it's also one of the quickest ways to lose the reader. In this rebroadcast, we're discussing three ways to find your character's childlike voice.

AUTHENTIC KID VOICES A while ago on the Institute's Facebook page, someone was asking about dialogue, which made me think again about this important writing tool. Readers love dialogue because it makes a scene and a character come to life. Dialogue puts us into a specific moment within a story and that's a powerful thing for readers. But many writers struggle with dialogue and with making it feel lively, purposeful, and real. So what should you do first in the pursuit of good dialogue? Would you like to have your own instructor teaching you on a one-on-one basis? Click here to let us help you write your book.

INTERVIEW WITH MAGGIE TOKUDA-HALL & JAMIE TAN Katie interviews award-winning author Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Candlewick Senior Publicist Jamie Tan about Maggie's latest book THE MERMAID, THE WITCH, AND THE SEA. We talk about: Gender fluidity in characters Shondaland interest Maggie’s lyrical writing How Jamie did the publicity for this particular book How Maggie is brutal to her characters! Not shying away from being mean to your characters

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE Voice can be a tough thing to define and a tougher thing to master, but when I ran across this article about active voice and passive voice from my old friend Mary Rosenblum I knew I had to share it with my listeners. See how you can improve your active voice with these tips and take your work to the next level and beyond. Join the Institute of Children's Literature Community! Get our weekly newsletter with article and resources to improve your writing even more: writingforchildren.com/newsletter

INTERVIEW WITH TALIA BENAMY Talia Benamy is an associate editor at Philomel Books (an imprint of Penguin Young Readers), where she focuses on everything from picture books to middle grade and young adult novels. She has worked on books by Chelsea Clinton, Sonia Sotomayor, Temple Grandin, Jane Yolen, Abigail Harrison, Lisa Graff, Ruta Sepetys, Dev Petty, Sarah Brannen, and Terry Border. She sees books as having the amazing power to shape kids’ worldviews, and looks for manuscripts that have the potential to do just that. In this rebroadcast, we talk about: What exactly does an associate editor do? How does the process of using a reader help you go through the slush pile? How do you determine if a piece of writing is good? What are common mistakes you see in submissions? What makes you reject a manuscript almost immediately?  

THINGS THAT MAKE EDITORS CRINGE Nobody wants to make an editor (or anyone) cringe when they read your manuscript. Inspired by a post from Jamie K. Schmidt, we’re covering 10 things that make editors cringe with tips to avoid them. Be sure to head to writingforchildren.com/231 to download the show notes because many of these tips will be easier to see in writing. Everybody knows to use spellcheck or Grammarly when going over their writing. However, the following mistakes aren’t generally caught by these two programs. And if you want to stop an editor’s eyes from rolling to the back of her head, you should check your writing for the errors we're talking about today.  

INTERVIEW WITH AGENT ADRIA GOETZ Adria Goetz is a Literary Manager with Seattle-based Martin Literary & Media Management. She primarily represents picture books, middle grade, young adult, Lifestyle books, quirky gift books, as well as everything under the Christian umbrella. WE TALK ABOUT: What’s the secret to getting an agent? What is a nightmare client and what is a perfect client? How should a writer “shop” for an agent to impress? How does one pitch a wordless picture book to an agent? Are agents reluctant to work with new writers that are 60+ years old? What is the most common mistake new writers make in a query letter? Want to check our self-led course, Revision Power? Go to writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

SUBMISSIONS It’s the beginning of a new year. A time that we as writers like to set goals for our writing success and dream about what our writing career will look like next year at this time. Maybe one of your goals this year is to submit your work to agents or editors. It can seem like a Herculean task, but like the old joke goes, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. In this episode, based on an article from our own Jan Fields, we’re going to talk about what you should worry about most in your submissions and when it’s okay to press the send button.  

YOU'RE THIS CLOSE We're wrapping up our five part series on National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) with special guest Jamie K. Schmidt. Even if you're not writing a novel this month, we think you'll learn some tips and techniques to help you finish your novel on your timeline. We're so close to the finish line. Let's make these final days a success! We talk about: How to handle writing and the holidays Saving a chunk of time to devote to catching up Secrets to writing a lot What to do when you have unplanned time Check out our amazing self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower.

NANOWRIMO SUCCESS PART 4 - THROW IN A DRAGON? We are continuing our November National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) celebration with tips for writing 50,000 words in one month, which is 1,667 words per day. This is Part 4 in our 5-part series to help our listeners get through NaNoWriMo with support, encouragement, and some great ideas from Jamie K. Schmidt. WHAT WE TALK ABOUT • The sagging middle • How to go forward • Should you throw in a dragon? • Raising the stakes • Putting your characters in danger • Getting off your butt and doing something • Jamie's new book Necessary Evil Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

NANOWRIMO SUCCESS PART 3 - GET PAST THE SLUMP We are continuing our November National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) celebration with tips for writing 50,000 words in one month, which is 1,667 words per day. This is Part 3 in our 5-part series to help our listeners get through NaNoWriMo with support, encouragement, and some great ideas from Jamie K. Schmidt. WHAT WE TALK ABOUT What to do when you’re not having fun Motivation and why you started this in the first place What happens if you quit now Your WHYs Simon Sinek video Bribing yourself Check out our amazing self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

NANOWRIMO SUCCESS PART 2 - DIGGING IN Welcome to Part 2 in our 5-part series to help our listeners get through NaNoWriMo with support, encouragement, and some great tips and ideas from Jamie K. Schmidt. Jamie is a bestselling author and a NaNoWriMo enthusiast. We talk about: How to stay on task Series bibles How to watch out for black hole time suck Letting go of the need to write in order How to not let deleted scenes go to waste Sprints and the Pomodoro Method Check out our amazing self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

NANOWRIMO SUCCESS PART 1 - PREPARE National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is about to start. Every November, writers from around the world set out with the goal of writing a novel, about 50,000 words, in one month. We thought, how cool it would be to help our listeners get through NaNoWriMo with support, encouragement, and some great tips and ideas from someone who has successfully completed it. Join Jamie K. Schmidt and me for a little inspiration and a lot of motivation in this 5-part series. Check out our amazing self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

TIPS FOR YOUR MYSTERY OPENING CHAPTERS The first page of your mystery needs to intrigue your reader. It has to pull them in and make them wonder what’s going on or who did it. Today we bring you tips for your first pages from author Chaunie Bruise. Check out our amazing self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

PLANTING CLUES You’re in a race with your readers. The readers are trying to guess what will happen. You’re trying to spring that ‘whodunnit’ on the readers before they guess. Who will win? Those readers really don’t want to guess…they want to be surprised. But they want that sporting chance to beat you and get there ahead of you. Ideally, you have planted just enough clues, you have sneaked in just enough hints, that when you unveil that ‘whodunnit’, your readers sigh, “Oh, I should have guessed!” THAT gives you a satisfied reader! Join us as we talk about how to outfox your readers. Check out our amazing self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERVIEW WITH KATE MILFORD Kate Milford is the New York Times bestselling author of The Thief Knot, as well as Greenglass House (winner of the Edgar award for juvenile literature, long-listed for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, and a nominee for the Andre Norton Award and the Agatha Award for Children’s/YA). We talk about: • What makes a good mystery? • Do you write a mystery differently than any other kind of novel? • What are 3 things every mystery should have? • What are 3 things every mystery writer should avoid? • Self-aware ironmongery • Here’s a mystery: 9 books and two kids - how? Check out our amazing self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

PLANNING YOUR NOVEL At any time you speak to a writer, they may easily be either planning a novel, writing a novel, or revising a novel. Always. And sometimes a writer could be doing more than one of those at a time. As a result, a fairly streamlined process for novel creation can develop––for that writer, anyway––and Jan Fields’ process is a good one to share here. Make your novel the best it can be. Check out our self-led course Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

FOR THE LOVE OF GENRE Anyone who has been writing for children for any length of time knows that folks have a tendency to see writers for children as dabblers and writers for adults as real writers. In fact, many children's writers have flatly been asked when they're going to do a real book. And within children's writing, book authors are definitely given more respect than magazine writers. And if you write books, well, writing the more action oriented, plot driven genre are definitely seen as less valuable than the character-driven, deeply emotional novels. But like any class system, this one is unfair, and just because other people have bought into it, doesn't mean we have to. Let's look more closely at our love of genre in this week's episode. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

REAL SPEECH FOR REAL PEOPLE Today’s episode is adapted from one of our lessons in the Shape, Write, Sell Your Novel course. This course will work with middle grade and YA novels as well as adult novels. You can check out more details at https://www.instituteforwriters.com/courses/ifws-advanced-novel-writing-course/ Dialogue is an essential component of creating distinct character voice, but of all aspects of writing, dialogue gives novice writers the biggest challenges. Once you understand what good dialogue is and train yourself to listen for it, you’ll find it’s one of the most enjoyable things to write. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERVIEW WITH JAMIE K. SCHMIDT Today’s guest expert is USA Today Bestselling romance novelist Jamie K. Schmidt, who also blogs for us on occasion. Jamie writes contemporary love stories and paranormal romances including the bestselling romantic comedy Life's a Beach and her 2018 RITA award finalist Stud.​  We talk about: • Writer burnout • Hybrid authors explained • Difference between YA romance novels and adult. • Recommendations for someone who is interested in writing romance Check out our amazing self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

8 STEPS TO PERFECT DIALOGUE FORMAT Formatting dialogue in any manuscript can be perplexing. This rebroadcast of a popular episode has 8 guidelines to make your dialogue the best it can be. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

HOW STRUCTURED IS YOUR PICTURE BOOK? One of the major problems editors encounter when reading picture book submissions is the lack of plot, or even purposeful organization. Today’s podcast is inspired by something Jan Fields did for us: a primer on picture book structure and how choosing a structure can help you make plot decisions. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

BECOME YOUR OWN EDITOR Today’s episode is an excerpt from our Writing for Children and Teens course at the Institute of Children’s Literature. The course consists of 10 assignments designed to help you develop submission-ready work by the time you complete your course. You get the benefit of one-on-one instruction and critiques throughout the process. It’s a course like no other. Learn more at writingforchildren.com/course. It may be that you’re a whiz who’s able to produce error-free prose without even thinking about it. But if you’re like most people—including many professional writers—you have at least a few failings when it comes to punctuation, grammar, usage, and spelling. Today, we thought it might be helpful to include a list here of the most common errors made by new writers —and how to fix them. We’ve mentioned some of these on the podcast before, but these errors are so common, that a little reminder is good for everyone.  

COMMA LONG WITH ME I admit I love punctuation. I love all the little rules surrounding periods, commas, and quotation marks. Maybe it’s because my mom was a professional editor, maybe it’s the added structure punctuation gives to a piece. A lot of times it’s because it makes communication more clear––we’ve all heard the following sentence with and without a comma in the right spot: “Let’s eat, Grandpa!” and “Let’s eat Grandpa!” Whatever it is, punctuation makes me happy. Let's dig into this punctuation primer. Special thanks to Rita Reali for contributing to this episode. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERVIEW WITH EDITOR PAULA MORROW Although Paula Morrow has written more than 70 books and hundreds of magazine pieces (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry), she considers her main talent to be editing. Paula honed her skill editing for fifteen years with Cricket Magazine Group and Cricket Books, then with several book, magazine, and educational publishers. Most recently she edited at Highlights. Paula is the judge for the ICL Nonfiction STEAM Article contest. We talk about: What STEAM is, why it's important, and how it differs from other nonfiction writing. What she will be looking for in ICL STEAM contest entries What is structure How structure differs between genres, between books and magazine stories, and between age levels Why a writer should never use more than one exclamation mark at a time An editor’s pet peeves Good examples and/or good sources And lots more! The ICL Nonfiction STEAM Contest is open until August 31, 2020. Find out more at http://writingforchildren.com/steam.

BASIC STORY ELEMENTS Today, we’re discussing three basic story elements: characters, setting, and theme. Learn how they all work together to help you tell a complete story in this rebroadcast of a popular episode. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERJECTING HUMOR INTO YOUR WORK We constantly hear that agents and editors are looking for humor. If they don’t say “humor” outright, we hear it in words like “quirky” and “whimsical.” So how do you bring humor to your own work? Let’s look at a few different ways and thanks to Andrea Collier for contributing to this episode. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

HOW TO WRITE FUNNY Is laughter really the best medicine? I don't know, but I do suspect that laughter is a great way to get published. If you spend much time listening to acquiring editors or librarians or agents, you'll soon discover that humor is very much something they desire. Kids love books that make them laugh. Humans, in general, appreciate humor, even in the darkest times. Unrelenting horror or pain is hard to survive, so being able to step outside it, even a little, to laugh can be life-saving. And readers will appreciate a story that allows them to do that. But for an author to find the way to do that takes a little understanding of how humor works. In this episode, let's talk about how to write funny. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

PLAYING FAIR WITH PLOT Good stories have lots of moving parts. Inspired by an article from our own Jan Fields, this episode challenges us to get all the parts to come together in a way that works. Many writers understand that a good plot requires giving your main character something to want or need, and that the character then needs to do stuff. A story without action of any kind isn't much of a story and most writers get that pretty early in the process of learning to write fiction. And we also realize early on that a good story eventually fulfills the want or need for the main character. But there's a bit more to it than that, and one additional element is that you must play fair with the reader. Let’s look at what that means. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERVIEW WITH NANCY COFFELT Author/illustrator Nancy Coffelt began her career as a fine artist, but when she found that the titles of her whimsical works were getting longer and longer AND longer, she dove into picture books. Her first book, Goodnight Sigmund was published by Harcourt in 1992. Since then Nancy has produced a steady stream of published works including the picture books Dogs in Space, Big, Bigger, Biggest, Fred Stays with Me!, Catch That Baby! and Aunt Ant Leaves through the Leaves. In addition to working with educational, small houses and foreign publishers, Nancy has worked with several big houses including Houghton Mifflin, Scholastic, Chronicle, Little Brown, Holiday House, Henry Holt, Simon & Schuster, and Highlights. Nancy Coffelt has taught writing to fellow word nerds ages 6 to adult since 1992. Her teaching style has been described as “thoughtful,” “motivating,” and “inspiring.” In our conversation about humor, we talk about:    If different genres are easier to write funny  How to create surprise for humor Monty Python  How to bring heart into humor  If you can you write funny when you’re not funny?  The unexpected in humor     Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

PACING 101 You hear the word all the time from teachers, critiquers, and editors. “Nice brisk pace.” “Kind of slow, pick up the pace”. “I like it, but the pace is a bit slow in the middle.” So what the heck is pace and how do we make that slow middle faster or create that brisk pace in the first place? Today, I share a fantastic article on pacing from my old friend Mary Rosenblum. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

VOICE You may feel like you are struggling to find it. The first step in succeeding is realizing that it isn’t as far away as you might think. “Relax. Know that you already have a distinctive voice,” says author Kristi Holl. “Your voice is the product of your personality and your life experiences, both good and not so good.” The trick is to set this voice free in your writing and consistently sound like yourself—not your favorite author, critique buddy, or high school English teacher. Let's dig in on voice in today's episode based on an article from Sue Bradford Edwards. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY WITH PLOT Today we’re continuing our conversation around plot. Our IFW blogger Jamie K. Schmidt contributed to a great article on plotting. Every good story, whether picture book, middle grade, YA, or adult, needs an excellent plot to get your manuscript past the slush pile. If you’re starting a new book, it’s helpful to have a plot outline in front of you when you’re stuck as to what to write next. When you’re revising, it can be helpful to pull out a plot outline to make sure your manuscript is hitting all the right beats. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERVIEW WITH WANDA BRUNSTETTER Wanda Brunstetter is an award-winning romance novelist who has led millions of readers to lose their heart in the Amish life. She is the author of over 100 books with more than 11 million copies sold. Many of her books have landed on the top bestseller lists, including the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, CBA, ECPA, and CBD. Wanda is considered one of the founders of the Amish fiction genre, and her work has been covered by national publications, including Time Magazine and USA Today. We talk about: Wanda starting her writing career as an ICL student! What were the best lessons she learned at the start of her career? Creating outlines and happens when you veer from your outline. What she puts in detailed character sketch Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERVIEW WITH EMMA DRYDEN Over the course of her twenty-five year career (including as Vice President and Publisher of imprints at Simon & Schuster), Emma D. Dryden has edited nearly 500 books for children and young readers, ranging in format from board books and picture books to poetry, novelty books, non-fiction, middle grade fiction, and young adult/teen fiction and fantasy.  As a publisher, Emma oversaw the annual publication of over 100 hardcover and paperback titles, many going on to win prestigious awards in the publishing industry. We discuss: What’s the best way to help your reader feel like they’re in your world without “telling” and creating prolonged descriptions? How to use the weather to tell you story and build your world. – what if it rains? Are you in a desert? What are key pieces of the world to never forget? High fantasy tends to be created from the top down And more! Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

SETTING AS A CHARACTER Today’s episode comes from Jamie K. Schmidt, a regular blogger for us on the IFW Blog focusing on writing for adults. We’re talking about stories where the setting is a character itself. In books where worldbuilding plays a factor, the setting can often feel like a character— someone we’re getting to know and someone who is integral to the action in the story. We’ll have many examples from classic adult books. Their familiarity makes it easier to grasp the concept but we’ll also add some more recent kidlit examples for you to explore as well. Let’s get started.  Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

200th EPISODE GIVEAWAY To celebrate, we're giving away over $1,000 worth of prizes! Head to writingforchildren.com/200 to enter before 5/24/20 and you could win our Revision Power Course! When you’re about to begin revising a piece of writing, it can seem so daunting you may be tempted to bury the darn thing at the bottom of your sweater drawer, then go hide somewhere (say, at the beach) for a few weeks. But, you’re listening to this podcast, so you’re in luck! Author and IFW Guest Blogger Rita Reali is also a freelance editor and today we bring you her advice on why you should get fresh eyes on your manuscript once you’re ready to revise.   Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE N. HOLMBERG Charlie N. Holmberg is the author of the Numina series and the Wall Street Journal bestselling Paper Magician series, which has been optioned by the Walt Disney Company. We talk about building worlds through: Senses Clothing Language And how language can support the world Plus, how to help your reader feel like they’re in your world without “telling” and creating prolonged descriptions? And lots more!

ELEMENTS OF SETTING If you’re going to build a whole new world in your story, you have got to get the setting right. Today’s episode explores the elements of setting with contributions from Jan Fields. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

POETRY FOR THE VERY YOUNG Poetry for very young children has a lot in common with poetry for older readers. It’s built word by word, as poetry has no room for extraneous words. It sounds good to the ear. It gives the reader a different way to look at the world by drawing attention very closely to something. Still, when writing for the very young, some things must be kept in mind. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

POETRY BASED REVISIONS Today we bring you a special episode from our favorite lyrical wordsmith Renee LaTulippe. If you write for kids, you and Renee probably have a lot in common, including the same target audience, the same writing struggles, the same desire for publication, and probably similar writing processes. Like poetry, picture books are meant to be read aloud, which means you need to create engaging language that transports children into a world of imagination. And, like poetry, you have to do it in as few words as possible. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

HOW NOT TO GET REJECTED Perhaps the most common question from new picture book authors is, “Why do agents and editors say they hate rhyme when so many rhyming picture books get published each year?” These authors aptly observe that kids love rhyming books, many of them are bestsellers, and Dr. Seuss’s books still sell millions of copies. Here’s the truth. Agents and editors don’t hate rhyme. They hate poorly written rhyme. Inspired by an article from 12 x 12 Writing Challenge Founder Julie Hedlund, let's talk about strategies for developing well-written rhyme. Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower

INTERVIEW WITH PATRICE VECCHIONE Poet, nonfiction writer, and teacher PATRICE VECCHIONE has edited several highly acclaimed anthologies for young adults including, most recently, Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience, winner of a Cybil Award. We talk about: Finding Yourself on Paper Who Said You Couldn’t Say That? Ways to get yourself writing poetry. Lots more Check out our amazing new self-led course, Revision Power at writingforchildren.com/revisionpower