INTERVIEW WITH 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. “I love language,” she explains. “Anyone can put words on paper or a computer screen. The true joy is taking a rough draft and working, reworking, massaging, and polishing the text into the best it can be.” She honed her skill by 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. Plus, Paula was the judge for our 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 Nonfiction STEAM contest entries.
• What structure is
• 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 more!