Riveting Resolutions: 10 Effective Article Endings
Writing an effective nonfiction article ending is one of the most overlooked aspects of writing. Leave your reader satisfied with these riveting resolutions!
Learn from Success: 10 Engaging Article Openings
One of the best ways to learn what makes an engaging article opening is to study published nonfiction pieces and to see what made them successful. Let’s do it!
Writing Nonfiction for Very Young Readers
Writing nonfiction for very young children requires specific things but with a narrow focus, few words, and kid-friendly topics, you can break into this market.
The Big 3 of Nonfiction
The three essentials for any publishable children’s nonfiction are accuracy, clarity, and organization. Let’s look at these tips for success in nonfiction.
Sensing It: Bringing Show Don’t Tell to Your Nonfiction
What does show don’t tell mean when it comes to nonfiction? Jan Fields shares examples of using sensory details to bring true stories to life for the readers.
4 Steps to Improve Readability in Children’s Books
Part of writing children’s books that can be used in a school setting lies in meeting the needs of the reader. Here are 4 steps to improve readability.
Back to School Plans for Writers
Are you feeling the back-to-school itch? Make this season work for you as a writer! Jan Fields shares ways to get reinvigorated in your writing this fall.
Evaluating Writing Programs
How do you evaluate a critique program or a writing program and decide if it’s worth your time and your money? The answer is research. Check out these tips!
Show or Tell: Writing Dialogue Tags and Beats
Speech tags and action tags or beats are essential when writing dialogue. These tiny but mighty words are the difference between reader confusion and enjoyment.
Dive into Writing Dialogue
Dialogue is a favorite for writers AND readers. Dialogue makes your character present and real in a scene. Let’s talk tips and techniques for great dialogue.
Your Voice or Theirs?
Voice, whether your natural writing voice or the voice of a character, comes from an emotional place. Jan Fields gives us exercises to develop these voices.
Discovering Your Author Voice
Voice is something publishers want, but it’s an elusive thing to understand. Today, we discover ways to develop our own voice and the voices of our characters.
Inside/Outside: More Tips on Writing Conflict
When writing conflict, inner and outer conflicts are not two separate things. Outer conflicts offer an opportunity to explore inner ones better. Find out how.
Defining Types of Conflict in Children’s Books
Conflict in children’s books isn’t necessarily fights or arguments, it’s about the roadblocks that keep the character from getting what they want in the story.
Conflict and Your Story Machine
Discover how the conflict the main character of your manuscript faces is the little piece of the story machine with the biggest impact on your reader.
Plot: What’s At Stake?
Plot moves forward as pressure is applied to characters to motivate them to act. Pressure in a story is all about the stakes. Are your stakes high enough?
Worldbuilding and the 3 Stages of Writing
Many writers think worldbuilding is only for fantasy and sci-fi, but it’s important for all stories. Consider worldbuilding in these 3 stages of writing.
4 Tips for Efficient Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding is the process of making decisions about setting and systems for a story. Check out these four tips for efficient and effective worldbuilding.
4 Ways Setting Acts with and As Character
Setting can seem like a character all on its own, but only if the writer allows the setting to do its job. And that requires both research and imagination.
Worldbuilding for Everyday Worlds
Worldbuilding is something every fiction writer needs to think about to create believable scenes rooted in a setting in such a way that readers feel it.
