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.
Ready to write for children? Our Signature Course, Writing for Children and Teens, is open now! Get started here!
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.
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:
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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.
Let a one-on-one mentor help you get that book out of your head and onto the page. Get started here!
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.
Let a one-on-one mentor to help you hone your revision skills and polish your work so it shines in your submissions to agents and editors! Get started here!
GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE: TRY NONFICTION
For most people considering children's writing for a career (or even for a hobby), the type of writing that comes to mind is fiction. For many of us, the picture books we loved most were fiction. The novels we read in our spare time are fiction. So we think about writing as a place to tell stories. And it certainly can be, but if you're serious about building a career in writing, it's worthwhile to give at least some thought to nonfiction. And as soon as you're thinking nonfiction, you have to come up with an idea.
Ready to write nonfiction? Let us help! Our one-on-one mentors can help you discover new ideas and develop your work for publication. Get started here!
INTERVIEW WITH ELENA FAVILLI
Elena Favilli is the co-founder and CEO of Rebel Girls, the cultural media engine working to empower girls and women all over the world. She has worked for Colors Magazine, McSweeney's, RAI, Il Post, and La Repubblica, and managed digital newsrooms on both sides of the Atlantic. She holds a masters degree in semiotics from the University of Bologna and she studied digital journalism at UC Berkeley. Elena continues to spearhead Rebel Girls, as it dives into new mission-driven initiatives and projects.
WE TALK ABOUT…
Ready to write nonfiction? Let us help! Our one-on-one mentors can help you discover new ideas and develop your work for publication. Get started here!
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.
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?
Get a one-on-one mentor to help you write publishable work that agents and publishers are looking for! Get started here!
A CHILDLIKE VOICE
Kids are far more discerning than many writers suspect. They know a "fake kid" when they hear one, so your dialogue must feel like real words spoken by a real kid. At the same time, it cannot include all the affectations (um, so like, um, what?) that might be part of real speech but would drag the story down. So how do you learn how to write real dialogue? Glad you asked. Here is a three-step process that will help you transform your dialogue.
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CREATING QUALITY 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?
What's your question?
Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.
NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memior, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
NUMBER ONE, ENGAGE!
When editors ask for characters that grow and change, they aren’t asking for a story about life’s lessons. They don’t mean they want a lecture on manners disguised as a story. What they want is for the situation in the story to have an impact on the main character that causes growth and change. And they want it to happen during a story that engages and entertains.
When you are totally engaged, you can’t help but learn from the experience.
So how do we engage the youngest reader so that they both enjoy and learn from what we write?
Listen to the full episode to find out!
Do you have questions about how the children's publishing industry works?
Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.
Is your manuscript submission-ready?
Submit your manuscript to our critique service and one of our instructors will give you a full critique to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
DO YOU KNOW YOUR CHARACTER?
Consider asking yourself (or your character) these questions. The answers will help you understand your character's motivation and how their mind works. You may not use any of the answers in your actual story, but knowing the answers will help you write a more fully developed character.
1. Interview your character. Imagine yourself as a reporter asking your character questions about how he was feeling at different points in the book and why he did things. As you relax and answer the questions, you often find new dimensions to the character.
2. Consider giving your main character a “catch phrase.” Even if you never actually use the catch phrase in your work, imagining a catch phrase that matches your character will reveal a lot about him/her. After all, a kid whose catch phrase is “full steam ahead” is a totally different person from one whose catch phrase is “Be careful, be safe.”
For all eight tips and questions, listen to the full episode.
Do you have questions about how the children's publishing industry works?
Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.
Before you hit send...
Submit your manuscript to our critique service and one of our instructors will give you a full critique to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
SOMETIMES, YOU JUST GOTTA RHYME
You constantly hear the advice to write in prose, not rhyme. Why?
You see, there's this interesting phenomena that goes on in our brains. It's like this: most of us simply cannot tell when our rhyming work is terrible.
You see the skills needed to actually write good rhymes also imparts the ability to judge good rhyme. So if we can't write it, we also usually cannot tell that we can't write it. And that's the trap that catches many, many unpublished picture book authors. How exactly does that work? Well, to sell a rhyming picture book, certain things have to happen and all three are essential.
Listen to the episode to hear the three things you need in your rhyming manuscript. Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/048
You've got questions. We've got answers.
Let us answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.
Polish up your manuscript before you submit. Get a critique from an ICL instructor.
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
GROWNUPS SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD
A surprising number of writers really struggle to separate themselves from the adult characters in children’s stories. This is especially true for newer writers with stories for very young children. Few of us have very clear memories of our preschool years, but we have excellent memories of the preschool years of our children. And in all of those memories, we are the parent. Obviously. We are not the child. So when we write from those memories, it can be easy to slip into the adult viewpoint.
Unruly adults are the result. Unruly adults talk too much. Unruly adults step in and solve the story problem–either directly or through wise direction. Unruly adults push the main character into a passive role in the story.
Listen to three possible unruly adult stories and why they don't work in this episode.
Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/040
You've got questions. We've got answers.
Let us answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.
Does your manuscript need a fresh pair of eyes? Get a critique from an ICL instructor.
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
WHAT DO KIDS CARE ABOUT?
You may have heard me mention that the great nonfiction writer––and editor––Andrea Davis Pinkney said, when shekeynoted at the online conference, Picture Book Summit, that nonfiction sounds like nonfun. But you should know, kids love nonfiction. Sometimes we forget that some readers find nonfiction more exciting––it’s their favorite reading.
Also, there are very few magazines that don't buy nonfiction––but there are quite a few that buy only nonfiction. With this reality, most of us can see the value of dabbling in nonfiction, but some find their nonfiction pieces meeting rejection time after time.
How do we find the perfect topic and slant to make the sale? Often it comes down to connecting with our kid-side.
Let's sing that old Sesame Street lyric “One of these things is not like the others…” our example is that three of these articles ideas belong together, but one just doesn't belong here. Which one and why?
A Teaspoon of Kerosene for that Cough? Disgusting Doses from the Past
I Vant to Suck Your Fluids––Vampire Caterpillars.
Kids In the White House
Overcoming Homework Hassles––Helping Kids Set Priorities
Right, what kid is going to read an article on how to get kids to do their homework? If you wanted to write an article on homework, you would need to do it from the viewpoint of the kid, not of the parent hoping to get kids to work.
Many new writers produce nonfiction that would be of interest to adults––especially parents––but would not be of interest to kids. Now, writing for parents is a potentially lucrative market, but it’s a different market.
When you choose a nonfiction topic, realize that no one is going to make the child read it.
For tips on writing nonfiction kids want to read, listen to the episode.
Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/031
What questions do you want to ask our instructors?
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature wants to hear from you. Let us answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap.
Wondering if your manuscript is ready for submission? Get a critique from an ICL instructor.
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
Do you ever wonder if you have a real plot in your short story––something that an editor will find satisfying and complete? It can be tough, but one way to find out is to imagine your main character in front of you and just ask him or her some questions. What questions? Ah, there’s the key.
Kurt Vonnegut said, ”Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water."
The first question to ask your character is what he or she wants. A character who wants for nothing is probably not someone an editor is going to find interesting. Let’s ask that question of the main characters in two short stories––one for young readers (Penny) and two from two different stories for intermediate readers (Hannah and Carter).
Author: Hi, so, tell me––what do you want most in the world right now?
Penny: I want to go back to my old preschool where all my old friends are.
Hannah: I want Olivia to move back to Texas before she ruins my life.
Carter: I want to make enough money to buy another new cell phone, but I don’t want to be bored to death doing it.
All of these wants are very serious for the main characters. Now, Penny and Hannah aren’t going to get what they think they want––Carter will, but he may learn something about being careful what you wish for. Penny’s family has moved, and they aren’t likely to move back. And Hannah’s nemesis isn’t likely to move away just because that’s what Hannah wants. We can
sense the problems inherent in their desire right from the moment they tell us what they want.
For more questions to ask your characters, listen to this episode.
Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/030
What questions do you want to ask our instructors?
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature wants to hear from you. Let us answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap.
Need a fresh set of eyes? ICL instructors offer critiques!
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
One of the most common reasons for editors to reject a poem is bad meter. Meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem. When the pattern works, the sound of the poem aids the content of the poem instead of distracting from it. Many writers think it’s enough to for a poem to rhyme but don’t understand the nature and construction of meter.
So, if you know how to handle meter, you’re more than halfway to selling your poetry. But there is another problem that is probably just as widespread and can affect even writers with a totally perfect ear for meter.
I’m talking about forcing the rhyme. Sometimes a poem will be about a specific subject, or be telling us a lively story, but the writer will suddenly find herself stuck. She needs a line to rhyme with a different line. After all, rhyme scheme is important.
So, she’ll make a slight detour in subject so that she can make the rhyme––then she’ll return to the first subject:
While birdies all stand ‘round and preen
Spring wears a bright weskit of green
With buttons of white
A dazzling sight
The choicest of seasons I’ve seen.
Okay…why are there birds in a poem that’s basically a simile about how the bright spring grass and white spring flowers are compared to stylish clothes? Sure, there are birds in spring. And preening is kind of related to sartorial splendor, but let’s be honest––the birds snuck in to make a line that rhymes with green. And the poem’s writer knows it did. The editor knows it too. The poem is not likely to sell, even overlooking the lame last line.
Once you’ve chosen what your poem will be about, you must be true to that. Rhyme and meter is essential but content is just as essential. It’s not a hierarchy. All must work together.
To find out how to make it work, listen to this episode.
Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/029
We want YOUR questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature wants to hear from you. Let us answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap.
Need a fresh set of eyes? ICL instructors offer critiques!
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
CONFLICT FOR ANY AGE
Many times writers have trouble understanding the place of conflict in stories for young children. Either the stories will be devoid of conflict. Or they will be wondrous stories of fighting and near-death experiences. In magazine fiction, the place of conflict tends to land somewhere between these two extremes.
In story terms, conflict occurs when something must be overcome in order to move from our perceived goal to achieving that goal. Our main character’s goal could be want-based (getting a new bike) or need based (finding a way out of a trap.) The difficulty standing in his way tends to increase as the age of the main character increases. In a very young character, the child may only need to do some problem-solving to achieve the goal. For example, in “Zindy Lou and the Dark Place” by Judy Cox (published in Spider) the main character is frightened of the dark bathroom at school. She tries a variety of methods to solve her problem and finally hits on one that works. There is no bad guy, no adult to the rescue, no friends or siblings making fun of her fear––finding a way of coping with the fear is the sole conflict. However, for older readers conflict usually increases. In “Prayers and Other Nonsense” by Kathleen Ahrens (published in Skipping Stones), the main character must talk her mother into leaving their home before a storm destroys it. The need is greater and the conflict is more interpersonal.
For more information on developing conflict in your story, including a story structure template you can use for any fiction manuscript, listen to this episode.
Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/025
Don’t forget to leave your questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature answers the podcast questions. You can leave your question at http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap
What’s Working in Your Manuscript, What’s Not, and How to Fix It:
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
QUERY LETTERS
Many of the more prestigious children’s magazines (and most of the YA magazines) prefer writers query instead of sending finished manuscripts. Most book publishers and agents require queries as well. Queries help (slightly) in keeping slush piles thin, and makes the editor’s job easier in some ways and more taxing in others. Queries mean editors are responding to your idea, your professionalism, your qualifications, and your scholarship instead of your finished product.
For many writers, queries are terrifying. We know we can write, but can we pitch? And a query is a kind of pitch. You are persuading an editor that your product will be superior, but you must do so with something other than your product.
Your query must convince the editor:
* you are qualified to write the story/article/book,
* you have the skills to write the story/article/book,
* the story/article/book will fit well in that specific magazine, specific publisher, or specific agent because you understand the desired style, tone, and the specific * * needs of that magazine, publisher, agent,
* the finished story/article/book is/will be special.
* the finished nonfiction will be accurate.
The queries that tend to grab interest quickly often have a few things in common.
To find out how to increase your chances of getting your pitch picked up, listen to the full episode.
Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/023
Don’t forget to leave your questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature answers the podcast questions. You can leave your question at http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap
What’s Working in Your Manuscript, What’s Not, and How to Fix It:
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
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.
Generally speaking, the younger your audience, the more concrete your poetry must be. Young children have such a limited range of experience that they cannot make connections between the sun and a golden disk because they have no point of reference for "a golden disk." When dealing with young toddlers, they have difficulty grasping comparisons at all. To a toddler, dogs are so much like cats, that if you compare them, the child may have difficulty understanding that they are really different things at all.
BABYBUG is probably the magazine geared toward the youngest of all children. Poetry in BABYBUG may contain play on sounds, but they won't use much (if any) simile. The poems for this magazine are often 10 words or so. They will focus on very common experience: seeing a dog while on an outing with mom, watching water run in a tub, discovering that both balls and trucks roll. The poetry reinforces common experience, helping children discover their world. When the poem goes outside common experience, such as a poem about a bear cub snuggling with his mother, the poem stretches his boundaries slightly, but not too far since the poem will still deal with baby friendly ideas like snuggling with mom, snow is cold, night is for sleeping.
For more tips on writing poetry for children and suggestions on what magazines to submit your poems to listen to the full episode.
Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/022
Don’t forget to leave your questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature answers the podcast questions. You can leave your question at http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap
What’s Working in Your Manuscript, What’s Not, and How to Fix It:
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
FEELING MYSTERIOUS?
Mysteries are one of the most popular genre in literature. In books, there are even thriving sub-genre, like cozies, hard-boiled detectives, and police procedurals, that have countless fans. Magazines like Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine have been feeding the adult reader’s need for short mystery fiction for generations. But what about kids? Do children’s magazines still want mysteries or is this the land of books only?
Many children’s magazines will accept mysteries. Many editors say they would love to get more good mysteries. So what makes a story good?
* A fresh idea with a clever puzzle.
* Strong characters.
* Lively, real dialogue.
In other words, the same stuff editors want in any story. So why aren’t they getting these things in mysteries? Well, mysteries can be kind of tricky. First, you really need to plan a mystery before you start writing it. This flies in the face of the writing style of many (especially many newer writers). So they come up with a possible problem (who took the teacher’s special fountain pen?) and they know who the main character will be so they jump in and start writing. But, when the writer doesn’t know who took the pen, often the result is (1) a solution that doesn’t flow logically from the clues, (2) a solution that flows too logically, making it not a puzzle at all since everyone knew who the villain was well before your ‘detective,’ or (3) a solution that falls back on old clichés (more on these in a minute.)
How do you plan your mystery? Listen to the full episode to find out!
Read more in our show notes: http://writingforchildren.com/021
Don’t forget to leave your questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature answers the podcast questions. You can leave your question at http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap
What’s Working in Your Manuscript, What’s Not, and How to Fix It:
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
FIVE TIPS TO A GREAT MAIN CHARACTER
What makes a memorable main character? Well, for a character to carry a series of books, you’ll need to make the person memorable. Although the “every kid” type will offer instant ability for readers to connect, it won’t be enough––the character needs specific, unique traits or abilities to linger in the mind of the reader. The unique trait might be learning disability (Joey Pigza in the Joey Pigza series by Jack Gantos has ADD) or unusual ability (Cam Janson has a photographic memory) or speech patterns (Junie B. Jones speaks like a real kindergartener, which makes some people nuts, but she does sound like a five-year-old) ––but the character needs something to stand out from the pack.
1. Make the main character matter emotionally.
That doesn’t mean the MC must be a paragon of virtue (in fact, no one like’s perfect people since they don’t read “real” and they’re kind of obnoxious), but you must give the character something we can connect with so that their fate matters to us. It’s the weakness in a character (and the character’s voice) that makes him/her linger in our minds.
For four more tips creating a great main character, listen to this episode of Writing for Children.
Find out how to be a good partner for your illustrator by listening to this episode!
Read more in our show notes plus get a handy guide on word count in today's children's publishing market at http://writingforchildren.com/020
Don’t forget to leave your questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature answers the podcast questions. You can leave your question at http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap
What’s Working in Your Manuscript, What’s Not, and How to Fix It:
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
DO YOU SOUND LIKE A KID?
Dialogue is one of the best ways to connect with readers and one of the quickest ways to lose them. Your readers know a fake kid when they listen to one––so your dialogue not only carries plot and characterization burdens, it needs to be real. Let’s look at some tips for “realifying” your dialogue.
Eavesdrop on kids. Libraries are great places to do this because no matter how often they’re shushed, when kids gather, they talk. You can often grab a chair or table near a gathering spot and simply take dictation. Then, when you’re at home, you can analyze what things make kid-speak unique.
Catch Kid TV. Yes, it hurts and it can be didactic and goofy, but bad kid tv will teach you almost as much as good kid tv. You’ll learn to identify young characters who are slipping into overly mature speeches and preaching to the audience––and then you can avoid it in your own characters. Not all kid-speak on tv is good––a lot of it is horrible. Spend time listening and you can begin to identify good and bad.
Find out how by listening to this episode!
Read more in our show notes plus get clickable links at http://writingforchildren.com/018
Don’t forget to leave your questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature answers the podcast questions. You can leave your question at http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap
What’s Working in Your Manuscript, What’s Not, and How to Fix It:
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
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 Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, the alien character tries to understand laughter and comes to the conclusion that it's about pain and wrongness. In some ways, there is truth there. But, as a writer, I'm looking at humor as a technique and "pain" isn't really a helpful answer for me. So I began to look for what really makes something funny. What is a basic foundation of written humor that I can build on to lighten up my writing?
Find out how by listening to this episode!
Read more in our show notes plus get clickable links at http://writingforchildren.com/017
Don’t forget to leave your questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature answers the podcast questions. You can leave your question at http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap
What’s Working in Your Manuscript, What’s Not, and How to Fix It:
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
NONFICTION DOES NOT MEAN NONFUN
Many new writers connect the word "nonfiction" with horror filled memories of slogging through dull textbooks and trying to memorize all the war dates through history. Or trying to memorize the states and capitals. Or trying to memorize scientific terms for the test. In other words, we remember mostly painful associations with nonfiction as a child. So we assume kids won't want to read our article unless we jolly them into it.
So many beginning writers will do one of the following:
1. Address the reader directly, a lot, in kind of a jolly voice, and often asking questions about the reader’s life to try to draw comparisons with the article’s subject.
2. Mix fiction into the nonfiction much like you'd mix tasty syrup into icky medicine to force it past the lips of a cranky child. Since we assume fiction is tasty and nonfiction is icky, we're sure we need some fiction to make the nonfiction fun.
And yet, those are two things editors hate to see. You could easily get a rejection over that. Why?
Listen to the episode and find out!
Read more in our show notes plus get clickable links at http://writingforchildren.com/014
Don’t forget to leave your questions!
The faculty of the Institute of Children’s Literature answers the podcast questions. You can leave your question at http://www.speakpipe.com/WFC. If it’s featured on the show, you’ll receive an awesome embroidered ICL all cotton baseball cap
What’s Working in Your Manuscript, What’s Not, and How to Fix It:
Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/