I will write anywhere. You never know when inspiration will strike.I usually carry a little notebook with me and I always have my phone and my laptop. I used to have a small bluetooth keyboard by Zagg that made it easy for me to type on my phone fast. It was wonderful for when I… Read more »
General writing
Rejections and Acceptances in Writing 2018
I like to keep track of my writing rejections and acceptances by year. Sometimes when I’m feeling frustrated, just knowing I have submitted ideas, stories, and projects gives me a boost. I use Numbers to track my submissions, but I also use an old-fashioned paper notebook. The paper notebook might be my good luck charm,… Read more »
Children’s Illustration Class
I’m taking a children’s illustration class and it’s scary. It’s class hosted by our local arts center, the North Hills Center for the Arts. The teacher isn’t scary. Our instructor is Jeanine Murch and she does some lovely work! I’m especially excited to learn about lettering from her. The other people in the class aren’t… Read more »
Creative Boost: Visiting a Haunted Library
I like trying new things, they give me a creative boost. I think it’s essential to get out of my comfort zone so I can think about the world differently, learn about new perspectives, and be more creative in general. One small way I learn about new things is to visit new places. Sometimes I… Read more »
Kids Writing Club in 2019
When I was in seventh grade, I got permission from my teacher to produce a literary magazine at my school. Me and several other kids typed up stories and poems and then I ran off copies on a mimeograph machine, the kind with the purple ink that people loved to smell. This year, I’m revisiting… Read more »
Get Story Ideas by Brainstorming
I get story ideas in wonderful places. Listening to people talk, watching the news, listening to songs. Another way I get story ideas is from other writers. I have a lot of fun working as a writing coach. I work with a young man who wants to write some scary, scary stories. He loves Stephen… Read more »
Writing Puns is Fun
I love writing puns and I love writing with puns. Over Thanksgiving, I brought a new game to play with my family called Punderdome. I found this game at Riverstone Books, my favorite local bookstore. I’m very lucky that the family was willing to give it a try, even my 13 year old son got… Read more »
Tell a Story in One Sentence
If you’re writing a story, there are lots of things you need to know how to do. You need to know how to create interesting characters. You need to know how to write dialogue. You need to know how to build tension. You need to know how to write a good ending. Once you’ve got… Read more »
How to Be a Better Writer
I’m always learning how to be a better writer. It never stops. I am always reading different blog posts and listening to different podcasts. Also, I register for webinars from SCBWI. I attend events at the Highlights Foundation, and I always attend the annual SCBWI fall conference here in Pittsburgh. I’ve learned some really interesting… Read more »
Things I’m Writing
I’ve had a good end of summer and beginning of fall for my writing projects. At the end of the summer, I turned in eleven short documents that were examples of different text structures. These documents are going to be used by a teacher to help students identify types of text, like cause and effect… Read more »