You’ve written the final draft of your book, and you’re so proud. You want to submit it to that dream agent RIGHT NOW! You’ve revised it, used the “find” tool to go through the whole manuscript and delete unnecessary words, you’ve worked on showing, not telling, and you’ve even come up with a great pitch…. Read more »
Writing Coach
Some Advice for Writers from Birders
I’m both a birder and a writer. When I bird, I’m often out there enjoying whatever birds come my way. But sometimes, I’m looking for a specific bird. I have a goal. It can be frustrating when I can’t find it, and even more frustrating when others can. When I’m writing, I’m often creating a… Read more »
Critique Group Feedback on Creating Characters and Connecting with Readers
Getting into costume is a great way to get into character. Writers need to get into their character’s head every time they write a story. But they also need to get into their reader’s head and figure out how their reader will connect with their main character. It’s not easy to hold all of… Read more »
The Best Critique Comments I’ve Gotten This Month
I’m so lucky I have amazing critique partners. They are generous with their time and expertise and so honest about what parts of the story need work. They are also really, really interested in helping me make my work better. And they never forget to leave a kind comment! I participate in webinars and group… Read more »
Organizing Your Thoughts As a Writer
I had a great time presenting at the Outdoor Discovery Center at Crooked Creek in February. I spoke to an audience of both teens and parents, and I think it was a really interesting mix of perspectives. The teens had a lot of questions about writing and animals, and the adults even had some questions… Read more »
I’ve Written a Children’s Book. Now What? Part 2
Congratulations! You’ve written a children’s book! You love reading children’s books so much you have dedicated yourself to learning the craft and written one yourself. And you’ve done the homework from Part 1, right? No? OK take a minute and go read that post and then do the homework. Then come back here. Done now?… Read more »
I’ve Written a Children’s Book. Now What? Part 1
I see this question a lot on social media sites and forums about writing. People ask, “I’ve written a children’s book. Now what?” I love talking with people about writing for children, so I’m always tempted to answer. But the answer I want to give is not the answer people want to hear. They want… Read more »
Writer Submissions Tracking – 2019 and 2020
Here are my submission, acceptance, and rejection rates for 2019 and 2020. As a reminder, I keep track in both my lucky notebook and my lucky Numbers spreadsheet. Big news of 2020 – I signed with my lovely agent Miranda Paul of Erin Murphy Literary Agency and sold my book Animal Allies to Chicago Review… Read more »
Improve Your Writing: Senses
Writing conferences offer a lot of great tips on how to improve your writing. One tip that’s always stayed with me is to use at least three different sensory descriptions in a scene. Using at least three senses helps readers visualize the scene better and it makes the scene more real. Here’s a snapshot of… Read more »
What a Writing Coach Offers
In 2017, I embarked on a new part of the writer’s journey and became a writing coach. My first client is actually a young man interested in a challenging creative writing program in the area. We are working together to help him set goals and achieve them. One aspect of his writing that doesn’t work:… Read more »