KIDLIT AND MORE! - KidzTales

What writing advice can Mr. Rogers give?

4/8/2019

Fred Rogers gave us some very good advice throughout the airing of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. But did he give any advice that can be used by writers? You bet he did!

I found this video on Facebook and got permission from writersrelief.com to place it on KidLit and More for you. After their permission note, is the video with the wise advice.

"This video has been posted with the permission of Writer’s Relief, a highly recommended author’s submission service. They assist writers with preparing their submissions and researching the markets for creative writers."

THE IMPORTANCE OF WRITING TIGHT

3/4/2019

So, you’ve gone over your manuscript with a fine tooth comb. You think it’s just perfect and think the professional editor you’ve sent it to won’t find anything wrong with it. You receive his/her response and your mouths drops to the floor. What in the world did you miss?

You forgot to write tight. This is a small thing but it packs a punch with today’s readers. Why is this important? It’s important for several reasons. Today’s readers don’t want to read wordy descriptions. Those days are gone! Why describe something in two or three words when you can say they same thing with one word? Just how do you write tight?

For an example, let’s take the sentence, “Jan stood up.” What’s wrong here? When you stand you go up. You don’t stand down. So, just how do you fix this sentence? Try cutting out the word “up.” You’re saying the same thing. Don’t you see Jan standing up? It’s the same with the sentence, “Keira shrugged her shoulders.” How can you fix this one? Simple, just cut out the words “her shoulders.” After all, you don’t shrug your knees or toes, do you?

How else can you write tight? Cut that phrase out of your story that doesn’t move the story forward. If it doesn’t help your story, it’s not needed.

Don’t repeat words several times in a paragraph. You never hear kids calling each other by their names every time they open their mouths.

Make your tags short and sweet. Make your manuscript sound as natural as possible without being wordy. Instead of having your sentence read, “Robby come here.” How about, “Hey, come here, shouted James. He hung out the door gesturing to Robby. See what I did? The tag line for the speech is “shouted James.” That’s all. The descriptive sentence comes after that so your reader can see James hanging out the door shouting and gesturing to Robby.

Cut out most of those “ly” words. This helps! It makes you search for a stronger adjective that brings the readers senses into action. Doing this also help with the flow of the story. It doesn’t jerk the reader around which is a big no-no in writing for both children and adults.

As I mentioned above, you want to engage all five senses. Find words that help your readers to see, feel, and experience what the hero or heroine do.

Focus on the subject of your story or article. If you find phrases or sentences (or even paragraphs) there that don’t have anything to do with the subject, cut it. This will automatically help you write tight. It will also make your manuscript a more enjoyable read and help the word count in the process!

Writing tight is also great for your word count. Most publishers don’t manuscripts for picture books to go over 1,000 words. Then again, I’ve seen some publishing houses where the guidelines don’t want more than 500 words.

I’ve found two great books to help you learn this. I’ve also found good websites that will help demonstrate ‘writing tight’ better.

BOOKS
Word Magic for Writers by Cindy Rogers
WRITE TIGHT: SAY EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN by William Brohaugh
WEBSITES
15 Ways To Write Tight
http://www.writetodone.com/15-ways-to-write-tight
Write Tight Site
http://www.writetightsite.com
Writing Tight: Making Every Sentence Count
http://www.theindievoice.com/writing-tight-making-every-sentence-count
How To Write Tight-Self Editing Tips To Make Your Manuscript Ready For Publication
http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2012/04/how-to-write-tight-self-editing-tips-to.html#.UuurPz1dSo

LET'S CELEBRATE HOLI

2/24/2019

TITLE: Let’s Celebrate Holi
AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: Anitha Rathod
FORMATS: Kindle, paperback
PRICE: Kindle-free with Kindle Unlimited, Paperback-$9.99
ASIN: B07CQ2NVCC (Kindle)
ISBN-10: 1795312157 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781795312158 (paperback)

This delightful explanation of the Indian festival called Holi is a must have for your home library. ‘Let’s Celebrate Holi’ has beautiful, bright pictures in it that your child will delight in. The pictures show the old traditional dress of Indian royalty, so he/she will learn this without knowing it.

The text is simple enough for your child to grasp and understand. The story is very relatable so a child can understand it. Asking Grandma a question and she answers with a story. Or playing with your friends and getting filthy, getting presents, and singing songs like it’s Christmas!

If you want to learn more about the author and illustrator, just go to her bio page on her website. While you're there, check out all of her other books! You can also learn more about Anitha at her Amazon Author Page .

MAKE IT FLOW

2/11/2019

What is flow and what does it have to do with writing? Flow is simple. It’s also known as cohesion. According to The Writing Center of Gustuvas College https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/cohesion.php, it’s the seamlessness of one sentence flowing into another. There should be no changing of the subject in a paragraph. The sentences should flow or run together seamlessly into one another without jerking the reader around. The changing of a paragraph should be done the same way with a transition so your flow doesn’t break up and jerk your readers around.

Start your transition to your next paragraph by making your last line in the previous paragraph about what you want the next paragraph to be. For example, they last sentence in your first paragraph could be something like: “They had to climb the mountain to arrive at their destination.” The next paragraph would show them climbing the mountain, stepping over or around obstacles in their way. Maybe the obstacle is an attacking mountain lion? This would be a surprise for the reader. It would also be a plot twist since fighting the mountain lion. That would hinder the climb over the mountain but the flow or cohesion hasn’t been broken since they’re still climbing that mountain.

Look at the picture of the river above (credit: Google Images). See how the river flows without breaking? It gently makes it way to the ocean flowing over rocks and other obstacles in its way. Now, imagine that you’re rowing a boat down that river. The river doesn’t jerk you around at all. In your rowboat, you gently and seamlessly flow down the river passed the woods on the riverbank. What happens when the river comes to a rock in the river does it stop its flow? No. It takes a detour by going around the rock or splashes over it. I like to think of this as putting a twist in the plot.

The same can be done with chapters with one small difference. The end of a chapter should be like the season finale of a TV show. You can’t wait for the next season to start to see what happens next. End your chapter the same way you do a paragraph but with something jaw dropping. So your reader keeps turning those pages. That’s what you want them to do!

Below is a video I found on the subject that I hope will help you.

For more information see:
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/flow/

Five Ways To Make your Writing Flow Better
http://waldenwritingcenter.blogspot.com/2013/12/five-ways-to-create-flow-in-your-writing.html

Chloe Counting Florida by 2s

2/4/2019

CHLOE COUNTING FLORIDA BY 2s
by Suzan Johnson

Chloe loves to travel. She also loves to read about different places. What kind of animals live there? What kinds of things are there to do or see?

In this adorable counting book, Choe learns to skip count or count by twos. In this picture book, Chloe sees that there are two alligators. Now, she knows that alligators live in Florida and there are two of them on the page! Next, she counts four panthers. What’s next? Amusement parks? Restaurants? More animals? By the time she finishes the book, Chloe skip counts up to twenty.

I highly recommend this counting book for your home library. Not only will your child like the adventure of seeing and learning about new things, but they’ll also learn to skip count.

To learn more about Ms. Johnson just visit her Amazon author page.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU WRITE?

1/28/2019

Some people say that you should write seven days a week until you get to a certain word count. You also have writers that use a flexible schedule. Then again, some say that you should only write when the muse inspires you. Do I do any of these? Yes. Should you or I? Yes.

I’ve found that I use the flexible schedule. I may or may not get some writing done on Saturdays depending on what my health allows. By doing a process of elimination and listening to my body, I’ve found it always pays off for me to take Sunday off. After all, it is the day of rest. I do have to admit that there Sundays when I’m on the computer. That’s when I’m under a deadline.

It has been proven that like other muscles in your body, your brain needs a rest too. Science has found that you’ll be more creative and productive. The trick here is---again---to listen to your body. It’ll tell you exactly when to give your brain a rest. Giving you brain a rest is taking time away from your writing and do anything that doesn’t concern writing. Don’t forget exercising and meditation. This helps immensely! How do you know when to give you brain a rest?

Do you know that feeling you get when you’re so sleepy that you can hardly hold your eyes open? So, how do you give your brain a rest? You’re getting a message here from the brain to take a break. When you keep right on writing and get that exhausted, tired, I-can’t-move-another-finger-on-the-keyboard feeling? Your body is screaming at you to stop! So, how do you rest your brain?

I know that the first thing that’s comes to mind is taking a nap. Believe it or not, that definitely is a way! So are needlework, woodworking, going to the gym, watching movies, reading, or listening to an audio book, cooking, or any other hobby. When the weather is nice, I like to take a walk and visit friends. The key here is to do what you like where it doesn’t involve your writing words. Don’t forget daily exercise and meditation.

Try the meditation video below called, Meditation for Writers: Meet Your Muse. Just sit in your desk chair, close your eyes, and focus on the music. I guarantee that you’ll feel 100% better!

SEE-MORE'S BIG ADVENTURE

1/20/2019

TITLE: See-more's Big Adventure
AUTHOR: June Phyllis Baker
PUBLISHER: Fulton Books

See-more Squirrel has a problem. He always trips and bumps into things while playing with his friends. He can't even smell pretty flowers anymore! This problem gets in the way of his doing good in school. Everything the teacher writes on the blackboard is blurry and he can't make it out. What will be do?

I recommend 'See-more's Big Adventure ' for your home library. This little picture book shows how a visit to the eye doctor is a painless visit. It also shows how the visit can improve your life!

You can purchase 'See-more's Big Adventure here and here.

How to Conquer Writer's Block

1/14/2019

What is writer’s block?

Wikipedia defines writer’s block as a condition primarily associated with writing, where an author loses the ability to produce more work or experiences creative slowdown. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer%27s_block. You never know how long your block is going to last. It’s been known to clear up in a few hours and last a few months.

Could this also be called the writer’s struggle since it happens to everyone who has chosen the writing path?

A writer’s struggle sounds much more realistic since when it strikes, it really is a real struggle to get something written or get a work-in-progress just right. We put our butt-in-chair, turn on the computer, and try to write. As hard as we try, nothing happens … nothing at all. It’s like hitting your head against a brick wall! Who among us, who has experienced this, and has instead gone to Facebook to play a game, go outside to garden, or whatever else interests you? I admit it, I’m guilty of this, myself. Believe it or not Facebook games and gardening are just two ways to banish this demon. Here are some other ways:

#1 Join an online or physical conference in the genre that you write in. Brainstorm with these other writers. You’ll be surprised at just how freeing this is just to be with likeminded people. I’ve found this out myself and have more finished picture book manuscripts to prove it!

#2 Work on another WIP. This frees your mind to think about something else besides that WIP you’re stuck on.

#3 Read a book in the genre you’re writing for. Reading books in your genre gives you so many ideas on how to continue on with your story. It can also provide the ‘aha’ moment whether or not to toss that manuscript and start all over again. If this happens, you’ll be able to visualize your story exactly as it should be written.

#4 Read a book to review. Again, make sure it’s in the genre you write for. You’re giving your brain permission to focus on something else.

#5 Take a day off to go to the library, Barnes & Noble, or another book store. In this case, like most of the others below, you’re granting your brain permission to just relax.

#6 Are you a freelance editor or proofreader? If you are put your WIP away and do that.

#7 Go for a walk outside (if the weather’s nice enough) and don’t forget to take a notebook and pen! You never know when your writer’s block/struggle will clear up and you get an idea.

#8 If the weather isn’t nice enough to go outside, exercise indoors. Nothing clears your head and reboots your energy like a work out. This does work!

#9 Visit with a neighbor. There’s nothing as good as a visit with a friend.

#10 Can’t visit that friend because of the nasty weather mentioned above? Call him/her. A good talk with a friend gets your mind off of everything else.

#11 Go to the dog park and play Frisbee with Fido. Again, you’re freeing your mind.

#12 Cook that new recipe that you just clipped out of the magazine.

Take a good look at the list above. I realize some of these things on the list might seem are silly, but they have something in common: focus on something else for a while. It does wonders.

It might be that it might take a week or more to get your muse back again. That’s fine if it does. Take that time off to do other activities you enjoy. Concentrate on you during this time.

copyright 2019, KidzTales

YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 2019

1/4/2019

photo courtesy of Facebook

Happy 2019! Do you have any goals for your writing this year? I do.

I'd like to publish another book. I'm going to work hard to do this, too. I also want to start a newsletter for us! I'll keep you posted on that. I also want to get a better handle on marketing for 'Where Can We Have the Party?' and all my future books.

I know what you're thinking. You're wondering what the above picture has to do with writing. Right? Well, it does and here's how.

Instead of writing down everything good that's happened to you, write on that little piece of paper each accomplishment you've achieved this year. At the end of 2019 do the same thing mentioned in the picture. Open the jar and read each piece of paper. You'll see just how much you really did do and succeeded with during 2019!

HAVE A HAPPY 2019!

Copyright 2019, KidzTales

I WON (well, sort of)

11/19/2018

Guess what I did? Well, sort of. Actually, my illustrator drew and painted my fantastic book cover. What input did I have on the book cover? I designed it and entered it in the 2018 Cover Contest by authorsdb.com. I was so happy when I received the email saying that I'd won. They also sent the didgi-badge along in the email. I sent Emily a copy of both the email and didgi-badge and to say the least, she was as happy as I was to share in this award. Between the two of us, this news is posted all over Facebook. Heck, I even put the news on Google Plus! I guess I can say I have an award winning book, now. Or can I? You can tell me that in the comments.

So with this I'll say to check out my award-winning book here. 'Where Can We Have the Party' makes a great gift anytime of the year! Your little giraffe or monkey will thank you for it!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!