Want to Know a Secret?
Monday, February 27th, 2012If you follow James Scott Bell on Twitter (and if you’re interested in writing tips, it’s a good idea), you might have seen this last week: Give characters secrets. One of the keys to Downton Abbey. #writing #writetip We all have secrets, don’t we? They change the way we do things, and the way we [...]
100 Hours
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012This post has a bonus link. These book covers are the best thing I found online this week. They’re brilliant. You need to see them. Okay, down to business. Last term, there was a documentary filmmaker in my writing course. She gave me one of my new favourite pieces of writing advice. I’m calling it [...]
Thank You, Mrs. Granger
Friday, February 3rd, 2012Mrs. Granger was my grade nine typing (we called it “keyboarding”) teacher. She had perfect grey curls, a voice that could rap like a ruler, and a spine as straight as a steel girder. She was never less than immaculately dressed. And when I saw her at a reunion last spring, she looked exactly the [...]
Only the Good Parts, Please
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012My daughter likes to lick the icing off cupcakes. A few swipes of the tongue, food colouring on her cheeks. Then she’s finished with it. ”I can’t eat any more,” she’ll say, handing it to me. It’s slick and shiny on top. Dampish. Not terribly appetizing. We need a new cupcake strategy. But yummy treats aside, [...]
Tackling the Tough Stuff
Thursday, January 26th, 2012Last night my writing group critiqued one member’s middle-grade novel-in-progress. J’s novel is about a thirteen-year-old boy dealing with a truckload of difficult things–bullying at school, friendship conflicts, and a mother who struggles with clinical depression. In the current draft, near the beginning of the story, the mother attempts suicide. The boy is the one [...]
Notes from Packaging Your Imagination 2011
Monday, November 7th, 2011This past Saturday, hordes of children’s writers and illustrators converged on Victoria College for CANSCAIP’s annual Packaging Your Imagination conference. I was part of the Durham contingent, a massive wagon train (okay, two cars’ worth) of creative types from the east end. We all do our best to empty our brains in advance, so we [...]
This Side of Morning
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011Three weeks ago, I tried something new. So far, it has stuck. During the day, I’m editing a juvenile novel that I’ve been working on for some time. Okay, years. But I wanted to draft something new as well, so I decided to try morning writing. I started off with a bang. At 5:00 a.m. [...]
Cliffhangered
Thursday, October 27th, 2011I love the fact that my daughter is an avid reader. She devours books. I think she’s reading above grade level; I don’t really know, and I don’t really care. What matters to me is that she picks up books on her own and enjoy them for hours on end. She has a cosy little [...]
What’s in a Name?
Saturday, October 15th, 2011I recently read a book that featured two characters who had distractingly similar names. Harold and Howard, I think they were. They might as well have been Michael and Mitchell, or Jane and Jen. The point is, it’s confusing. And not just for the obvious reasons. This is something I cover when I talk to [...]
Plotting and Pantsing
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011Today’s blog post is inspired by K.M. Weiland’s post on plotting. Worth a look, if you haven’t come across it already. I’m looking forward to her new book! I’m an outliner. A “plotter,” as writer-types tend to call it. (As opposed to a “pantser,” who is more likely to start off with a character or [...]
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