Category: The Nitty Gritty of Children’s Writing

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Posted in Craft, Inspiration, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing, Writing Life

About Writing, Quotes from YA Authors

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

The following are from authors I’ve met, heard speak, followed on social media, and/or read their books.

Challenge Yourself

“Don’t be afraid to engage with the difficult parts of yourself.” – Meg Rosoff

“Generating new material feels like running a marathon. I just want to get to the end, and every step feels painful. Each chapter feels like a mountain I don’t want to climb.” – Dhonielle Clayton

“All you have to do is be brave today, for the next hour, the next day.” – Laurie Halse Anderson

“Okay, so here’s how I write something new: I make a list of things I like to read/watch, plot-wise or character-wise, then try to cram them together for a story.” – Kurt Dinan

Be Persistent

“Before I had an agent and was published, I used to think there was this hidden code that I just couldn’t crack that would enable me to be a writer. Spoiler alert: it’s a business, just be professional and keep trying.” – Beth Revis

“I feel like this novel has been rattling around my head forever.” – Gordon Korman

“Being published is not a necessary validation or a path everyone wants to take with their work. Writing—and finishing—a novel is a great thing in itself, whether or not the book is published, or becomes widely-read or not.” – Garth Nix

“Writing is an extremely rewarding and humbling process, and I’ve learned to go with it, that even if it feels absolutely impossible, I will find a way to tell the next story.” – Marie Lu

Craft Tips

“Characters get themselves out of an alien situation by the truths within them.” – April Henry

“If you think you made a wrong turn but you’re not sure where, think back to the last place you were certain about the story and judge every decision from there.” – Jodi Meadows

“I tend not to attempt to describe pain. I don’t feel I can comprehend or re-create the personal suffering of others, so I simply try to tell what happened, or what I imagine happened. I also think it helps to let the reader fill in a lot of the blanks.” – Elizabeth Wein

“I think the best fictional tales come from a grain of truth.” – Shea Ernshaw

How Others Work

“I find things in the real world and hammer them into my stories.” – Maggie Stiefvater

“Writing isn’t just about sitting at the desk and typing into the laptop. For me, most of the plotting, and dilemma solving, happens walking on the trail. It’s my secret weapon against writer’s block.” – Stacey Lee

“Sometimes visiting a place is just what’s needed to add authenticity and depth to your text.” – Suzanne Morgan Williams

“I still keep thinking someone will penetrate my guilty secret – that I have been masquerading as a writer all these years while all I was really doing was enjoying myself, pursuing my passion.” – Geraldine McCaughrean

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Posted in Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Writing Humor

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

I had this great link to a post about writing humor by author John Bladek, but it has disappeared, so I got to thinking about what makes me laugh when reading.

The unexpected. The incongruous. The oddity. Clever word play. A misunderstanding. A funny anecdote. A ridiculous situation. A witty remark. Exaggeration. Humorous character asides.

E.B. White said, “Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.”

But yet if we are to write humor, we have to have some understanding. (Unless you’re one of the ones who is naturally funny.)

Stephen Leacock said, “Humor may be defined as the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life, and the artistic expression thereof.”

One article talked about A. Peter McGraw’s and Caleb Warren’s theory of “benign violation.” “Humor results, they propose, when a person simultaneously recognizes both that an ethical, social or physical norm has been violated and that this violation is not very offensive, reprehensible or upsetting.” – What’s So Funny? The Science of Why We Laugh by Giovanni Sabato.

These statements are true. However, they don’t really help me create my own humor.

Honestly, I do better with examples. So let’s look at some words that make me laugh…

Picture book title: The Underwear Wolf
This title is obviously fun wordplay. We’ve all heard of werewolves, but not underwear wolves. The incongruity is funny, and the story matches up.

Picture book: Counting to Bananas
The text: “4 pigs.”
Banana says, “Wait a minute. Pigs aren’t fruit.”
The text: “True, but no other fruit rhymes with figs.”
Oddity of pigs being introduced in a list of fruit, and banana interrupting, is entertaining.

Middle grade novel: The Girl Who Kept the Castle
“Wizard West was dead for nearly a day before he noticed.”
This opening line with the unexpectedness of a dead person noticing makes me laugh.

Middle grade novel: Mighty Inside
“…Chuck breezed in, along with the medicinal smell of Listerine. The boy used mouthwash more times a day than he used the toilet.”
An exaggeration that’s funny and really creates an olfactory image of the character.

Middle grade novel: Ms. Bixby’s Last Day
“My personal favorites are the Noobs. The overachievers. Fresh picked from the teacher farm. With their bright eyes and their colorful posters recently purchased from a catalog and the way they clap like circus seals when you get the right answer.”
This anecdote of new teacher behavior is not only insightful, but visually funny.

Young adult novel: Eyes of the Forest

“Calculating the degree of attraction…basically depended on how far apart the two objects were, as well as their mass.” – a teacher lecturing
A student’s whisper, “If that’s true, then how come I’m not attracted to fat girls?”
It’s witty and cutting. Cutting words often make us laugh even if in retrospect we decide it’s not really comical.

Young adult novel: Etiquette & Espionage
“The bowl landed, in glorious perfection, atop the head of Mrs. Barnaclegoose, who was not the type of woman to appreciate the finer points of being crowned by a trifle.”
A ridiculous situation, which is visually funny, plus a ridiculous name, and the fact that trifle has multiple meanings, makes me smile.

And illustrations can definitely add humor, too…

Illustrated middle grade novel: Popcorn
The kid narrator refers to his mother’s phone as “maybe the oldest iPhone in circulation” and tops it off with a drawing. The phone has a hand crank, cobwebs, and is labeled “predates the civil war.”
The hyperbole can’t be in any way true, so it amuses.

I hope you find these examples of humor helpful. Now for some resources:

Humor in picture book writing

Humor in novel writing

a photo of a bunch of bobblehead dolls - mostly in baseball attire
Posted in Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

No Bobbleheads

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

It’s so easy to overuse nodding and smiling (or variations thereof) when writing scenes. Author Sandra Gerth says, “I’ve read manuscripts in which the characters seemed to smile fifteen times on each page. Or they nodded so often that they came across like bobbleheads.” (Her article How to avoid overused body language in your writing has helpful lists of words to reduce.)

Sometimes the beat is strictly unnecessary. For example, a character saying “yes” with a nod is redundant. Just stick with the dialogue.

Other times we should write something more unique or interesting. I like how Linda K. Sienkiewicz says she uses smiles in two different ways, “One is to couch the smile or grin in a description of the character. The second way…is to hint at an emotion.” For more oomph, I suggest using:

  • Character description: Her smile looked as if she was practicing for a dental ad. Shiny, perfect white teeth, and an extra wide curve to her lips. Another character might cover his mouth to hide missing teeth or only smile with closed lips. Then we’ll see the point of view character react to the specifics of that smile.
  • Setting detail: She picked up her favorite stuffie from her rumpled bed and hugged it to herself. Or… He flicked soap bubbles at her nose. Both of these hint at location. The first a bedroom—the second a kitchen doing dishes, or it could be in a bathroom tub. Other details will clarify. Plus these each hint at emotion. Combined with dialogue, or the action that just preceded it, the emotion should be clear.

It’s not that you can’t ever use smile or nod, but that we should give the reader more. Usually these rewrites happen in the revision process. One writer shared the count of simple actions before and after revision: Proofing Checklist: Just Nod & Smile by Aeryn Rudel. And I came across this article that talks about the kinds of smiles, which is thought provoking. Not that I want to use these labels but reminds me to think beyond the gesture. This article, Creative Writing Thesaurus: Describing Smiling Characters by Laura MacAulay has some examples of some interesting uses of smiles plus.

In her article, Smiling Damned Villain . . ., Dixie Evatt agrees with much of the above, plus provides resources at the end of her piece.

So, what do you think? Are your characters bobbleheads or not?

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Posted in Business Side of Writing, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing, Tools, Writing Life

Critiquing Via Zoom Refresher

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Our long-established critique group has been critiquing via Zoom since the beginning of the pandemic, and created some guidelines along the way. (We meet weekly on Fridays except for holidays or occasional days when too many people need to miss. Since there are eight of us, only three can share each week, so we have a schedule of who is presenting and who is moderating on Google Drive.) Occasionally, we need reminders of our process* and I thought a summary might be helpful for other critique groups as well.  

“Supporting each other in creating art takes so much trust.” – Kendra Levin, editor
(Guidelines help us trust each other.)

Before Friday:

  1. Manuscripts are due on Wednesday at the latest. (We email them out.)
  2. Respond to the manuscript sender with a simple “got it” type message when you receive it. Try not to reply all.
  3. Look at the schedule if you can’t remember who is presenting. If you don’t find a manuscript, contact the person whose manuscript is missing.
  4. If one of us can’t send the manuscript, offer up the spot early in the week in our message thread. (Our critique partners are really good at this!)

Zoom morning:

  1. While someone is critiquing, stay silent, especially the one being critiqued. No explanations, no excusing, no arguing. 
  2. After everyone has critiqued a piece, the critiquee may ask questions or make comments.
  3. Additional comments or questions are welcome from everyone—other comments often inspire new thoughts. Remember to raise your hand and wait for the moderator to call on you.
  4. Side stories of what this reminded you of should be shared after all critique work is done.

Moderator duties include:

  1. How the meeting is run—I love how some in our group are good at asking how everyone is doing first.
  2. Deciding which manuscript goes first, and the order of critiquers. 
  3. Keep us on task. 
  4. Remind us that it is not our time to talk when appropriate. One member said in our recent discussion, “I think the hardest part of being the ‘boss’ for me is to cut people off if they are jumping in and not waiting to talk by raising their hand.” 
  5. Before concluding meeting, discuss schedule for following week.

Critiquer duties:

  1. Honor others’ turns to talk.
  2. Share specific positives about a piece.
  3. Only make a suggestion once—don’t dwell on the topic—it is not our duty to convince the writer.
  4. Try to only share what you have that hasn’t been said—no need to offer the caveat that you’re doing this. (We know.)
  5. Consider making reaction comments on your copy of the manuscript during critique, such as I agree/disagree with so and so about this/that specific issues.
  6. Let the writer see the minor grammar and mechanical corrections on their copy—no need to share verbally. (We use track changes and Word’s commenting option on manuscripts and send them back once our Zoom meeting is over.)

None of us are perfect, so we still make mistakes, and fortunately are forgiving of each other. But it definitely helps when we remind ourselves of the process.

I couldn’t do without my critique partners. They make my work so much better with their suggestions. Kai Strand said, “I love how a story, or a character expands with the help of critique partners.” That is so true!

*I first wrote about this method here.

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Posted in Contest, Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Picture Book Judging

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Once again, I participated in judging a picture book contest. (I was one of a number of judges.) This was a mix of fiction and nonfiction. I saw commonalities with other picture book contests I’ve judged.

First, there were an overwhelming majority of fiction submissions than nonfiction. I get that as I love fiction too. And nonfiction takes more research and more effort to get it right. But if a writer wants to increase their chance of winning, I recommend doing the hard work of nonfiction. (I’m not sure I saw any informational fiction but that can give a fiction manuscript an edge.)

Many submissions could make kid listeners roll their eyes. I know mine were rolling. The texts were trying to teach a lesson. Not with subtlety. Mary Kole says, “Don’t teach in your picture book. Do not preach. Do not talk down to the reader. Kids are lectured and told what to do all day every day, and they feel disempowered.”

Next up, poorly done rhyme. (Picture books DO NOT have to rhyme.) Issues I saw were forced rhyme, odd sentence constructions, lack of rhythm, and rhyme that did not add to the story. Josh Funk says it well, “Story is most important. Rhyme comes last. But more important than rhyme is Rhythm. You may be able to find the most amazing pair of rhyming words in the world. But if the meter doesn’t work, then the entire picture book will go up in smoke.”

Overdone alliteration. Always activating an A at the alpha of an announcement asks for automatic disapproval. Augghhh!

Excessive art notes. Only use them when absolutely necessary. Often, I skipped and read the text only.

Some were too specific to one family, circumstance, or experience without appeal to other readers. Children’s Librarian Suzi Wackerbarth says, “focus on the individual and the universal.” That means a story about a specific event is more than just the event—it may also feature relationship with a parent or grandparent. It may be about a universal fear. Think, theme that connects with a child listener.

Others were overdone topics with nothing fresh. New baby—seen that. Afraid of first day of school—seen that. New pet—seen that. This makes me think writers aren’t reading what is already published. Author Alyssa Reynoso-Morris suggests reading 100 picture books. (That’s just to start!) Then you’ll know the answers to these questions she has, “Has it been done a million times before? Is it a concept you can add your own unique twist to make it stand out?”

A few stories were short stories, not picture books. “While both picture books and short stories are written for the same audience, and may even have the same word count, they are very different forms published in completely different places.” – Lou Piccolo

A number of entries were disqualified for not following the submission directions. Agents and editors will probably not be any more forgiving.

Many needed better proofing—missing and incorrect punctuation, poor grammar, etc. If writers have never been in a critique group or had a manuscript beta read or critiqued, that should be a first step.

A couple were aimed at adults, not children.

But what about the good?

Those were the ones where…

…I smiled,

…or laughed,

…or had my heartstrings tugged.

They garnered…

…my interest in facts in a fun and interesting, nondidactic way.

…were exciting or unique.

…were memorable and worth rereading.

These stories stood out like a white buffalo in a heard of brown bisons.

“A great picture book for young children is performance art between two covers. The text must be read aloud, and the words flow off your tongue smoothly and effortlessly, showing you how to say them.” – Kate McMullan

 “What it IS: brief, original, fresh, often funny, satisfying, and possessed of something substantial at the center–-call it a kernel of significance that makes it worth a child’s time. Humor can provide it, so can language, or character, or story. Like the child it’s written for, this picture book can be cozy and quiet or it can sing and swing, but always it loves language. It’s told in words that bear repeating–-even a grown-up can savor them again and again.” – Alice Schertle

I suggest we each take a close objective look at our own picture book manuscripts before hitting send.