The Nitty Gritty of Children’s Writing – Page 20

LinkedIn Is Not “Social” Social Media

Posted on June 19, 2019August 20, 2026 by Susan Uhlig

Despite emails that are misleading such as “Connect to your colleagues from SCBWI” LinkedIn was not designed as a social connection site, but for professional networking. Yes, SCBWI is a professional organization, but please bear with me and read on. The LinkedIn system has no idea how large of an organization SCBWI is—it’s only using keywords to create these messages. Connecting with someone on LinkedIn who is an SCBWI member you have not met is not the same as on other social media sites. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc., LinkedIn says, “We strongly recommend that you only accept invitations to connect from people you know.”

LinkedIn’s Vision is to “create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.” Two of the tabs are “jobs” and “work.” If you’ve ever declined an invitation, you’ll see the “I don’t know this person” small window pop up on the left. That’s a report system. If someone gets too many of these, LinkedIn may restrict their account.

Dave Roos says, “a LinkedIn profile page is essentially an online résumé.” The article, “The Difference Between Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, YouTube, & Pinterest,” by Karisa Egan, explains, “LinkedIn is different from the rest of the social media outlets because it’s specifically designed for business and professionals. Users mainly go to LinkedIn to showcase their job experience and professional thoughts, making it one of the more important platforms to use for those in B2B.” (B2B – business to business).

Does that mean SCBWI members should never connect on LinkedIn. Of course not. I connect with those I’ve worked with in various volunteer capacities. I can validate their “work experience” because I know their capabilities. I don’t connect with people I don’t know. I personally leave that mostly to Twitter, however, I do connect with many people through Facebook groups. And don’t forget the SCBWI Blueboards are a great place to connect.

So, please don’t be offended if even though we’ve met at a conference or event, or you’re also a children’s writer, that I don’t accept your LinkedIn invitation.

It Takes Time

Posted on June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 by Susan Uhlig

“How did it get so late so soon?” – Dr. Seuss

I thought for sure we’d have my updated website switched from a Movable Type platform to WordPress sometime in May. However, due to complications in life, and difficulties with updating the website, it didn’t happen until a third of the way through June. I still have some broken links to fix, but am pleased with the new look. I know the ease of new posts is going to be worth all the time and effort.

Writing often takes more time than I expect, too. This past weekend I was on a four day writing retreat. I had a huge stack of manuscript pages I hoped to get through. I worked hours each day and only reduced the stack by half. I think part of the slog was that it had been so long since I’d looked at the novel that it took me a while to get back into the character’s voice. I’m grateful though to be that much farther ahead.

My TBR (to be read) stack got higher and higher this last month and a half. Now I have “catch up” to do on book recommendations. Looking forward to sharing those soon.

What’s been taking longer in your writing life?

Writing Life

A Fresh Look

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Susan Uhlig

Siletz Bay April 2019

We stayed on Siletz Bay, Lincoln City, Oregon last weekend. It’s always interesting how the ocean waves, storms, etc. change a beach.

So speaking of change . . . I decided it was time for a new look so am hard at work updating my website. The difficult part is getting the past posts imported–that’s where it helps to have a husband who is a software developer. Thanks you, honey!

“I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible if you try; dreams are made possible if you try.” – Terry Fox

Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Revising a Novel

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Susan Uhlig

I’ve seen writers propose the 5-draft novel writing process. Others talk about how many drafts they’ve been through before the book goes to their agent/editor. What draft am I on? I never know because I revise as I go. Some writers will tell you this is wrong, but I’m not alone in my process. Jared Reck says, “I write a few scenes by hand, then go back and type and revise, then back to hand-writing — the first finished draft of A Short History of the Girl Next Door was pretty polished; it just took me four years to get to that point.”
Revising During the Writing Process – How it Works for Me
When I get ready to write a new scene or chapter after a break in writing, I read the previous one or ones. This gets me back into the story, and yes, I will make changes and additions. Typos, misspellings, or wrong words annoy me, so if I notice any, those are fixed. (I write on a computer.) Then I move forward with the story. My break could be stopping for lunch, quitting for the day and coming back the next, the weekend off, or even longer depending on what else is going on in my life.
After I’ve made some progress on a novel (more than a couple chapters), I create a novel timeline or story ladder that is unique for each novel. You can read about that process here. This helps me have a quick overview of the story anytime I need one.
I also begin to share a chapter at a time with my critique group. This reading aloud helps me spot more typos or awkward phrasings. My critique partners are good at pointing out where I need more, have confusing areas, etc. Of course, this causes more revisions. Sometimes what they say means I create a whole new scene. If that new scene requires changes elsewhere, I’ll do that during this time, too.
Then I move forward with the story again, repeating these processes until I reach the end.
Meanwhile
Meanwhile, I am always learning. I learn by attending workshops, conferences, retreats and other writing events, by reading blogs, newsletters, and articles, and by reading novels in and out of my genre. These often make me think about my story and I go back with new insights which most likely mean I need to add to my story. (I have a tendency to underwrite.)
I also learn from what my critique partners are working on. It may be what they are doing well. Or it may be something not working that I or someone else notices which makes me wonder if I’m doing the same thing.
Revisions Once the Story Is Complete
After some time away, I try to read the whole novel quickly with the purpose of thinking about the big picture of the story. I make notes on the major problem areas to work on. I also note bumps (where I stopped reading, felt something wasn’t quite right, etc.) When I’ve read the whole manuscript through, I attack the areas I’ve noted. When done, I wait a few days and reread the revisions to see if they are working.
I may ask myself questions. Sometimes, I ask my critique group the same questions about my story. E.g. Is the ending satisfying? Was the problem solved too easily? Did this scene feel realistic? Are the beginning and ending as strong?
Polishing
I have several stages in polishing. Some add to the text, such as making sure I’m using sensory details in scenes (post here). Others take words away, which includes tightening, cutting overused words, getting rid of passive verbs, etc. (my post here). But whether adding or subtracting, these methods are meant to make the writing itself stronger.
Querying
I also revise after feedback from agents I’m querying.
In the End
Is my method the best? Probably not. But it works for me. Writing a novel is not a one-size-fits-all process, so please don’t let anyone try to convince you it is.

The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing, Tools

Where Did I Read That?

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Susan Uhlig

Image by ijmaki from Pixabay
Often, we can’t remember where we read that great article/post/quote and it can be frustrating trying to find it. Even if we’re sure what site it was on, site search boxes don’t always work well. Here are some helps:
Use your browser’s search box to find an article or post.
Let’s say I remember a piece about not having time to write. I think the title had something like “so little time” in it and I think it is on the Institute for Writer’s site: In the search box on my browser, I type what I’m looking for followed by site: and the site url. So for my example, it would look like this: so little time site:instituteforwriters.com. The third entry pops up with “Time to Write” and when I read the blurb, it’s exactly what I’m looking for. (I was using Firefox and searching with Google. I got the same result with Safari.)
But what if I didn’t remember where I saw it? I’d still use the browser search box, but I might try different search combinations. Typing in finding time to write gave me lots of good resources, but it was mostly about writing for adults. Although that applies I know it was on a children’s writing site. So, this time I try finding time to write children’s literature and I find lots of sites related to kidlit. I still did not find the exact piece I’d seen before. Even if I remembered the exact title, unless it is very unique, it’s not likely I’ll find it by a straight browser search.
However, what if I know I only read info on a couple sites? Then I can add a capital OR in between sites, like this: so little time site:instituteforwriters.com OR site:site2. I didn’t find this very effective as my second site didn’t show on the first or second page and I usually don’t look farther than that.
Let’s try again with something else. I read a great blog post on theme and subplots. Fortunately, I saved the url by emailing it to myself because I knew I’d need to reread it several times. But if I hadn’t, let’s see what I get by putting theme subplots in a browser. (Note I left out the meaningless and.) Nothing looked like what I wanted until the bottom of the page where I found a post with similar content. Win!
whats-a-b-story-and-why-that-love-triangle-doesnt-cut-it When I used more of what was in the original title: theme subplots supporting characters, the post was the third entry down.
use-theme-to-determine-subplots-supporting-characters-and-tension
So obviously it works best if you know where you saw it and/or know the exact title.
Searching for quotes using your browser.
If I read this quote “Conflict is the engine that drives plot forward. You should be creating tension on the page at all times, no matter what else is going on.” by Mary Kole and only remember part of it, I search for that part. Searching for conflict is the engine, the quote I’m looking for doesn’t come up on the page. If I put it in quotes, I get more writing related ones, but still not the right one. If I add her name, however, the first entry is correct whether I use quotes or not. Here’s the article that quote came from: “Writing Tension Instead of Teasing.”
What about searching Facebook?
Searching your feed is difficult. But what if you think the discussion you’re looking for was in a specific group. That’s doable. Go to your group on Facebook (you must be logged in to see private groups). On the left there’s a “search this group” box. (Note: this is not the search box at the top of your screen!) I find “search this group” works well. If you’re not sure which group a discussion was in, try another group. Obviously, if you belong to a lot of groups this could get tedious.
I hope my examples help you.
But note to self: if I really want to remember something, copy details into a file and put it where I’ll find it!