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Carma: I loved the cajun dialect and look forward to other renditio...
Donna McDine: Great review...nice twist to an old age story.
Warmly,
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Tony Peters: Thank You for this great article. I am a published author an...
Carma: The 12 days of Christmas stories reviewed is a fantastic ide...
Carma: You are right Simon. The fear of rejection is very strong an...
Do YOU Want to Write for Children?
The National Writing for Children's Center is the home of the Children's Writers' Coaching Club (CWCC), and a growing resource for children's writers, aspiring children's writers, parents,elementary school teachers, and librarians.
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If you’ve been wondering how to get started writing and publishing your own stories and other work for kids, then you won’t want to miss this special FREE teleseminar next Monday night, December 1, 2008, at 7:00 central time.
Carma Dutra will host this teleseminar with special guest, Suzanne Lieurance, author of over a dozen published books for children, instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature, and found and director of the National Writing for Children Center.
Sign up for this free teleseminar right now, and ask your most pressing question about writing or publishing for kids. Then, attend the LIVE teleseminar Monday night to learn the answer to your question. When you ask your question, put your mailing address in the box with your question. The first 24 people to register for this teleseminar and ask a question will receive a free copy of the popular book, The Christmas Box.
As I mentioned last week, I spend a fair amount of time on the outline for a novel. Once I actually start writing the book, I usually edit at least a little as I go. Sometimes this involves checking over just one chapter, sometimes two or three, once they are done, if I want to assess how it’s all going, if everything flows properly or if a section doesn’t feel right in some way, before I move on to the next part. I’m able to do this because I know what will happen next in the plot. In some ways, I am almost merely expanding on the outline I created, filling in details, adding description, dialogue, action and so on.
Does the outline change as I progress? Absolutely, although usually not too dramatically. There will invariably be parts of the story that may not work as well as you thought they would, new ideas that emerge as you write or you may simply have a new take on a situation you’ve already created. However, the outlines always serve as a valuable guide and ensure that the general flow of the story is well mapped out. You may, of course, still change your mind about certain aspects of the story as it is written, but hopefully you can avoid the situation where you have produced ten chapters, then decide to scrap everything you have written, because you’ve have a great new idea. This new inspiration, however, might actually be part of another book altogether and be ill suited to your current project.
Pre-planning may not be for everyone, but it will often help you maintain your focus, enabling you to get your book to the finish line.
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Simon Rose was in the UK last week. Here is an article about his visit that ran in the local newspaper there.
Reviewed by Donna M. McDine, Book Reviewer for the National Writing for Children Center
Title:Sandlot Summit Written by: Rick Fishman Illustrated by: Doug Hoch Ages: 10 to 12 Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-4327-1868-8 Published: June 2008 Paperback: 156 pages Price: $13.95
In an effort to avoid World War III by the powers of the United States and Russia, President Ronald Reagan and Russian General Kostlitzo ‘Bone Face’ Zolotov come to an agreement to solve their countries problems by playing a kids’ baseball game.
The son of the Vice President of the United States is sent on the mission to find Felix Farley and to recruit him as head coach of Team USA. With the date of the secret game on the horizon, the discovery that the wrong coach has been assigned to the critical mission to save the free world brings the already tense situation to even a higher level.
“Katie, I would quit coaching forever if I could somehow find a way out of doing this game. But I can’t say ‘no’ to the President. I just can’t.”
Rick Fishman creates and brings to life a cast of hysterical characters. From the moment the reader meets Coach Felix Farley and his hand chosen All-star team you will find yourself cheering for their success.
To learn more about Donna M. McDine, visit her website at www.donnamcdine.com. Sign her guestbook and receive her FREE e-Book ~ Write What Inspires You! Author Interviews.
All this week, the National Writing for Children Center has been hosting Sharon Poppen as part of a virtual tour for her book After the War, Before the Peace.
Scroll down to previous posts this week to find out more about Sharon and her book.
Carma Dutra will host this teleseminar with special guest, Suzanne Lieurance, author of over a dozen published books for children, instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature, and found and director of the National Writing for Children Center.
Title: Sandlot Summit
