Story Element #7: WORD PLAY

Story Element #7: WORD PLAY

Welcome to the WORD PLAYGROUND! This is the WORD PLAY page of the Story Elements. It's likely to be a very long list of picture books that use metaphors, puns, cool verbs, synonyms, alliteration, interesting vocabulary, onomatopoeia, and the like. Some just for fun. Some more like lyrical poetry.

Pick a toy and start playing (the swings, the slide, the court):

1. The Library Dragon by Carmen Agra Deedy
2. Porcupining: A Prickly Love Story by Lisa Wheeler
3. Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude by Jonah Winter
4. Welcome to the ICE HOUSE by Jane Yolen
5. 
   

Story Element #6: PACING

Story Element #6: PACING

1, 2, buckle my shoe
3, 4, shut the door
5, 6, pick up sticks
7, 8, lay them straight
9, 10, do it again!

Careful, now. PACE yourselves! Learning how to pace your story and your page turns (though you really have no final control over the page turns) will improve your writing skills. Go ahead. Be the pace car.

Here's you list of picture books that teach pacing:

1. Halloweiner by Dav Pilkey
2. The Shelf Elf by Jackie Mims Hopkins
3. 
   

Story Element #5: THEME

Story Elements #5: THEME

Today's theme is theme. Welcome to the THEME PARK! Here you can explore great examples of how to incorporate theme into your writing. Writing theme can be tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it's not all that hard (until you begin another new story, imho).

Take your pick:

1. Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
2. A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
3. 
   

Today's QUESTION: What are some of your favorite themes explored in picture books (or even in a novel)? 

Keep on keepin' on...

Story Element #4: DIALOGUE

"Can I help you?"

"I was hoping you would know where to find the long list of picture books that teach dialogue."

"You've come to the right place. It's right here!"

If you missed the other Story Elements, you can still study them all (character, conflict, plot, dialogue, theme, pacing, word play, patterns, rhyme, beginnings/endings). Also, see the sidebar...

Learn how to write good dialogue for picture books (and novels) by studying the books in this list:

1. Sixteen Cows by Lisa Wheeler
2. No More Cookies by Paeony Lewis
3. Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst
4. 
   

Story Element #3: PLOT

Welcome to the PLOT page of STORY ELEMENTS. I'm updating the sidebars with links to the Story Elements pages. More books to share soon. If you haven't visited the first 10 books featured in STORY ELEMENTS, be sure to get to them. As time goes on, I WILL be adding more, even though I'm slow about it.

This list includes picture books that are great for teaching and learning plot techniques:

1. The Plot Chickens by Mary Jane and Herm Auch
2. Frida by Jonah Winter
3. 
   

Do you know of other picture books that would be good for teaching plot? Please SHARE!

Pot-O-Gold Blogger Award #20: Picture Book Biographies

This months's Pot-O-Gold Blogger Award goes out to an AWESOME blog I recently discovered.

Jeanne Walker Harvey's True Tales and a Cherry On Top. She shares picture book biographies, and has even written one herself. 

A taste of children's narrative nonfiction picture books...mostly biographies... with something more...by the children's book author, Jeanne Walker Harvey

Why I love her blog:

Having written a biography myself, and coming from a teaching background, I am fascinated with biography. She even shares the publisher, publication date, and number of pages. Thank you!

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

Author:  

     and Illustrator:  

Character:  

Overview from the jacket flap:

The T stands for Tantalizing Taste, where she shares a snippet of the book. Then she shares "And Something More" where she shares a bit of history about the making of the book, the story about how it came into fruition, or collaborative efforts involved in the final product.

I just LOVE IT!!!

I created this award for excellent blogs based on... 

• interesting and helpful content AND
• visually appealing and easy-to-navigate design. 

It's an award that says, "Look at this awesome blog! There's a wealth of information here! If you visit once, you'll want to return again and again." In other words, it's like discovering a pot of gold. 

How the award works:

1. Say thank you to the person who gave it to you.
2. Write a post and include the image of the award, a link to the person's blog who gave it to you, and a link to my blog, WRITE WILD. (Copy and paste the rules in your post.)
3. Award four bloggers this award and tell why each is a Pot-O-Gold! (If you receive this award more than once, you only have to forward it the first time.)
4. Share four simple things about yourself: 1-a time you had to exercise FAITH, 2-something you HOPE for, 3-something (or someone) you LOVE, and 4-a time when you felt LUCK.

Keep on keepin' on...

New Debut Author FAQ "I think I can..."

"I'm getting my book published!" I squee with delight, in awe, in disbelief, in wonder...in shock! And all the while saying to myself, "I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could."

Here are the most frequently asked questions I've already received in ONE week:

• What's it called?
• What's it about? "A boy named Siku"
• When's it coming out? "2-4 years"
• Why does it take so long?
• Are you doing the pictures? "No"
• So who's doing the pictures?
• Who's the publisher?

And normally, I answer them gladly. But not here. Not yet.

So MY most frequently asked questions are:

• How long till the next step?
• What IS the next step?
• When will I get a return e-mail?
• Who's doing the pictures?
• Can I get an agent?
• Did the editor GET my e-mail?

So, if you want to be a writer, no wait, a published author (and writer), you have to know how to spell.

You spell "writing" DO IT. You spell "publishing" W-A-I-T.

And since I have to wait, so do you. I'll share more when I can.

Today's question: What's your DAY job? (I'm a receptionist.)

This question piggy-backs off of yesterday's question, "What did you want to be when you grew up?" If you want to enter to win a critique of up to 1500 words, just leave a comment and reference "DEB." Be sure to leave your e-mail address.

Keep on keepin' on...

Paying it Forward - Win a Critique

Last year, I held a contest in which the fabulous Deb Lund won a manuscript critique from yours truly. She graciously declined by donating the critique she had just won back into the literary world. I'm finally giving you all a chance to win that.

Here's how it works. Simply leave a comment (with e-mail address) on ANY post from today through January 31.

Spread the word. Link back to my site (doesn't have to be to THIS post). I will randomly select a winner and then that person will be invited to submit a manuscript of choice up to 1500 words. I'll critique it for free and send it back to you for free.

Can't beat that, right?

Today's Question: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a writer, a nurse, a teacher, a figure ice skater, a writer, an astronaut, a teacher, a scientist, a writer, an army girl, a teacher, a mommy, a writer, a singer, a teacher, an actress, a writer, a dancer, a teacher, a seashell and rock collector, and a WRITER! 

What do you think I chose? HA!!! 

Keep on keepin' on...