We are announcing TWO lucky winners today!
The winner of Canary in the Coal Mine by Madelyn Rosenberg is:
Liz Hayes
The winner of Father Groppi by Stuart Stotts is:
Liz Straw
Congratulations to you both! You will be receiving e-mails soon about receiving your prizes.
Today at the Mixed-Up Files, we are talking about craft! Specifically the hows and whys of writing for children.
With us is Lisa Rojany Buccieri, co-writer of Writing Children’s Books for Dummies, the second edition which came out this past year. During our interview, Lisa shared with us why her book is a must-have for writers starting out and establishing themselves in the children’s market today.
Welcome, Lisa! So tell us, what led you to writing the first edition of Writing Children’s Books for Dummies?
Peter Economy, a veteran Dummies book writer, was looking for a lead writer for this title and found me online through my business, Editorial Services of Los Angeles. We really connected—it was one of those immediate professional love fests—and we started working together about a month later.
What was one thing that surprised you or that you learned as a process of writing this book?
This is Writing Children’s Books for Dummies Second Edition, and it is 80% new material. What surprised me the most was that although the first edition was a thorough and absolutely useful book for beginners, over the years I had further honed my editorial skills and was able to encapsulate even more material into specific, easily digestible bits that have helped writers of both children’s and adult books improve their writing.
How is your book different from some of the other books out there on children’s writing?
Our book gives writers of different levels the whole kit and caboodle. Everything from generating story ideas and the specifics of creating every part of a good book through to the submissions process, self-publishing, e-book and digital publishing, and then marketing, including social media and traditional marketing, such as interviews like these. We even have information on the most important parts of the contract first-time writers should keep an eye out for.
Your book is chock full of information for the children’s writer, from picture book to the young adult novel. What do you think is in here that might be especially relevant for middle grade writers?
A good story is a good story. Middle-grade writers need to master the components of good storytelling and voice, humor and character development, plot and vocabulary level as much as—if not more than—writers in every other format. Middle-grade readers are persnickety, but if you catch them, they will make sure to collect every single one of your books and read them all.
I love the way you encourage writers to use “bibles” (character bibles, setting bibles, etc.). Can you explain this concept to our readers and how you think it helps writers in crafting their children’s novels?
As with any kind of building, you have to first create a solid foundation. Your main character has to be memorable; so I encourage my writers to develop and really flesh out their characters using a character bible. Knowing your characters inside and out means you can see them in your mind’s eye and allow your readers to do so as well.
If the environment will play a large part in a book (fantasy world? magical world?) I encourage the same bible building approach for environments and places. If you can create a place (realistic or otherwise) that is evocative enough to allow readers to imagine themselves there, then you have created a successful place in which to develop your characters and your story.
I also strongly urge writers to create an action outline. An action outline consists of three questions you need to ask for each chapter: 1) How does this chapter develop my main character through his or her actions / reactions? 2) How does this chapter push forward or develop the story actionwise? 3) How does this chapter contribute conflict or drama to keep the pace moving? I even use this approach when breaking down a picture book to make sure every word counts. It really keeps the writing spare and purposive.
What’s the biggest obstacle standing in the way of finishing a project?
Whenever a writer gets stuck on any part of the writing or revising process that impasse creates an opportunity for the process to come to a halt. It can be overwhelming if you do not have tools for each part of the process. And that is what we provide in Writing Children’s Books for Dummies Second Edition: breaking down the process into easily digestible parts and then providing the tools to help take control of each one of those parts.
Lisa Rojany Buccieri
Characters, dialogue, setting—all three need to be fleshed out bit by bit. That is why bibles are so helpful, because you can amass in one place all the details—that go into creating a well-developed character, a bit of relevant and purposeful dialogue, a bit of the setting that tells us where and when we are—and then mete them out little by little throughout the story.
One great place to develop setting is at the beginning of each new chapter.
A good rule of thumb: Data dumps of background information or setting description of more than one paragraph, maximum two at a time are not allowed.
How might this book be used by a new teacher leading a course in writing for children? What are some common mistakes you think a new teacher should try to avoid?
New teachers of writing need to follow steps that students can understand, one by one, so that they learn to build a story, show a story, not just tell a story. It’s a process that gets honed and added to over time, but never perfected. That’s why writing is as exciting as helping a child grow from an infant to an adult—you can never master the process completely, the surprises are always illuminating, and the possibilities are simply wonderful.
Any parting advice or words of encouragement for writers out there?
Keep writing. Turn off the editor when the creative juices are flowing and just let it come. You can always go back to hone and tighten. If you are going the traditional route of submitting to traditional publishing houses, make sure you have a manuscript in the wings so that you always have some new work to add to someone’s inbox—and new hope for getting yourself published.
And if you are self-publishing, make sure to get al the feedback and help you need, right through to the type and page design, so that when you make your first impression—and you only get one!—it’s a fabulous impression.
Regardless, take every opportunity to participate in writing classes and workshops, conferences and retreats—you never know which one will end up changing your writing life for the better.
Lisa Rojany Buccieri has published over 100 books, including several award-winning and bestselling titles. She has been Editorial/Publishing Director for Golden Books, Price Stern Sloan/Penguin Group USA, Intervisual Books, Gateway Learning Corp (Hooked on Phonics), and other established publishing houses. As well as spearheading four publishing startups, Lisa has simultaneously run her own successful business, Editorial Services of L.A. since 1990.Lisa loves working with new and published writers of fiction and general nonfiction for all ages, helping them make their work the best it can be. She lives with her family in Los Angeles. She may be contacted at www.EditorialServicesofLA.com.
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Sheela Chari is the author of Vanished (Disney Hyperion), which was selected as a 2012 Children’s Literature Book by the Asian Pacific-American Librarian Association (APALA).
I met Kit on Twitter a few months back and we became instant friends. When the time came for her book launch, it was a no brainer that I’d interview her here on The Mixed-Up Files! And, as luck would have it, The Flame in the Mist released last weekend.
There’s evil a-coming from up on the hill
If the Mist doesn’t get you, the Agromonds will…
13 year old Jemma, the youngest inhabitant of gloomy Agromond Castle, is not who she thinks she is. She has no clue about her supernatural powers, nor that a prophecy claims she is the one who will save her country from the evil Agromond rulers and the sinister Mist they create. But when Jemma discovers the dire fate the Agromonds have planned for her, the truth begins to unravel. Taking Destiny into her own hands, she flees from the castle.
But the danger has only just begun. With her trusted friend Digby and her two telepathic golden rats, Noodle and Pie, Jemma faces both human and supernatural enemies. And then the evil takes a nastier turn…
Me: I don’t have a set in stone, writing routine, but do you have a favorite time of day to write?
Kit: I LOVE to write first thing! Not pre-cup-of-tea first thing, but with steaming mug by my side, either in my indoor writing space (=comfy chair w/cool Ikea spotlight over my head) or, in summer, out on the deck. No checking email/FB/Twitter first. Just get up and get going.
Early in the morning, “Before the editor wakes”, as I’ve heard said (and it does seem to be true!), my thoughts are more unfettered, and I’m not looking over my own shoulder judging everything I write. That might also be because for years, I free-wrote first thing—you know, like Julia Cameron recommends to do in The Artist’s Way, with no thought, punctuation, anything. Just ideas flowing. So my brain is kind of used to that.
Me: That’s fantastic. I really need to follow that advice. I get too wrapped up in my social networking – then I’m easily distracted – and before I know it the afternoon has arrived with little writing accomplished. Since you’re disciplined with writing in the morning, do you have a special routine to accompany it?
Kit: I’d like to say I do! But too often my ideal writing day gets waylaid by other things. When I do manage to discipline myself/make it happen, though, getting started early is It. That way, when I need to stop for any reason (like, say, breakfast), my muse is already primed and it’s easy to get back to whatever WIP. Another thing I do on those best-of days is turn off my Airport. I swear I can feel my brain synapses relaxing when I do that. Then I’ll check in with social media maybe once an hour. Taking brief breaks keeps me fresh, while also staying connected
Summer is my favorite season, period—but also for writing, because I move my “office” onto the deck. Once I’ve gotten started, just try and tear me away! I’ll work outside all day, as long as my laptop protected by shade. I don’t mean the capital-S Shade in The Flame in the Mist…Jemma’s nemesis would be the worst kind of monkey at my back, sneering at every move of my fingers, or hexing characters to do things against their will.
Me: I love writing outside in the summer as well. Usually my kids end up at the pool though and then I have to resort to putting pen to paper. Not my most favorite way to write, but it gets the job done. Would you call yourself a plotter or panster? Given a choice would you chose cookies or cake? Slime or earwax?
Kit: Plotter and pantser! I always outline to some degree, but I try to keep it simple; a broad boundary within which the pantser in me is free to fly. That way, I’m often surprised what spills onto the page—things I hadn’t anticipated; actions a character makes that give the plot a twist, or create entirely new scenes. That was the case in The Flame in the Mist when Digby, Jemma’s friend and partner-against-evil, gets kidnapped and hauled off to an evil city called Blackwater. Jemma goes in pursuit, which leads her to meet a new character and make another dreadful discovery about the Agromonds. It’s one of my favorite sections of the book, and came entirely from giving my inner pantser free rein. I kept Jemma’s ultimate destination in mind, though, which kept the over all plot headed in the direction it needed to go.
As for cookies or cake? It’s cookies. Unless you’re talking about my sister-in-law’s awesome chocolate cake. Then…watch out, waistline.
Slime or earwax? Hmm, depends where the slime is from. Some people think sushi is slimy, for example, in which case I say, Bring it on! Sushi beats chocolate for me every time. (Yes. I know. It’s unbelievable! But true.) Then there’s the slime of seaweed at the beach, and I love the beach. So it looks like slime is the hands-down winner there.
Me: Your plotter/panster ways are just like mine! Maybe we shall take over the world together….but with just a brief outline…we’ll see what happens once we get going! Mwuhaha! What would you say was the inspiration for your book?
Kit: Oh, so many! The premise came pretty much fully formed from the depths of my mind: Girl trapped in castle, evil family, Mist and mayhem…
My mind was (still is) full of influences that flavored the story. First was growing up in England, which has no shortage of half-timbered thatched cottages, castles and ancient churches. From early on, I was fascinated by ghosts and graveyards. One of my favorite sightseeing places when I was three was the ruins of Corfe Castle. When I was three….I know. Don’t ask. (The beach and playgrounds were just as compelling, mind you.)
Feed into that the classic literature that abounded: Dickens with the misty gloom of his settings (whether rural, like the Kent marshes in Great Expectations, or the London fog of e.g. Oliver Twist), not to mention ghosts (A Christmas Carol) all of which I loved since the abridged forms we read as schoolkids of 7 or 8. Then there’s the Brontés, and Wilkie Collins’s classic The Woman in White, and yes, even U.S. lit, with Henry James’s fab The Turn of the Screw. Images from all of them, as well as loads more, crept into a dark corner of my mind, ready to jump out at me with a loud “Boo!” when the time came.
More recent lit-loves were of course Harry Potter, and Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials triology. I adored Pullman’s 12-yr-old protagonist, Lyra Belacqua. She also reminds me of another childhood heroine, Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. Actually, I first came across Scout at 8, when my big sis took me to see the movie. I’d play in our garden (yard) for hours, pretending to be her and talking to myself in (what I thought was) an American accent. I seriously believe that between them, Scout and Just Dennis (called Dennis the Menace here?) seeded my curiosity about the States. It might totally be their fault that I moved here. (Ok, not totally, but…)
For all my draw to gloom, though, I much prefer light and sunshine! Gloom is where my mind likes to delve for material—but it’s only with a view to transformation. Dwelling in darkness is not good in my book (either literal or metaphorical); there’s way too much of it out there already. In The Flame in the Mist, there’s an ancient book-within-a-book called From Darknesse to Light, which becomes a guide to Jemma on her quest. The title of both pretty much states what reach for in life and in what I write. I believe that kidlit books can be like maps which help kids navigate through difficult times. There’s plenty of that in Harry Potter, for example: ways Harry and his friends act, as well as their loyalty to one another, that kids want to emulate and embody. I’d be honored to think that anything I wrote had even the tiniest effect in that way.
Me: Wow. What wonderful, creepy and spectacular influences! Thanks for joining us today, Kit!
Kit: Thanks so much for hosting me on the Mixed Up Files, Amie! This was fun.
Kit Grindstaff was born near London and grew up in the rolling countryside of England. After a brief brush with pop stardom (under her maiden name, Hain), she moved to New York and embarked on her career as a song writer. Kit now lives with her husband in the rolling countryside of Pennsylvania. The Flame In The Mist is her first novel.
Find her on her Website, Facebook,Twitter,Goodreads, and purchase her book on Amazon.
Want a chance to win a copy of The Flame in the Mist? All you have to do is enter below! TWO – yes 2 – lucky winners will be drawn! One will win a copy of her book and another will win a swag pack including parchment, bookmark, bookplate, and button!
So what are you waiting for? Enter now by leaving a comment below and filling out the rafflecopter form!
Amie Borst writes fairy tales with a twist. Her first book, Cinderskella (co-authored by her 12 year old daughter), releases October 26th, 2013!
