Craft Articles
Join us in exploring others’ craft and building our own.
Here you will find explorations of mentor texts – articles that dive into specific craft elements in published books, interviews with authors, and tips on growing and improving as a writer.
Disclaimer: Some posts include bookshop.org affiliate links. Use the links to support KidLit Craft and local bookstores, at no additional cost to you.
Browse the Blog
Nadia Salomon: Keep Hustling
“Keep hustling. Keep following your arrow, even when no one sees your vision. Rejection still happens, it doesn't define you or the value of your work. Publishing is a subjective industry, until you find people who align with your values and support your creative endeavors.”
Jasmine Warga: Take Risks
“My biggest tip would be to take risks in your art. Think about styles you haven't tried yet. Push yourself out of your comfort zone.”
Rhonda DeChambeau: Writing Heart Moments
“I once heard Jane Yolen say that ideas are all around us, that they are like leaves, and we just have to notice them. I find when I’m tuned in to being creative, paying attention, or being mindful, when I’m taking things slow and not just rushing through my day to check off my to-do list, I notice the ideas around me.”
Jenn Bailey: Crafting the Ultimate Payoff
“If your climax feels a little flat, or if you aren’t feeling the emotional payoff you’ve expected, look at earlier chapters and scenes. Make sure you’ve written in the reasons that make this climax inevitable. And that you’ve positioned your main character in the kind of emotional state where this final scene will let readers feel a satisfactory resolution.”
Emotional Resonance Is Key: A Q&A with Tanita S. Davis
A lot of people want to be allies, or seen as friendly and open to the idea of friendship across races, cultures and social strata. This idea of “just talk to each other” may seem like it’s wildly oversimplified, but it turns out that if you want to know someone, it really is that simple. You may be nothing like a diehard gardener or wide-eyed tween, but if you’re willing to see a potential connection between the two of you, it will be there.
KidLit Craft Goes to the Movies: Endowed Objects in The Mitchells vs. The Machines
The moose is meaningful to both Dad and Katie, and the movie creates additional layers of meaning through the old movies (flashbacks) and the way the moose moves from person to person. We know what the moose means, so we can imagine what the characters are feeling, and ultimately, we feel it too.
Heightening Emotional Response Through the Poetic Device of a Refrain: Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
The primary purpose of a refrain, or a recurring line throughout a poetic work (or prose for that matter), is to draw attention to something important. Used effectively, it can heighten the emotional resonance of your story and make it feel more universal, and LaRocca uses hers to great effect.
Retro Post #7: Making Readers Feel: REPETITION IN ORBITING JUPITER BY GARY D. SCHMIDT
Schmidt uses repetition throughout Orbiting Jupiter to evoke emotions in his readers.