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.
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Crafting a Story of Contrasts: A Q&A with Nora Shalaway Carpenter, author of Fault Lines
I needed to write what felt right and natural to me, even though I was worried my agent and editor (and readers) might think it was weird. . . . I have always felt a deep, almost spiritual or magical connection with the natural world. That’s what was coming through in my writing.
Using a Small Thing to Big Effect: The Wreath in Linda Urban's Talk Santa to Me
Linda Urban’s stories are studded with angst, anguish, and hope, as well as problems, pathos, and humor. She is stellar at structuring stories so that something small, seemingly insignificant, becomes the integral to the climax and the protagonist’s understanding of the situation. In Talk Santa To Me, surprisingly, it’s a gaudy silver Christmas wreath that takes this hefty role.
On the Road with Louise Hawes, a Q&A
Louise Hawes: I often spend months (sometimes years) filling a notebook with my character's responses and thoughts before I begin writing an actual draft. That notebook is all in long-hand, as you know, and I don't stop to edit or erase anything. My characters' letters are in the first person, and result from a fluid, bodily connection from my heart to my hand to the page. In contrast, my draft will be typed on a laptop, the far less spontaneous product of me thinking and feeling my way into a story that features the character whose voice has already filled my notebook.
Building to the Perfect Irreconcilable Goods Crisis: The Silence that Binds Us by Joanna Ho
By setting up a compelling story question in the reader’s mind, and then increasing the stakes throughout the second act, Joanna Ho has crafted the perfect crisis with its excellent Irreconcilable Goods options.
Making a Character's Desires Concrete
Sometimes when writing, we know what our character wants, but it’s a struggle to turn the nebulous desires into something tangible, something attainable, something concrete. Here's how.
The Heroine’s Journey in The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
The Heroine’s Journey celebrates the gifts of the matriarch. It explores themes of family, community, collaboration, cooperation, and love. As an author, and as a person, it’s important to me to write books that support those values, so everyone who reads them can be inspired to evolve toward a more feminine, collaborative, resilient society. To illustrate the points I make in this post, I’ll be examining the Heroine’s Journey of Elin in The Beast Player, a Japanese YA fantasy by Nahoko Uehashi. Elin’s story is an excellent example of the Heroine’s Journey.
Making a Mystery that Mystifies: Part 2
Good mysteries are fun because they keep the reader guessing. One of the most important keys of writing a mystery is writing the story so the reader can try to solve it. Nothing’s more annoying than not being given clues to solve the mystery unless those clues are so obvious that there is no real mystery to be solved. The best way to achieve both goals is to give quality clues but constantly keep the reader guessing so they don’t recognize the clues for what they are.
Making a Mystery that Mystifies: Part 1
A compelling mystery must engage the reader in solving the mystery, and the best ways to do so are to 1) start the mystery off quick, 2) capture attention with consequential stakes, 3) increase tension, 4) keep the reader guessing, and 5) finish strong.
Confessions of a (Not So) Reformed Pantser
"I understand more clearly that an outline need not be a construct that dominates my writing, a rigid form that must be adhered to, but it can be a tool to help manage what I write, to help me not get distracted or sidetracked, and instead work toward my goal--even if that goal isn’t completely clear to me as I shuffle, twist, and rearrange things on the page, the way I am prone to do."
Composing Words: a Q&A with Erica George
"I love that when I have a question, I can reach out and pick the brilliant brains of other talented kidlit writers. I’m always amazed at how quickly plot or character problems can be solved when you get out of your own head. I also love how willing people are to share great examples of kidlit to use as mentor texts."
SUMMER RETROSPECTIVE: TAKING A PAGE OUT OF CLASSIC MYSTERIES TO KEEP TENSION ALIVE AND WELL
To find good mentor text for “tension till the bitter end,” I went directly to one of my most beloved authors—Agatha Christie. Yes, I know. She’s not a middle grade author. However, when I was in my middle grade years, I devoured her books. Surely, that counts. Plus, for a mentor text, why not go straight to the Queen of Mystery?
SIDEWRITING TAKEOVER: Sidewriting Challenge Roundup
The authors and contributors we interviewed had so many wonderful sidewriting challenges, we thought we'd put them all in one place. Each exercise will have a link back to the original post so you can learn more about the author and how sidewriting works for them. Enjoy!
SIDEWRITING TAKEOVER: Ask "Why?" with Margaret Chiu Greanias
Margaret Chiu Greanias: Until I was asked to do this interview, I'd never heard of sidewriting. I thought maybe it was something only novelists did. But as I read Erin Nuttall's kick-off post, I realized sidewriting is something picture book writers could do too. And then, I realized it was something that I actually do do.
SIDEWRITING TAKEOVER: Messy Sidewriting with Kristi Wright
Kristi Wright: "Ultimately, you don’t need to be fancy and organized when it comes to sidewriting. It’s the thing that gets to be as messy as you want it to be. There’s no shame in it--no right way or wrong way. I’m always going to be the equivalent of Charlie Brown’s friend Pig-Pen when it comes to sidewriting, and I’m cool with that."
SIDEWRITING TAKEOVER: Start with a Glimmer with Sarah Aronson
When I don’t know the WHY behind a scene or a character, there is nothing more helpful than stepping away from the manuscript. When I am writing away from my story, I am free to explore my characters, setting, plot, theme…well everything. And since it doesn’t “count,” it also doesn’t have to be good—that is the permission slip I need.
SIDEWRITING TAKEOVER: Asking the Right Questions with Louise Hawes
I've finally discovered a way of dumping this inner perfectionist for at least part of the journey. I learned through trial and error that the keyboard, domain of the delete key, precursor to print, was where my perfectionist tended to take control. Pencil and paper was where my heart led the way. Which is why I began to "channel" my characters through freewriting. Like poetry, freewrites are a way I ditch my inner critic and make the switch from common sense to felt sense, from thoughts to emotions.
SIDEWRITING TAKEOVER: Gossip Your Way Through the Story with Mary Winn Heider
The sidewriting exercise I rely on most is really simple. I write a messy, gossipy version of my story (or scene or conflict). I handwrite it, like it’s a note I might pass in class, and I allow myself plenty of gossipy digressions. . . . I’ve developed a kind of outlining process I love, but sometimes I really crave the structure of gossip, the way it’s built on cause and effect.
SIDEWRITING TAKEOVER: Time Traveling with Jennifer Ziegler
I always start with character. For me, that’s the spark that makes me want to write. Who is this person in my head? What are they grappling with? What do they need to figure out (about themselves and/or life in general)? To answer these questions, I write scenes about them and sometimes in their voice.
Controlling Beliefs: The Secret Engine for a Novel
Sometimes in planning a story, you might find that the character’s desire is a little too abstract, or that their desire isn’t really something they can affect. There is a solution: a controlling belief.
