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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Creating a Character Readers Love: Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee
Since Lee uses first-person point of view to tell her stories, it’s her main character’s voice that’s in the driver’s seat. Reading her novels is a masterclass in how to do first-person narration well. However, you can use these techniques with third-person and even with omniscient narration. It’s all about elevating your prose to do more than just tell the reader what’s happening.
Empathy and Irony: A Q&A with Stacey Lee
Empathy has its drawbacks, especially when reading the news, but on the plus side, I think it helps me create deeper characters. The secret for creating unforgettable characters is to give them impossible choices.
How to Write a Crowd Scene: Rita Williams-Garcia’s A Sitting in St. James
Rita Williams-Garcia masters the crowd scene--a dinner at the midpoint of the book. In a movie, it’s easy to see the crowd and feel the energy in the room. In fiction, it’s more complicated--you need to balance the minute and individual with the group so that readers feel grounded in the environment and in the particular characters’ interactions.
It Starts with a Daydream: A Q&A with Rita Williams-Garcia
I fully transport myself from my reality into the world that I seek to create. In a word, I daydream. Deeply. I put myself with the character, close to the character, sometimes in the character, to taste the dirt when they're in the dust storm or feel the scratchy bristles of cane stalk whip my face. Then I write it. Later, I make adjustments, because what I have to understand is different from what the reader should feel. Sometimes I have to rein it in or pull back. It's not always the point that the reader should feel each and everything—but the writer must!
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.
Backstory for Writers
As writers, we hear all the time that you absolutely have to develop your characters’ backstories. We can spend a lot of time laboring over our characters’ pasts--creating, inventing, discovering--only to have someone read a draft and tell us: “Take out all the backstory!” Too much backstory can drag the pace of a story. Too little, and characters seem unmoored and unmotivated. So what to do?
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."
Using Setting to Externalize the Internal: Words Composed of Sea and Sky by Erica George
As writers, we can look to our settings to provide a wealth of tools to not only add depth to the story but to underline the experiences of the characters, their feelings, their motivations, their desires.
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?
It’s All About the Set-Up: Secrets of the Sea by Evan Griffith
In Secrets of the Sea, Evan Griffith keeps the story active by providing context to explain how important her work was, providing detailed descriptions and examples to prove his points about Jeanne, and employing effective sentences at the ends of spreads that make readers want to turn the page. In each instance, he sets up expectations, context, or questions that lead readers through a delightful story.
The Secrets to a Great Non-Fiction Picture Book: Q&A with author Evan Griffith
"This isn’t specific to PB writers, but I would just say to any writer: Be kind to yourself and your drafts. Many writers, myself included, struggle with self-criticism or perfectionism, so I try to give myself this advice daily. First drafts can and should be messy. Second and third and seventh drafts, too. There is beauty in the mess. Writing is mostly re-writing. When you’re feeling discouraged, reach out to some writer friends for support. Seek community."
Writing Action Beyond the Play-by-Play: Dangerous Play by Emma Kress
Emma Kress’s debut YA novel, Dangerous Play, has plenty of action and a lot of games. It’s a book about a girls’ field hockey team who uses parkour to supplement their summer training, and puts those skills to use as vigilantes against perpetrators of sexual assault. It takes place over an entire hockey season, and Kress makes smart choices about how to condense the many field hockey games so that each one serves the story, especially by manipulating pacing and creating tension.
Feminist, Funny, and Fierce: Q&A with Emma Kress, Debut YA Author of Dangerous Play
I first heard Emma read from a chapter-book-in-progress, and her voice blew me away. Emma's writing as such attention to detail, such personality, such emotional resonance. She can write funny and serious--sometimes in the same sentence. Emma's debut YA novel, DANGEROUS PLAY comes out August 3, and I'm so glad we get a peek into Emma's brain and writing process. I highly recommend both DANGEROUS PLAY and Emma herself.
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.
Choosing the Right Words: Emily's Idea by Christine Evans
In her picture book Emily’s Idea, Christine Evans finds that elusive balance and creates a story with specificity AND room for the illustrator to tell their part of the story.
Crafting Magic From a Small Idea: A Q&A with Christine Evans
I choose the stories (fiction or nonfiction) that give me a fluttery feeling. It’s been true of all my projects so far. When an idea takes hold, you can’t shake it off, and you just have to learn more, then that’s the idea to follow.
Six Things Your Character with a Mental Illness Wants You to Know
Many kids that experience mental illnesses start developing symptoms as young teens--just when they’re at the age to encounter Young Adult literature. Through YA novels, writers can reach readers at this critical time. Young adult books can be a balm to teens struggling with mental health, offering disability representation, much-needed hope, and comfort in knowing that they’ll come through their darkest days… if we follow a few key guidelines. These six pointers are indispensable in creating an empathetic, accurate, and hopeful book with mental health themes.
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!