Anne-Marie Strohman 2/2/23 Anne-Marie Strohman 2/2/23

Anne-Marie Guest Blogs at The Official SCBWI Blog

In January 2023, I had the pleasure of being the guest blogger for The Official SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Blog. Here are links to the posts, in case you missed them.

Kristi Wright 12/15/22 Kristi Wright 12/15/22

NO SNOWBALL!: Dramatic Irony with a Healthy Dose of Contrast

Isabella Kung’s debut author-illustrator picture book NO FUZZBALL! is a masterclass in how to use dramatic irony to tell a laugh-out-loud comedic story using a well orchestrated combination of words and images.

Erin Nuttall 7/14/22 Erin Nuttall 7/14/22

Writing Lived Experience: A Q&A with Michael Leali

Every manuscript seems to have its own distinct journey, but every story I write begins with an awful lot of daydreaming, staring into space, jotting a phrase or two onto a sticky note, and coming up with a working title.

Kristi Wright 5/5/22 Kristi Wright 5/5/22

Learning from 2022 Picture Books That Soar High with Craft

Diverse group of authors highlight craft elements in their latest books that you can integrate into your own writing or illustrating.

Erin Nuttall 9/9/21 Erin Nuttall 9/9/21

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."

Kristi Wright 6/10/21 Kristi Wright 6/10/21

Grounding Fantasy in the Familiar: An Interview with Sam Subity

With contemporary fantasy, it doesn't take such a stretch of the imagination for the reader to follow along when you blend the familiar with the unfamiliar.

Erin Nuttall 4/1/21 Erin Nuttall 4/1/21

SIDEWRITING TAKEOVER: Why sidewrite? (And what is it anyway?)

If you’re a writer then you likely have feelings about sidewriting. You know, all that extra writing you do (or wonder if you should do) in order to figure out and enhance your story. Sidewriting can be anything from doing a story spine to free form writing to letters from your characters to hand writing a scene to word associations to writing from a new POV to plot graphs to--well, you get the idea. Sidewriting is any writing you do that (generally) doesn’t go into your actual manuscript.

Kristi Wright 2/11/21 Kristi Wright 2/11/21

CRAFTING MEMORABLE MIDDLE GRADE NOVELS: A Q&A WITH JANAE MARKS

I love exploring what it’s like to be twelve years old, an age where you’re not quite a kid or a teenager. It’s such a transitional time, and can be full of so much drama. (My middle school days certainly were!)

Kristi Wright 8/20/20 Kristi Wright 8/20/20

An Interview with Mae Respicio: Learning Craft Will Always Set Writers Off on the Strongest Foot

Learning craft will always set writers off on the strongest foot.

Anne-Marie Strohman 7/9/20 Anne-Marie Strohman 7/9/20

A Novel-In-Verse is a NOVEL first: An Interview with Aimee Lucido

"Craft study has helped me tremendously to make better books, and to hone my ear so that I know when something is working or not. I've become so much better at writing stronger characters with more compelling arcs, I can tell when my language is pitch-perfect and when it's falling flat, I can revise more quickly than ever before, I can look at comp titles when I get stuck, I can pull from a wider range of craft techniques when I'm struggling to convey something . . . the list goes on and on. Learning craft has helped me become a better writer in countless ways."

Kristi Wright 7/2/20 Kristi Wright 7/2/20

CRAFTING ENGAGING STORIES ABOUT TOUGH SUBJECTS: Learning from Janae Marks and Lisa Moore Ramée

These are compassionate stories that encourage readers to awaken their own inner activist. And they also model ways for kids to engage in deep conversations about topics that can be hard to talk about.

Kristi Wright 6/11/20 Kristi Wright 6/11/20

Interview with Kate O’Shaughnessy: Writing with Honesty and Heart

Ignore trends entirely, and write the book that truly calls to you.

Kristi Wright 5/14/20 Kristi Wright 5/14/20

Interview with Lindsay Lackey: Craft and Community--a Perfect Fit

I love the deep sense of wonder writers of children’s books possess, and how we all—deep down—still believe in magic. The world is so often dark and stormy, but kidlit writers relentlessly gather around the flickering candles in the darkness.