Do Rules Kill your Joy of Writing? - Young Adult & Children Writing Month - Sunday Topic Chat
Published: Sat, 04/10/21
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Age Levels for Children's Books
Once upon a time...
In the very early 90s, I explored writing for Children. I took a course by mail. I studied, I wrote. I observed.
The thing that held me back in my writing kids' books turned out to be all of the rules.
The only rule I could go all in with was that if you word could not be found in a middle grade dictionary it should not be used in a story, book or article.
Let's talk about the Rules, the Age Levels, Subject Matter and all the things we need to consider when writing for Children.
Do you think too many rules, or guidelines, can take the joy out of Writing for Children or for that matter, Young Adults?
It is officially springtime up in the Northern half of the Globe.
We are going to explore topics about writing for Children or Young Adults. I remember being a Young Adult, I have certain bizarre memories of spending time as a Child.
Let’s talk about various aspects of both genres, one at a time or together, we will see what happens as we go along.
Chat begins at the top of the hour on Sundays at 7PM EDT and Wednesdays at 8PM EDT
How Do You Know When You're Done Editing?
When do you quit? When is it time to put your manuscript into your submission packet and begin sending it out and about?
We are going to refer to this article to help us decide when enough is enough.
Here is one, "The thought of touching your novel makes you sick. This one is obvious. If you’ve gotten to the point where you have edited, reworked, and thought about this novel for so long that you’re sick of it, well, that probably means it’s time to be done."
Much like the penrose stairs in Inception, a writer can trudge up and down the steps of editing their novel, never realizing that they’re not going anywhere.
If you aren't sure about the Penrose Stairs, be sure to click on the link. You'll be glad you checked.
Join us for our last Revision/Editing Topic Chat.
7PM EDT Sunday
Self-Editing is Always a Good Thing
It is a little like self-control - A little goes a long way.
“To write is human, to edit is divine.” – Stephen King
My search for simplicity for Sunday's Topic Chat led me to an article in the Independent Book
Review.
Finishing your novel is only the beginning. Check out what you can do before beta readers and editors in IBR's latest, "5 Tips for Self-Editing for Fiction
Writers" written by Holly Tri.
Take a Break
Get Rid of Excess Text
Break Your Mindset
Do Multiple Rounds of Editing
Read It Backwards
Use the link and check out the article. Even if you can’t make it to the Chatroom, the article is a good read and worthy of a
bookmark.
Let's talk Revisions
Daylight Savings Time is upon us. Spring Forward - Fall Backward. I like the whole concept of setting our clocks ahead. Most of my clocks go ahead without my input.
Let's talk about revisions.
How many revisions do you do before putting on your Editing hat? Or do you do both at the same time?
What exactly is a Revision? I think it is different things to different writers, so drop in on Sunday's Topic Chat and share your take on Revision and Editing.
