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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Cindy Chang: Playing with the Past
Writing about a lived experience, especially a difficult one, can be challenging. As much as you may want to share exactly how the events unfolded in reality, it’s okay to take some creative liberties. Ultimately it’s more about figuring out the story and focusing on communicating the wants, conflicts, and lessons learned through your lived experience. And in doing so, you may find yourself feeling a little freer from the past.
Deborah Underwood: Writing Dynamic Dialogue
You can communicate so much using dialogue alone. Try telling your story in dialogue only and seeing what happens. Even if that doesn’t work for the final version, it might help you to find a character’s voice or learn something new about them.
Christine Evans: Kicking Your Story Forward
There's no rush. Take your time to make your work the best it can be before sending it out.
Casey W. Robinson: Writing Stories with Heart
Find a book you loved from your childhood and re-read it. How does (or did) it make you feel? What was it about the language, the read aloud, the characters, the storyline that captivated you? I've noticed that I connect to these “old” heart stories differently than I do newer mentor texts. As writers for kids, this kind of first-hand knowledge can help our subconscious brains make smart editorial decisions when we’re drafting.
Serena Gingold Allen: Success with Scenes
Even though it can be intimidating to share your work with others, particularly when you're starting out, find and join a critique group. It's important to find a good match, so keep trying out new ones if the first one you try doesn't work. I wouldn't be the writer I am today without my critique partners!
Writing Engaging Young Adult Mysteries That Tackle Emotional Health Issues
Mysteries are natural places to explore issues of emotional health, because the behavior of people who harm others can generally be traced back to their own emotional problems and issues, and of course their actions have a huge impact on the protagonists of our stories.
Misa Sugiura: Taking It One Scene at a Time
It is very easy to feel like what you've accomplished isn't enough.
The solution (it's not easy): Enjoy the ride you're on. Let go of the stuff that's out of your control (other author's experiences, marketing budgets, awards) and control what you can, like writing your next book.
Lea Lyon: Following Curiosity and Trying New Things
“If you're researching for a nonfiction project, search beyond library databases. Reach out to librarians and archivists. Visit locations where events from the story you're researching took place, and visit archives and libraries in the area. Above all, reach out to experts in the subject matter. They are invaluable resources and are invested in the public (especially children) knowing more about their area of expertise.”
Thieves’ Gambit: Shifting Desire (KLC Podcast, S2 Ep. 4)
In the fourth episode of the podcast, Nuttall and Strohman focus on desire, specifically shifting desire. In Thieves’ Gambit, the main character, Ross, also has a Shifting Desire because her external desire changes early in the story.
Seina Wedlick: Deconstructing Story Structures
“Traditional publishing is often a slow process...There are occasionally books that get snapped up and released really quickly, but, more often than not, it’s a much longer wait . . . It’s so important for writers to plug into a community of other writers they can share this journey with and to use the ‘waiting period’ to work on something new or hone-in on their craft.”
Jessie Janowitz: Give Your Narrator a Secret
“Understanding your main character’s backstory is essential to the first-person voice. We filter the world through our unique personal experiences, . . . we refer to places we’ve been, people we’ve met, food we’ve eaten, etc. If we don’t know our narrator’s history, we can’t begin to know the language they’d use to describe it.”
Thieves’ Gambit: Opening ‘In Medias Res’ (KLC Podcast, S2 Ep. 3)
In the third episode of the podcast, Nuttall and Strohman discuss the opening for Thieves’ Gambit, which manages to do double duty by not only showing readers “the world as it is,” but also by dropping readers straight “in medias res,” or in the middle of things.
Ana Ot: Embrace Patience
“I advise everyone to take their time with imagery. Don’t rush it. Let it unfold by crafting each phrase with care until the scene breathes life on the page. Thoughtful imagery has the power to transform a reader’s experience and leave a story lingering long after the book has been closed.”
Sam Subity: Keep Writing!
“The inspiration for Valor Wings came from my daughter's nightstand. One day the two books on top were Anne of Green Gables and Wings of Fire. Just for fun, I started concocting some scenes that merged the two into a story about a great granddaughter of the famous Anne who led a squadron of dragon riders in World War 2. So my working title for Valor Wings for a long time was ‘Anne of Green Dragons.’”
Erin Becker: Go For It!
“I want to write books that make people feel good. I wrote Crushing It during the pandemic, during a difficult time in my life. Writing this story was like a warm hug and a reminder that sometimes, things do turn out okay.”
Tim McCanna: Embrace Brainstorming
“Brainstorming a solid idea for a book is as much a part of the creative process as actually writing the book. Sometimes you’re struck by lightning and that can be exciting. But often it’s about putting on your thinking cap and solving the riddle of ‘What should I write next?’”
Lindsay Lackey: Welcome Ideas Out of Your Comfort Zone
“My biggest tips for authors: 1) don't be afraid! New topics and challenging themes ARE possible. And 2) Ask for help! Books are built like houses: the results are much better with the help of a few experts.”
Thieves’ Gambit: It’s All About Theme (KLC Podcast, S2 Ep. 2)
Kristi Wright shares highlights from the latest season of the KidLit Craft podcast and its focus on theme in Thieves' Gambit by Kayvion Lewis.
Introducing Season 2 of the KidLit Craft Podcast: Thieves’ Gambit
This season, Erin Nuttall and Anne-Marie Strohman are diving deep into Kayvion Lewis’s YA novel Thieves’ Gambit.
The challenge of depicting positive friendships in middle grade books
Three of the top sources of depression and anxiety are loneliness, feelings of isolation and a lack of connection. I also learned that increased screen time combined with separation during the pandemic made it harder for kids to know how to interact with others in person. That cemented my decision to show how friendships can hold together even when interests change.