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.”
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?’”
Establishing Shots: How Tim McCanna Sets Up Peach and Plum, Here We Come! for Success
In order to get early readers on board, Tim had to draw readers in from the very first page and show them what to expect from the book. His 38-word, two-spread introduction to the book is a master establishing shot that covers not just setting, but all the elements readers need to be pulled into a story.
Rhythm, Rhyme, and Summertime: A Q&A Peach and Plum, Here We Come! author Tim McCanna
Tim McCanna: "Trusting your intuition has to be earned by running into a lot of roadblocks and successfully finding your way through them. That’s true for any kind of writing."
Design Thinking for Writers: A Q&A with Vicky Fang
"As a product designer, I am used to solving creative problems. I think that’s partially why I’m drawn to different formats, because I get inspiration from the problem. My design experience also helps me take critique feedback well as I’m very used to harsh critiques and revising based on understanding the problems that a critique uncovers."