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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Opposites Create Instant Conflict: Ginger and Chrysanthemum by Kristen Mai Giang and Shirley Chan
Lots of classic books have two main characters--Frog and Toad, Max and Ruby, Elephant and Piggie. I bet you can name some other favorites too. These stories work well, especially in a series, because the differing personalities create built-in conflict. In order to figure out how to approach a story with two main characters, let’s look at Kristen Mai Giang’s Ginger and Chrysanthemum, illustrated by Shirley Chan, a contemporary story of two cousins who love each other but don't always get along.
How Rejection Helps to Shape a Story: An Interview with Kristen Mai Giang
This particular inspiration was already the second or third version of this story, which I knew I wanted to be about girls and friendship. In previous versions, they weren’t cousins. And for each version, I did literally dozens of revisions.For Ginger and Chrysanthemum, part of that was due to the submission process, during which agents and editors asked to see widely varying changes. The characters of these hot-and-cold cousins never changed once they were born, though, and it wasn’t until then that the story began to attract attention.
Controlling Beliefs: The Secret Engine for a Novel
Sometimes in planning a story, you might find that the character’s desire is a little too abstract, or that their desire isn’t really something they can affect. There is a solution: a controlling belief.
Building Engaging Stories Through Conflict and Tension: Something to Say by Lisa Moore Ramée
If you only give your readers one conflict after another without tension in between, you are in danger of exhausting, and maybe even boring them, to the point that they lose interest. Tension turns the page.
An Interview with Lisa Moore Ramée Who Has More Than Something to Say
With an issue of a debate being at the heart of this story, it’s of course important to try to truly explore the issue, and I hope I did that.
Story Questions
Framing your story with a STORY QUESTION that gets answered by the end of the novel works because it adds forward momentum, keeps your reader wanting to turn the page, and--since you delay the final answer to the question until the end--builds tension
Falling in Love with Max: Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan
I’ve been struggling to fully understand the protagonist’s path in my own WIP. My protagonist and Max have a lot in common, so taking a moment to pull apart what made Max’s journey work was helpful in understanding where I need to take my own story.
Embedding Practical Lessons in Your Novels: A Craft Analysis of The Startup Squad Series
Weisfeld envisioned a book series and a brand that encouraged and taught girls to be entrepreneurs through engaging, adventurous stories.
Interview with Brian Weisfeld: On Developing and Co-Writing a Series to Inspire Entrepreneurship
The four years of creating that original manuscript were the hardest and most humbling of my entire career. But my journey is also a reminder that there are a lot of different paths to publication.
Orienting the Reader: The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead
Your job as a writer is to keep your readers asking the right questions: What will happen to the main character? What decision will she make?When your reader asks the wrong questions--like, Where are we? Who’s in the room with the main character? Is this happening now, or in the past, or in the future? How much time has gone by since the last scene?--they’ll be too distracted to focus on the more important questions.
Building Rich, Relatable Worlds: Storm Runner by J. C. Cervantes
Remember—the world supports the story and everything inside of it. A well-developed world feels real and accessible.
Catching Up with Lindsay Lackey--a debut author's first year
Get to know our September featured author, Lindsay Lackey! Lindsay's debut middle grade novel All the Impossible Things came out on September 3, 2019. Read on to find out about everything from her book launch to school visits to writing the next novel, as well as the biggest surprise moment of her 2019.
Retro Post #8: Significant Detail in Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
DiCamillo manages to build Louisiana’s emotionally complex and rich world through the use of details that serve a dual purpose: they illuminate as well as foreshadow.
Retro Post #6: Connecting Reader and Character in GHOST by Jason Reynolds
Jen Jobart details how Jason Reynolds puts to use strategies for developing compelling characters that Cheryl Klein outlines in her craft book The Magic Words. More than that, she introduces us Ghost, one the great middle grade characters of the last five years.
FAMILY EVERYWHERE--Mae Respicio’s Novel, Any Day with You
Bottom line, when you read Any Day with You, you feel awash in family love--whether multi-generational, extended, or found.
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.
Day Job Connection: Laura Stegman, actor and publicist
"Like querying, acting is full of rejection. Give up, and you're done. So, armed with an actress' resilience in the face of rejection and a publicist's ability to attract a reader's eye, I have been well trained for an author's career. As Lady Gaga says, 'If you have a dream, fight for it.'"
Give Your Character an Interesting Job, or Use an Ordinary Job Well: Renée Watson’s Ways to Make Sunshine
Unremarkable jobs used in interesting ways can also enhance your character, drive some of the plot of your story, and perhaps provide the skills characters need to succeed at their biggest challenges.
The Power of a Good Turn: The Luck Uglies by Paul Durham
Durham has made his job as a writer easier by having a strong turn near the midpoint of the book. He has something to build toward in the first half of Act 2 and something to move from in the second half.
Retro Post #7: Making Readers Feel: REPETITION IN ORBITING JUPITER BY GARY D. SCHMIDT
Schmidt uses repetition throughout Orbiting Jupiter to evoke emotions in his readers.