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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Scene Questions: Give Your Scenes Shape and Momentum
A SCENE QUESTION is a story question on a smaller scale. Introduced at or near the beginning of a scene (or even at the end of the previous scene), the scene question is a yes/no question that will drive the tension in the scene and keep readers turning pages so they can find out the answer.
Back Matter? I have to write Back Matter? Using Mentor Texts for Non-Fiction Picture Books
Non-fiction picture books vary so much, instead of just giving you an exhaustive list of possibilities, I’m going to give you something much better: the tools for YOU to figure out what you need. (And I’ll share what I’ve learned along the way.)
Techniques for a Slow-Build to An Overarching Story Question: From the Desk of Zoe Washington
With an awesome opening sentence, Marks not only introduces the inciting incident, but creates a storm of wondering questions for the reader,
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!)
Leading your reader to ask the right questions: Revising your first chapter Part 2, Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt
Today, let’s look at a middle grade novel--one very different in style and tone--to see how well framed questions can guide the reader through the first chapter.
Leading your reader to ask the right questions: Revising your first chapter Part 1, Sadie by Courtney Summers
One way to be sure your first chapter will have the effect you want is to focus on what questions will arise in the readers’ minds as they read, and then revise to control those questions to serve your purpose.
Building character quickly: Definition, Dialogue, Desire, and Doubt in Vicky Fang’s Layla and the Bots series
In her early chapter book series Layla and the Bots, Vicky Fang manages to incorporate STEM topics, design thinking, AND interesting characters, all in just over 1500 words each. Let’s take a look at techniques she uses to create interesting and memorable characters.
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."
Voice is Where the Magic Happens: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
Through a combination of humor, culture, warmth and language, Hernandez uses voice to make his characters unforgettable and his novel hard to put down.
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.