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JOIN US IN EXPLORING OTHERS' CRAFT AND BUILDING OUR OWN
Since I began writing picture books, I’ve longed to tell the story of my relationship with my Amah (grandmother, in Taiwanese). Even though we saw each other infrequently, I adored her. But like Kylie, my main character in Amah Faraway, I always felt a bit shy at the start of our visits–due to my own cautious nature, the distance, language barrier, and cultural differences.
The authors and contributors we interviewed had so many wonderful sidewriting challenges, we thought we’d put them all in one place. Each exercise will have a link back to the original post so you can learn more about the author and how sidewriting works for them. Enjoy!
Margaret Chiu Greanias: Until I was asked to do this interview, I’d never heard of sidewriting. I thought maybe it was something only novelists did. But as I read Erin Nuttall’s kick-off post, I realized sidewriting is something picture book writers could do too. And then, I realized it was something that I actually do do.
When I don’t know the WHY behind a scene or a character, there is nothing more helpful than stepping away from the manuscript. When I am writing away from my story, I am free to explore my characters, setting, plot, theme…well everything. And since it doesn’t “count,” it also doesn’t have to be good—that is the permission slip I need.
The more characters there are, the harder it is for the reader to connect with the important ones. As authors, we want to make sure every character serves a purpose.
Bottom line, when you read Any Day with You, you feel awash in family love–whether multi-generational, extended, or found.
These are compassionate stories that encourage readers to awaken their own inner activist. And they also model ways for kids to engage in deep conversations about topics that can be hard to talk about.
craft review by Jen Jobart In my last post, I talked about how Paolo Bacigalupi addresses the same powerful themes regardless of the audience he’s writing for. In this post, I examine how he does it. Character development Bacigalupi has a gift for really getting into a character’s heart and showing what it feels like […]
craft review by Jen Jobart I write books for kids because I want to remind them that they are powerful. That they can work together for the greater good. That they can change the world. Kids can be inspired by those types of themes, but only if they’re woven into a novel that they can’t put down. […]
craft review by Kate O’Shaughnessy Back in January, two popular children’s book authors—Matt de la Peña and Kate DiCamillo—engaged in a discourse about the importance of including tough subject matter in children’s books. (Read Matt’s essay: “Why We Shouldn’t Shield Children from Darkness.”. And Kate’s: “Why Children’s Books Should Be a Little Sad.”) Specifically, de […]
