Friday, March 1, 2013

Cool Discoveries: Children's Book Podcasts, Pacing Tips and More


Since I spend so much time driving kids around, I quickly finish my weekly supply of podcasts about writing.  (My favourite, Writing Excuses, is only 15 minutes long but it's packed with information.) This week I was happy to discover a new one:  PW KidsCast. It features some interesting interviews with children's authors about their books and writing. I'm so thrilled to add it to my playlist!
This week, I also came across two interesting blog posts:
Anna Staniszewki, author of My Very Un-Fairytale Life, has some great tips on pacing:
I love her revision suggestion of putting only the scenes that are clearly working into a new document and then filling in the gaps!

Cindy M. Hogan at Indelibles reminded me that it’s important to nuture other interests besides writing, because they do make your writing a lot richer: Looking Beyond Writer’s Conferences.

And just for fun: have you seen this impressive Hogwarts Castle created by Alice Finch?

My Lego-loving teen discovered it when she was home from school due to weather earlier this week and spent a long time poring over every detail of every picture with her sister. She was thrilled by the idea that Alice Finch lets her kids play with it. I heard my daughter say to her sister, “I wish she was my mom!”

Another overheard comment: “They make Lego test tubes? I’ve never seen those before and now I really want them.”
The verdict: "It is SO COOL!"
You can read more about it in this interview with Alice Finch.

 

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the links. I'll have to check them out.

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  2. Fun! I just stumbled across the Lego Hogwarts this week too! I'll have to check out those other links =D

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  3. That point about nurturing other interests, that they enrich your writing, is true, and I'm guilty of letting a lot of other stuff slide.

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  4. I love these tips! Thank you for sharing. My boys are obsessed with Legos.

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