A major challenge that writers for young readers face is having one’s work taken seriously. And I don’t mean just the response to the published book/piece, but the actual work of writing for a young audience. A sure-fire way to make a kind, unassuming children’s author foam at the mouth, or go for the jugular is to comment: “Well, that must have been easy to write, it’s only nine words long.” Or, “That must not have taken long to write.” … Read More »

Lately there’s both a lot of shoulder shrugging, and a lot of fear around generative AI making inroads into creative endeavors. Everybody seems to have some opinion about it, from Wow, so cool! To  OMG! It’s going to take over! So of course, I had to try out a few things to see how well generative AI could reproduce one of my creative loves, poetry. Below is a very shortened run-down of my wrangling with ChatGPT and poetry. I started … Read More »

Recently I was Zooming with some lovely poets. One of the poets read a prose poem that went on and on without stopping to take a breath. Not only did I feel a bit overwhelmed—and not in a good way—but I was saddened, because I could not get a moment to take in and reflect upon her many great images and wonderful word choices. Everything rushed by in such a blur I lost the emotional impact as well. I just … Read More »

I generally do not write to specific forms, and always have to look up the “rules” for villanelles, Shakespearean Sonnets, sestinas, and the like. What I truly love is free verse. However, there are many times that working within a form is liberating in that you’ve already got a set of parameters you don’t have to worry about. And, sometimes, when you’re forced to conform to a certain structure the little creative geniuses in your brain run off into territory … Read More »

When the first round of covid hit a couple of years ago, it seemed like everything stopped. And in that stoppage was the monthly critique group I’d been part of since 2001. During that hiatus I thought if I can just keep myself motivated—keep that little spark of inspiration which was usually fueled by the critique group—that would be wonderful. So, the Friday Follies were born. What it is It’s quick. It’s simple. We meet online for no more than … Read More »

Last month I presented 5 techniques that were easily learned from reading picture books (Part 1) regardless of what format or genre you work in. The fact that picture books are so short means you can find numerous examples of literary techniques in the best of them. And they are great teaching tools because they require precision and elegance. Today we will cover 5 more techniques you can find in picture books. There are many titles I could have chosen … Read More »