How to Truly Understand Your Characters: Some Faculty AdviceApril 27, 2026 | Craft TipsCharacters aren't just part of your story; they are the story. From picture books to novels, your characters drive ...
9 Quick Tips for Writing a Picture BookApril 16, 2026 | Craft Tips, Picture BooksWe asked picture book author Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, faculty of Picture Book Plotting from A to Z: A 5-Week ...By: Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Why Less Can Be More: A Q&A on Shorter Novels & Picture Books in Today’s MarketMarch 11, 2026 | Craft Tips, Novels, Picture BooksFor many young readers, the first thing they do when picking up a book isn't checking the jacket copy or the cover ...
9 Picture Book Topics to AvoidJanuary 30, 2015 | Craft Tips, Picture Books9 Picture Book Topics to Avoid (Or Be Ready for Stiff Competition and Write a Story with a Fresh Take) When ...By: Darcy PattisonLeslie Helakoski
5 Ways to Get Out of the Slush Pile and Get Your Children’s Book Manuscript ReadDecember 11, 2014 | Craft Tips, For Beginners, The Business of PublishingThe “slush pile” is the publishing term for the hundreds of manuscripts received by agents and those publishers ...By: Harold Underdown
4 Things to Consider When Writing a Nonfiction Magazine Article for ChildrenOctober 15, 2014 | Craft Tips, For Beginners, NonfictionAndy Boyles, science editor at Highlights magazine, gave these remarks at our 13th Annual Writers Workshop at ...
8 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Book of Poetry for ChildrenOctober 2, 2014 | Craft Tips, PoetryBernice Cullinan, founder of Wordsong (the only imprint in children's publishing in America dedicated to poetry) ...
6 Ways to Begin to Understand Voice and Find Your OwnSeptember 9, 2014 | Craft Tips, Nonfiction, Novels, Picture BooksSome wisdom about Voice from editor Kim Griswell: Much of what passes across an editor’s desk has a dull ...
Is Your Children’s Story Ready to Submit to a Magazine?August 12, 2014 | Craft Tips, For BeginnersKim Cooper, editor of OWL Magazine, was on the faculty for our workshop Writing for Magazines. Here she shares ...
5 Elements You Need in Every Scene of Your Middle Grade or Young Adult NovelAugust 4, 2014 | Craft Tips, NovelsWe asked Whole Novel Workshop faculty member Helen Hemphill (helenhemphill.com) her thoughts about scene. Here's ...
Why You Should be Outlining Your Middle Grade NovelJuly 21, 2014 | Craft Tips, For Beginners, NovelsThanks to Alan Gratz (alangratz.com) for this guest post about making an outline before you start writing.The ...
7 Pointers for Writing Powerful Picture BooksJuly 16, 2014 | Craft Tips, For Beginners, Picture BooksAccording to Eve Bunting, "Picture books are a joy to write." Here are some pointers from her: 1. Think ...