Revision: What It Is and How To Do It by Mary Jane Nirdlinger

What Revision Is

Revision is not editing, it is re-seeing and re-imagining your work. Revision is different for every writer and each project. Here are some tips that work for me, but you’ll develop your own approach based on … (Read More)

Emotional Resonance – Or, what to do when someone says “I’m just not connecting.”

Last month, Mary Jane Nirdlinger wrote her first post about the top craft techniques she learned while obtaining her MFA. We welcome her back again for another thought-provoking article.

My first (unsold) novel got a lot of positive feedback from … (Read More)

MFA Programs: Questions and Answers from Mary Jane Nirdlinger- Part I

When we’re not writing, most of us spend time looking for ways to hone our craft. For me, an MFA was part of that journey and I’m excited to share a series of blog posts to answer some questions about … (Read More)

One Story, Many Mediums: How to Take Your Characters out of the Box by Brian Anderson

Characters are the foundation of your story. You build your house on them. But what should that house look like? A picture book, a Y.A. fantasy, a graphic novel? Hard to decide, especially if you want to write a middle … (Read More)

How I Grew as an Educator, Illustrator, and Story Teller by Using Visual Techniques by Demetrios Liollio, or 柳亞澂

A BIG Adventure

Exactly ten years ago this month I began the biggest adventure of my life: moving to Taiwan, or 台灣. This small, democratic island nation consists of Han Chinese and native aboriginal people who are hard-working and compassionate. … (Read More)

Right Down the Middle: MG Fiction Helps Kids Navigate Uncertainty by Bess Kercher

Some years ago, my son made a startling declaration: He hated to read. Once my shock subsided, I responded that I felt sure he just hadn’t found the right book. And so even though he was technically reading-proficient, we began … (Read More)

Tall Praise for the Short Story by Melissa Cole Essig

Ray Bradbury was the master of the short story.

If you’re anything like me, the very suggestion that you consider writing a short story could send you screaming from your safe and cozy writing space in abject terror. Some words … (Read More)

Let’s Get This Pitch Party Started! by Jocelyn Rish

PitMad IWSGPit DVpit PBpitch

Did I drop some Scrabble tiles? Spill a bowl of alphabet soup? Actually, these are some of the Twitter pitch events (also known as pitch parties) that take place throughout the year.

If you’re not familiar … (Read More)

Writing Picture Books: A Book Review by Paulette Hannah

If you are an aspiring children’s picture book writer like me, the first few questions that come to mind are: Where do I begin? How can I take my ideas and get a picture book published? What can be so … (Read More)

A Grain of Salt for Critiques: Handling and Using Honest Feedback by Micki Bare

Participating in a critique group is an essential part of the creative process for authors. It’s also very scary. No one wants their work shredded by peers. What we do want is to move our work forward on the continuum … (Read More)

Bartali’s Bicycle: The Long and Winding Road of Research by Megan Hoyt

I first heard about Gino Bartali on a dreary Saturday afternoon. Snuggled beneath a blanket and clutching a cup of hot tea, I watched a documentary about the secret underground during World War II. This network of ordinary people rose … (Read More)

Writers, Entrepreneurs, and the Business of Writing by Barbara Bell

Writers are some of the greatest entrepreneurs I have ever met. They come up with an idea, put the work in by creating a prototype on the page, test it within critique groups and in front of audiences. They edit … (Read More)

Writing with Chronic Illness by Vijaya Bodach

Ironically, just as I was getting excited about diving back into my novel after a summer of frivolous and fun short books, I had a horrible fall that’s left me bruised, battered, and a bit disabled. My right shoulder … (Read More)

Finding Time To Write When There IS No Time by Rochel Vorst

I thought this would be a perfect topic for me. Here I am, a mom of six, a kindergarten teacher, and I just published my third picture book.

I was planning on writing about “writing on the fly.”

I was … (Read More)

TEACHING WRITING IN A CULTURAL ENRICHMENT COURSE Sarah Maury Swan

Last October I taught an adult cultural enrichment writing class for the first time. I was pleased to have only five students so we could spend most of our class time working on their storytelling. I prefer to lead discussions … (Read More)

On Writing Narrative Nonfiction Picture Books by Shana Keller

I am often asked about writing narrative nonfiction. Some of the questions are broad such as What is it? How do I Choose a Topic? Others are more specific like How long should my story be? I have attempted to … (Read More)

The Art of Lyrical Prose by Megan Hoyt

When we think about art, we imagine a beautiful landscape from the Hudson River School or maybe a Degas ballerina or a colorful Renoir painting of ladies having tea on a river barge. Maybe we see angular Picasso blues … (Read More)

Life—and Writing and Illustrating—in the Time of COVID-19: A Moment of Gratitude for Our Relative Good Fortune by Melissa Cole Essig

My son and I were walking the dog the other day when a jogger bumped into him.

I was outraged, in a way that would have been totally unreasonable a few weeks ago. What was this woman thinking? Why … (Read More)

Resources for Reading and Writing Verses Novels in Coronavirus Times by Debra Rook

Reading and Writing Is Contagious

Coronavirus. Social Distancing. Self-Quarantine. Stay at Home. As the world confronts a new pandemic, the future can be scary and daily life feels overwhelming at times. If you’re like me, books are more than good … (Read More)

Polish Your Manuscript in Your PJs

We're still not sure how many participants took us up on the PJs part, but we KNOW that many came away with a true understanding of how

to identify a high concept–an easily phrased sentence that sums up the story,

… (Read More)

It’s February. Time to Submit to the Art & Writing Contest

This is your opportunity to have your work seen by an art director or an editor at a major publishing house. This is our 7th Annual Art and Writing Contest. This contest is a membership benefit for those SCBWI members on the SCBWI Carolinas roster. Submissions are accepted starting Monday February 1, 2016 through Monday February 29, 2016 at scbwicarolinascontest@gmail.com Please read the contest ART or the WRITING rules carefully for complete information.
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UPDATE: PICTURE BOOK DUMMY CHALLENGE FOR WRITERS

Participants completed a six week course. October 6-19: Story In this section of the challenge participants took a critical look at our manuscripts to determine how they conform to generally accepted picture book criteria for plot and theme. Monday, October 13, 9:00-10:30 pm (Eastern): Webinar with John Cusick, Greenhouse Literary Agency October 20-November 2: Structure In this sesion challenge participants learned how to use a storyboard and dummy to refine the pace and flow on the text.
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AUTHOR’S ROUNDTABLE

One of the biggest reasons I come back to our SCBWI-Carolinas Fall Conference year after year is for the conversations. The presentations are always wonderful, but what can I say? I’m a yacker. I love getting together with all you creative types and hearing about new projects, talking about issues of craft and publishing, and swapping stories. For the past several years, the PAL (published and listed) members of SCBWI-Carolinas have held an authors’ roundtable to offer insights and answer questions. In addition, we’re going to have a conversation with those PAL members who were in the first Mentor Program.
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Everything You Wanted to Know about the Mentor Program…

2014 was SCBWI Carolinas inagural mentorship program. Four mentors worked with four mentees to help bring their work closer to the point of publication. You will have the opportunity to hear from all eight individuals at the panel moderated by John Claude Bemis on Saturday night. According to Stephanie Greene, coordinator of the newly-developed program, "It certainly seemed, from everything both the mentors and mentees said to me, that it was a great success." Here are some comments from the mentors:
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Interview with Emma Dryden

Over the course of three intensive and interlinked sessions—Writers as Atlas Makers, Writers as Architects, and Writers as Re-Envisioners—we will start by exploring various tools and techniques for world building in our work—the external world-building of setting, landscape, and geography, and the internal world-building of our characters’ voices and emotional engagement.
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Spring Writing Retreat!

It was a perfect southern spring weekend in Chapel Hill North Carolina with moderate temperatures and flowers abloom as twenty six writers met for a weekend of writing, talking about writing and hearing about writing. SCBWI Carolinas returned to the Aqueduct Conference Center May 2 for a weekend writing retreat with Jill Santopolo, Executive Editor, Philomel.
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PAL Mentoring Program

SCBWI-Carolinas is excited to announce the first-ever Carolinas Mentor Program for 2014. Our mentors will work with writers on picture books, middle grade novels, and historical fiction. The program will run from February until June, with a monthly exchange of manuscript pages and revision between the mentor and writer.
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