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Author: steve

Hook Kids’ Attention With Your Writing

Posted on August 13, 2020October 27, 2020 by steve

by  Marcia T. Jones and Debbie Dadey Between the Internet, Nintendo and the TV remote how can “boring” books compete? Marcia T. Jones and Debbie Dadey explain what it takes to grab a kid’s attention and hold onto it from the beginning to “the end.” One chance. That’s all kids will give you before they toss…

Hook Your Readers With Tension

Posted on August 13, 2020August 18, 2020 by steve

by Laura Backes Tension. Without it, life would be–let’s face it–boring. So would fiction. Tension works with conflict to raise the emotional level of the text to a boiling point. It forces the reader to become invested in the story. But many children’s book writersare afraid to apply too much tension to their plots. They…

9 Tips for Writing Stories

Posted on August 13, 2020August 13, 2020 by steve

by Sid Fleishman Here are a few writing tips drawn from the pages of The Abracadabra Kid, A Writer’s Life. 1. It’s the job of the hero or heroine to solve the story problem: don’t leave it to a second-banana character like Uncle Harry. You’d know something was wrong if Watson solved the crime instead of Sherlock…

Three Act Structure Chart

Posted on July 18, 2020July 18, 2020 by steve

This handy chart was created by Advanced Fiction Writing student David Lovelock, who explained: When constructing outlines for a novel, I like to create a one-page overview that allows me to visualize and move my ideas around.  Attached is what I’ve created to help with creating the main points of a Three Act Structure. I…

Intensive Research Is Important for Children”s Nonfiction

Posted on July 11, 2020July 11, 2020 by steve

by  Donya Dickerson, from Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market Author Robie Harris” books It”s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health and It”s So Amazing!: A Book About Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families focus on sexual health for kids. Here, Harris talks about the process of doing extensive research as she prepared her manuscripts. Robie Harris never…

Staging is Murder: A Student Success Story

Posted on April 30, 2019November 20, 2020 by steve

by Grace Topping Today marks the launch of my mystery, Staging is Murder. It’s been a long road to publication, and I honestly don’t think I would have succeeded without Steve Alcorn’s course on mystery writing. It gave me a solid foundation on which to build. Without that foundation, I probably would have given up….

Scene and Sequel

Posted on March 30, 2019March 30, 2019 by steve

By Melinda Goodin Those who have read my work know that my stories tend to start with a bang — literally. If it’s not a space station exploding, it’s a church catching on fire or a laboratory or… And the pace gets faster from there. Critiquers have often commented that they ended up feeling breathless…

Writing Suspense: Fiction vs. Reality

Posted on February 8, 2019November 20, 2020 by steve

By Michele Martinez As a federal prosecutor in New York City, I spent most of a decade locking up hardened criminals. Specializing in narcotics and gangs cases, I knew crime inside out. By the time I left that job, I’d done so many drug trials, listened in on so many wiretaps, and debriefed so many…

Slang Dictionary

Posted on October 6, 2018October 7, 2018 by steve

A note from Daniel White Hodge, the editor of this page: “This dictionary isn’t so you can try to talk like someone you’re not. But it is a good reference for those who are seeking to understand a piece of youth culture today. No … every kid doesn’t use all of these words. But this…

Using Metaphors in Creative Writing

Posted on October 4, 2018October 8, 2018 by steve

Using Metaphors in Creative Writing What is a metaphor? The term metaphor meant in Greek “carry something across” or “transfer,” which suggests many of the more elaborate definitions below: Metaphor Table Definition Origin A comparison between two things, based on resemblance or similarity, without using “like” or “as” most dictionaries and textbooks The act of…

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Recent Posts

  • Hook Kids’ Attention With Your Writing
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  • Three Act Structure Chart
  • Intensive Research Is Important for Children”s Nonfiction
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