VOICE You may feel like you are struggling to find it. The first step in succeeding is realizing that it isn’t as far away as you might think. “Relax. Know that you already have a distinctive voice,” says author Kristi Holl. “Your voice is the product of your personality and your life experiences, both good and not so good.” The trick is to set this voice free in your writing and consistently sound like yourself—not your favorite author, critique buddy, or high school English teacher. Let's dig in on voice in today's episode based on an article from Sue Bradford Edwards.    Join the Institute of Children's Literature Community! Get our weekly newsletter with articles on the craft of writing, hot markets looking for your work, and cool resources for your writer toolbox: www.instituteforwriters.com/icl-news

Voice | Writing for Children 205

Do you want to learn how to write for children? The Institute of Children's Literature has taught hundreds of thousands of aspiring writers, and the director of ICL is the host of Writing for Children. Bestselling children's author Katie Davis focuses on the craft of writing for children: how to write a children’s book, how to write for children’s magazines, how to get paid, and get published. There are listener questions, with answers from the experts at the Institute, plus hard-to-find resources and links included in every week's show notes. If you want to learn about how to get into children's publishing, Listen!

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AN INTERVIEW WITH HANNAH HOLT In this rebroadcast, we talk with Hannah Holt, a children’s author with an engineering degree. Her books, The Diamond & The Boy (Balzer+Bray) and A Father’s Love (Philomel) weave together her love of language and science. When not reading or writing, you can find Hannah running marathons and hiking mountains. We talk about  Biggest misconception writers have about getting an agent and/or a book deal Advice for prepublished writers Hannah’s surveys: what she learned, how she used the input. How she created and researched a picture book about her grandfather Questions about “bare bones” publishing, indie, and traditional publishing. 

Industry Insider Tips with Hannah Holt | Writng for Children 244

FOUR WAYS TO LEARN TO LOVE NONFICTION Many writers view nonfiction as less: less creative than fiction, less fun than fiction, less interesting to kids than fiction, and definitely something they want to do less often. Some will accept the possibility of writing a little nonfiction to break into publishing, but do not like the idea of doing it steadily. For many, they want to do the important work of fiction.   But nonfiction is important. Especially now. Kids love nonfiction, and it's an important teaching tool in support of school curriculum. And nonfiction can offer children something that can help them long after the book is closed: an appreciation of the value of well-researched, accurate facts. That's why we're bringing this rebroadcast to you today.  

Four Ways to Learn to Love Nonfiction | Writing for Children 243

LAUNCHING A STORY FROM A TITLE Chances are you fall into one of two camps when it comes to titles: You either love creating them or you dread trying to think up something clever that will catch a reader’s eye. Thanks to Jan Fields, today we’re going to have some fun creating titles. So much fun your new titles just might launch a new story.  

Launching a Story from a Title | Writing for Children 242

TOP THREE NARRATIVE NONFICTION MISSTEPS Nonfiction is basically broken into two broad types. Expository nonfiction describes, explains, and informs. Narrative nonfiction uses story elements to convey a factual experience. Narrative nonfiction tells a story through carefully researched, factual recounting. Not all nonfiction books are strictly expository or strictly narrative. Some in fact contain both, but for now, Jan Fields has given us a lead on common missteps when writing narrative nonfiction.

Top 3 Narrative Nonfiction Missteps | Writing for Children 241

INTERVIEW WITH A CONTEST JUDGE In this rebroadcast, we interview frequent ICL contest judge and longtime instructor Nancy Coffelt. As well as being a multi-published picture book author and illustrator, Nancy is a fine artist and has been showing in galleries across the country since 1984. Her work is included in personal, public and corporate collections around the world.  Nancy also writes and illustrates books for children. Her books include Catch That Baby, Fred Stays with Me, and The Big Eclipse. 

Voice | Writing for Children 205

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