Writing for Children

WILL SOMEONE STEAL YOUR IDEA?

Writers sometimes worry that someone will steal their idea. It's rare. If a publisher sees an idea that suits their publishing line and is executed really well, it's improbable they do anything but buy it.

But if they see an idea with amazing potential that isn't realized in the story––well, it is possible to be unethical and go looking for an author who can make that idea blossom. Still, one of the best ways to protect your idea from creative theft is to execute it well. In other words, your hard work doesn't stop at coming up with a good idea.

It begins there.

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM?

It is a common question that is difficult to answer.

Ideas are elusive and their sources hard to pin down. In her guidebook Take Joy: A Writer’s Guide to Loving the Craft, Jane Yolen, prolific author of more than 300 books for children and young adults, reflects, “How much easier it would be if there were some central warehouse where ideas were stored, waiting to be claimed.”

Alas, this is not the case. Yolen offers the image of writers as idea archeologists. “We gather the forward and backward remnants of our own and others’ histories, mining the final part of that word: histories. What we find there is always a surprise.”

CAST A WIDE NET

“Generating new ideas isn’t something that can happen in a vacuum. Be aware of the world around you, read the news, pay attention to children and what they are interested in, and think of ways to inform that are fun,” suggests Debra Hess, former Senior Editor at Highlights for Children.

“Listen to and watch the people around you for inspiration,” advises Scholastic Editor Emily Seife.

“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas,” says Literary Agent Emily Mitchell (Wernick & Pratt Agency LLC).

For more thoughts on idea mining, listen to the full episode!

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

FROM SELF-PUBLISHED TO PUBLISHER

In this episode, I interview bestselling, self-published children's book author and publisher Maria Dismondy.

Award-winning author and founder of the publishing company, Cardinal Rule Press, Maria Dismondy inspires and educates others in the book industry. Maria’s background in early education and research enables her to touch lives the world over while touring as a public speaker in schools, community forums and at national conferences.

Maria also developed content for our new Writer's Block membership! Check out how the Writer's Block can help you achieve your goals in the new year. Click here!

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

HAPPY NEW YEAR: NOW WHAT?

The New Year is galloping toward us at an alarming rate. Are we ready for new challenges and the work to meet them? For many of us, preparing for the New Year means setting goals. Now, goal setting can get us in trouble as we either set unrealistic goals, goals dependent on the behavior of people and factors outside our control, and goals that reflect what we think we ought to do rather than things we are actually motivated to accomplish. This year, I've decided to pursue a new method of setting goals based on the things that have been the most rewarding for me in the past. I thought you might be interested in this six point process.

Listen to the episode for all six points!

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

A KIND ASSESSMENT OF YOUR YEAR (AKA DO NOT USE YOUR PAST YEAR TO BEAT YOURSELF UP)

For many of us, as the end of the year creeps closer, so does the inevitable assessment.

• How did I do at meeting my goals?
• Where did I fall short?
• Why did I fall short?

And those are perfectly reasonable questions as long as they’re not used as a stick with which to beat ourselves up.

For many of us, the yearly assessment looked good for the first month or so. And then we began to slide farther and farther from the goals we'd intended to meet. And as we slid, so did our morale. For many, goals are completely abandoned by Fall and the self-condemnation begins.

What does it mean when we don't reach our goals and what should we do about it? Listen to the full episode to find out.

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

ARE YOU FEELING WRITER'S HIBERNATION?

It's been my experience that one of two things happen this time of year. Editors work in a white-hot frenzy to clear out all submissions before holiday break (so things you've been waiting to hear back about forever may suddenly pop up with responses) or editors become covered over with all the “stuff" that comes around this time of year and anything you submit basically gets an extra month or two added to the response time. So, I said all that to say: it can be frustrating. It's better to stay flexible this time of year.

Editors are not the only ones frustrated by the busy stuff this time of year. As writers, we are often trying to cram a little bit of writing in a day already packed to the gills. Some of us, just give up and spend the winter on a kind of writing hibernation, planning to get back in the swing of things when our blood warms up. Others only hibernate until January 1, when New Year's Resolutions push us into a frenzy of writing.

Whether you're getting any writing time or not, you're probably feeling guilty. Let's talk about that in today's episode.

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

WHO'S ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS?

There's is a lot of research that goes into figuring out which publishers and agents to submit to when your manuscript is ready. In this episode, Katie interviews Marni McNiff, the editor of the ICL Market Guides.

The Book Market Guide for Children's Writers and the Magazine Market Guide for Children's Writers comes out each year with updated information and new listings for publishers and agents. Marni and her team have done the legwork to help you find the perfect home for your stories.

Marni gives tips and tricks for using the Market Guides as well as a behind-the-scenes peek at how the guides are put together. If you're going to be ready to go out on submission in the coming year, don't miss this episode.

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

I'M GRATEFUL FOR WRITING

Writing for a living can be scary, frustrating, exhausting, and just plain hard. And things like rejection or lack of support from the people around us can cause us to lose sight of all the wonderful things about writing.

So, since Thanksgiving is a great time for meditating on good things: here are some of the things I'm most grateful for relating to writing.

I'M THANKFUL FOR READERS
Without readers, writing can still be a wonderful pastime. It can help you make sense of the world around you and within you. It can help us work through pain. It can let us relive joy. But all of those things are heightened when you bring readers to the table. Readers make the things we write bigger, because the reader brings thoughts, loves, hates, and beliefs into the reading experience and that means the words I write, or you write, can expand beyond our imagination. And readers give us an opportunity to effect. There are few things I enjoy more than making readers laugh or scare them silly or making them think. Readers rock. I'm so glad to have them.

For more of what I'm thankful for and inspiration to start your own grateful list, list to the full episode.

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

WHEN WRITING JUST ISN'T AN OPTION
It’s the end of the year when it's difficult to find time to write, and nearly impossible to write every day. Sure, some people can manage it. But if you can't, that makes you just like many other writers. The holidays can be stressful, crazy busy, and filled with things that need your attention. So if you can't write for the next few weeks, what should a writer be doing?

Listen to the

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/

full episode for ways to move your writing forward when just don't have the time to sit down and write.

REWARDS AND CHALLENGES

Long ago, researchers were studying how creatures react to reward. They learned that if you put a "reward station" in a rat's cage and have a treat appear every time the rat pushes a button, the rat will push the button a lot at first, then taper off. Eventually, he'll push the button only when he wants a treat and his desire for the treat seems to lessen over time. But if you have the reward station only produce a treat sometimes, and give nothing the rest of the time, the rat will actually push the button a lot more often and that frequency will never taper off.

The whole model of action/reward is one to consider as a writer, especially a new writer. If you can write things that aren’t necessarily your favorite type of writing to do, you may get more rewards than failures. How? How-to, actually. Say you write a lot of how-to pieces. If you’re able to sell them to magazines, and are having a much harder time selling your fiction, the publication experience with the how-to pieces can give you enough reward to pull you through those dark, rejection blues.

I think this is something that can have value for any writer. If you’re getting the blues about the struggle to publish a picture book or the rough job of finishing a novel, consider taking a small break and doing a piece
 that will give you a treat at that reward station. You could write for a no pay market or write an essay on your writing journey as you've been living it and consider one of the online markets for it. You could offer a guest
 blog post on writing to a writing site. During the tough times, these rewards can be enormously helpful to morale.

What's your question?

Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.

NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/