Where is your writing place/space?
Do you have a special place where you like to write? What makes it work for you? Kathleen M. Muldoon wrote a chapter in her book Sowing Seeds: Writing for the Christian Children’s Market about the importance of setting up a place to write. Here are the first few paragraphs from Chapter 3, “In the Beginning”: The book […]
W2I! 2017 Conference date is set
Note the date and mark your calendars. The date for W2I! 2017 is March 24-25 and the place is North Greenville University. The W2I! planning committee has met several times and gathered ideas and information to make our spring conference a success. We are also looking for programs and services we can offer throughout the […]
Be an Author – Do One Thing
Do you have dreams of being an author? Specifically, you may feel a calling from God to write for children. I challenge you to do one thing this summer. Pick something from the list below. Do one thing. Attend a writers conference. Join a critique group. Subscribe to a journal for writers. Spend 30 minutes […]
Free Photos for Your Blog
You’ve written a terrific blog post. Next step is to scour the Internet for the right photo to accompany your post. But just as our writing is copyright-protected, so are many of the photos we find on the Internet. So where can you find appropriate photos that are legal to us and also free? Here […]
Is Writing the Impossible Mission?
Writing conference season is in full swing. Conferences are such exciting times-filled with renewed relationships, new friendships, and countless dreams. Mixed in with the dreams, however, are less appealing realities. Changing markets, a depressed economy, and the small percent of manuscripts that see publication, not to mention agents, queries, verb tense, and point-of-view all present […]
10,000 Hours
10,000 hours. That’s the amount of intentional practice Dr. K. Anders Ericsson determined is needed to master a skill. He published his findings in the Harvard Business Review in 2007. Author Malcolm Gladwell popularized those findings in his book, Outliers, in 2008. https://www.gladwellbooks.com/https://www.gladwellbooks.com/gladwellbooks.com/ Just how long is 10,000 hours? If you practiced full-time, 40 hours per […]
What’s New in Children’s Books?
If you follow our blog, you undoubtedly have a sense of calling to write for children and teens in the Christian market. Today, I want to encourage you to check out what’s new in children’s books. Keeping on top of that may include some things that surprise you, but they’ll be relatively simple additions to […]
Rainy Days
As I write this, it’s raining. At least my lawn and flowerbeds are happy. Is it raining where you are? I don’t mean the weather. Is it raining on your writing? Are you familiar with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Rainy Day”? The day is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind […]
Creating Unit Studies
A unit study is a great way for kids to learn about a topic that sparks their interest. It is also a great way for writers to share their work and use all that “extra” information your research uncovered that just wouldn’t fit into your final piece. Unit studies take one topic—anything from quicksand to […]
Our sad news and regrets…
Our Write2Ignite! 2016 conference has been cancelled after many prayers and tears and our many attempts to keep it together for this year. Please read the letter that has been sent out to the people who registered for a more complete explanation: March 22, 2016 Dear Write2Ignite! Conference Registrant, The Team has been looking forward […]